Tor or VPN? Which one is better? It’s a question as old as time...well, sort
of. Ok, not really. But the two technologies have been locked
in a battle for years, and today, I’m finally going to put this debate to bed once and for
all. I’ll be covering how both Tor and VPNs work,
the pros and cons of each, and what you need to look out for if you decide to go with one
of these privacy solutions. Let’s get started.
I’ll start by covering what each privacy solution actually is and how it works.
Tor stands for ‘The Onion Router’ and they’re a non-profit organization that develops
digital privacy tools. The Tor browser is one of the company’s products, and it’s
a tool that is primarily designed to protect your digital identity.
When you browse with the Tor browser, all your online activities are encrypted and travel
through the Tor network, keeping everything you do private.
But how does the Tor browser do that exactly? The Tor browser moves your internet traffic
across various Tor servers, thereby masking your real digital identity. The browser also
encrypts your traffic as it travels through these other servers, so that no one will be
able to monitor your movements. The tool’s privacy layers are similar to
the layers of an onion, which explains the name.
Now, what about a VPN? A VPN is an acronym for Virtual Private Network,
and it’s a tool that is built to change your IP address while encrypting your traffic.
While the tool used to be reserved for IT experts and employees of major corporations
to access sensitive information privately, it has now become a must-have tool for the
everyday internet user. Your grandma is probably using one as we speak.
Now, how does a VPN work exactly? Every VPN service has a network of servers spread across
the world. So, when you connect to one of their servers,
your internet traffic travels through this server before it reaches the internet. This
also means your IP address is temporarily changed to that of the VPN server you’re
connected to. Pretty cool, right?
And since your IP address must have changed to the IP address of the server you’ve chosen,
you can also securely access the resources of that local network since your device will
appear to be in a different place. So basically, if you connect to a US based server, you’ll
be able to watch all the movies they have on the US Netflix. Nice one.
I’m sorry, what was that? The person currently watching this video DIDN’T hit like? Ok,
ok I’m on it. This is kinda awkward but my boss is saying we can’t go any further
until you actually like the video...I’ll wait.. All done? Great!
Now, let’s talk about the pros and cons of each technology.
Now the Tor browser offers many advantages, but the best one is that it’s free.
Downloading the Tor browser costs no money at all, and more advanced users can even download
the open-source project and modify the coding. The Tor browser is also user-friendly.
It’s super easy to use. Finally, the Tor browser protects your privacy,
and that’s its most important advantage. How does Tor protect your privacy? Well, by
not disclosing your IP address to the sites you visit. Political rebels and journalists
often take advantage of the tool to protect their identity and data from repressive government
agencies. But that’s not something you need to worry about!
But what about its downsides? Well, it comes with a few.
For starters: the speed. Since your internet traffic travels through
many relays, a decrease in your connection speed is inevitable. Photos and videos, in
particular, take a lot of time to load. Another disadvantage of the Tor browser is
that many web services block it. This can get really annoying pretty quickly.
Oh and it’s also worth mentioning that using the Tor browser can get you into legal trouble
too. Anyone can use the Tor browser, as we all
know. And if someone in the Tor network is engaging in an illegal act and you are the
exit relay, it can get you in serious trouble as the traffic will be traced to you, even
if you have nothing to do with it. Yikes! What about a VPN? What are its pros and cons?
The first pro is speed! Since your traffic is not routed through multiple
servers like the Tor browser, you get to enjoy a decent internet connection. Again, you’ll
experience some speed loss, but it’s much better compared to what you experience with
the Tor browser. Also, a VPN helps you unblock blocked content.
No matter where you are, a VPN gives you access to everything on the internet. Even if a service
or site is blocked in your country, you can simply switch your location and trick the
website into believing you’re in another country.
On top of that, you’re also in control of your IP address.
Your IP address gives away so much information about you online. But with a VPN, you can
simply switch your IP address and make it more difficult for anyone to identify you.
And finally, a VPN encrypts all your traffic. Unlike the Tor browser that encrypts when
you ask it to, a VPN encrypts all the internet traffic being generated by your computer.
Of course, this means it’s more secure than the Tor browser.
But with all its brilliance, a VPN also comes with a few downsides.
The first is that it’s not free. While there are free VPNs out there, they’re
usually unreliable. You’d need to buy a subscription to enjoy the best VPN service.
Another catch with VPNs is that the service providers can see your internet activities.
Some VPN providers even log your activity. So before committing to any VPN service, check
their privacy policy and ensure they’ve promised not to collect, store, or share any
data that can be traced back to you. Overall, both Tor and VPNs are built to protect
your digital privacy, but I believe VPNs are much, much better. While Tor is free, it comes
with too many downsides to take it seriously. It’s slow, it’s been blocked by some sites,
and just being a user can land you in serious legal troubles. Nobody wants that.
On the other hand, VPNs are super-fast, secure, can unblock any website, and put you in complete
control of your IP address. What more could you possibly want?
I know some VPN providers log your data but that’s not an issue if you choose one of
our recommended VPNs. Right now, we believe Surfshark is the best
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Other VPNs we recommend are NordVPN and ExpressVPN. You’ll find discounted links to these below
this video. Now it’s over to you. Do you have any experience
using the Tor browser or a VPN? We’d love to read all about it in the comments
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to know when we drop more videos like this in the future.
The next video is a must-watch. It’s our rundown of the best VPN services out there,
so don’t miss it.