Tor vs VPN: What’s the Difference & Which Is Better?

Throughout this process, no single node knows both who you are and what you are doing.

How your data passes through the Tor network.

Due to how it works, Tor attracts users prioritizing anonymity, including journalists and whistleblowers.

Unfortunately, though, criminals also use the service, as it’s the sole gateway to the Dark Web, an unregulated and high-risk part of the internet.

However, this shouldn’t deter you from using it for legitimate reasons. Tor itself is completely legal to use.

Your ISP can detect Tor usage, which might flag you for surveillance.

When you connect to a VPN, the server acts as an intermediary, forwarding your requests to the target website and receiving the responses.

The VPN server re-encrypts the received information before sending it back to your device, where your VPN app decrypts the incoming data, allowing you to view the requested content securely.

This creates a secure communication channel between your device and the VPN server — often referred to as the “VPN tunnel”.

VPNs, like Tor, have servers worldwide. However, VPNs allow you to choose your server location.

This makes them highly effective for bypassing government censorship and accessing geo-restricted content.

For instance, connecting to a UK-based VPN server while in the US, for example, allows you to access the UK Netflix library.

VPNs are generally more private and safer to use, though you are having to place trust in your chosen VPN service.

Still, malicious Tor exit nodes have been used for surveillance and man-in-the-middle attacks in the past, and the use of Tor alone can be enough to mark you for surveillance.

Both tools robustly encrypt your web traffic and secure your data. Tor relies solely on AES, while VPNs often use a wider range of encryption ciphers, depending on the VPN protocol in use.

However, a VPN will encrypt all web traffic leaving your device, giving you comprehensive protection. The Tor Network only encrypts data sent directly from the Tor Browser.

Tor is better than VPN software for anonymity, but worse for privacy.

Tor’s routing method effectively disconnects your true IP address from your online activity, thanks to its decentralized network. This means your actions are visible but untraceable.

In contrast, VPNs operate through centralized connections, allowing service providers to potentially observe and record your activity. The risk of your traffic being linked to your real identity is therefore higher, particularly if your VPN keeps activity logs.

Using a VPN is almost always faster than Tor.

A VPN encrypts your data and routes it directly via a single VPN server to your destination.

Data in the Tor network is routed through multiple widely-dispersed nodes and encrypted and decrypted multiple times, which means it takes much longer to reach the final web server.

You can hide your public IP address with both a VPN and The Onion Network.

However, Tor nodes are randomly allocated, which means choosing a server location is very difficult.

VPN services provide servers in dozens of locations worldwide, allowing you to manually select your preferred server location. This makes VPNs the preferred method of bypassing geo-restrictions.

The Tor Network is most commonly used through the Tor Browser.

This is a free, Firefox-based application that you download and install onto your computer.

By contrast, most secure VPN services charge a monthly subscription fee.

There are free VPNs available, but they often pose significant security risks.

VPN software is much easier to use than Tor. Using a VPN, we could quickly connect to our chosen server location in one or two clicks. It automatically works with every browser and app, and it’s also easier to set up on a range of devices, including Fire TV and Android TV.

With Tor, you’ll need to download a dedicated browser, which functions differently from other ones. More advanced features, such as setting up bridges or relays, are complex and typically beyond the skill level of the average user.

The dark web (.onion websites) is only accessible through the Tor browser. However, users can opt to use a VPN with Tor for an extra layer of security and to hide that they are even using the tool at all.

‘Tor over VPN’, also known as Onion over VPN, is when you connect to your VPN before you run the Tor Browser. This is the most common way of combining Tor with a VPN.

It’s easy to do: just connect to your VPN then launch the Tor browser from your desktop or smartphone.

If you want to use Tor over a VPN, it’s important to choose a VPN that’s been optimized for Tor, meaning it has a private logging policy, no leaks, fast speeds, and anonymous payment options.

NordVPN Onion Over VPN Servers.

This is particularly useful if you do not want a network administrator to know you are connecting to Tor, or if your VPN provider has an invasive or vague logging policy.

‘VPN Over Tor’ is when you connect to the Tor network before using your VPN.

This is technically possible, but not easy. Currently, very few VPNs offer support for running via Tor in this manner.

However, using a VPN over Tor allows your provider access to the same information as using the VPN alone, just with the added slowness and inconvenience of the Tor network.

VPNs and the Tor browser both enhance your privacy independently of each other. You can connect to your VPN and then use the Tor Browser if you’re really concerned, but combining the two is overkill for most people.

You’re better off using Tor if you need complete anonymity in extreme circumstances. If it’s just all-round internet privacy you’re looking for, choose a VPN.