VPN vs Tor - VPN Wired

In this day and age of Internet advancement, the awareness of the general netizen is on the rise. The advent of awareness beseeches the prevalent issue of security. With government censorship and the corporations hold over the internet, users are with no choice other than to rely on stand-alone tools that are privacy and security-centric. Two such tools are VPNs and Tor and chances are, you have heard about them even if not outright used them. Both are genuine technologies that offer to alleviate the underlying concern of a user’s online health. Since they both cater to the public, users often get confused regarding which service to prefer. If you are one such user and wondering what to use between a Tor and VPN, worry not. This article will feature a comprehensive VPN vs Tor analogy.

VPN vs Tor: The concept behind VPNs

We’re starting with the virtual private network, abbreviated VPN. One needs to understand that, when it was invented in the 90s, its target audiences were business owners and corporations. However, with the daily decrementing of privacy over the internet, netizens have long since adopted this technology. Commercial providers cater towards the online security and safety of consumers, And the VPN service comes with additional tools such as split tunneling and a VPN kill switch to help with it. It has a long-standing reputation in the online privacy sector and enjoys immense trust and support from the public. VPNs are great for those aware of the dangers on the net and who want to safeguard their privacy. It is a comprehensive service that offers all-around protection.

The general idea behind the workings of a VPN is simple. It allows a user to access the Internet securely and remotely. It works on security protocols like PPTP, WireGuard, OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, IKEv2, etc. With the aid of encapsulation, VPN encrypts online traffic before sending it to remote servers via a VPN tunnel. This tunnel connects the VPN client to the server gateway guaranteeing privacy i.e., anyone outside it can’t glean into what’s going on. In this process, the VPN completely negates the ISP by relying on VPN servers to act as a go-between the user and the internet.

Connecting to a VPN

The complete process looks like this:

The user sends requests to the hosting web server.
This data, which travels in the form of packets, is intercepted by your VPN client.
The client, with the aid of protocols, encapsulates this packet within an encrypted one.
Now, this encrypted traffic is forwarded to the VPN server.
The server promptly decrypts said packet and contacts the web server instead of the user.
After they communicate, the server receives the response, encrypts the reply, and sends it back to the client.
The client expressly decrypts the data and presents it for the user to view.
During the whole process, the user is hidden behind a VPN tunnel, away from the prying eyes of outsiders.
The only address recorded by the website will be that of the server, ensuring security and privacy.

The VPN trust model

Trust is a leading denominator of VPNs; It is all or nothing. VPN is a centralized technology. As such, whatever privacy you enjoy online can be undone if your provider wills to do so. To earn this trust, VPNs employ a strict no-logs policy. The trust model is one of the defining factors between a VPN and Tor. Choosing a trusted and reputable VPN can be the difference between privacy and vulnerability. We recommend staying away from the so-called free VPNs. Not only are they poor in terms of service, but they often carry risks – VPNs are not foolproof. Trusting a VPN is good but never think that you are fully anonymous on the internet.

Tor vs VPN: The concept behind Tor

Now coming to The Onion Router or Tor. It is a program that, unlike VPNs, is geared more towards anonymity rather than privacy. Tor popularly refers to the browser developed by the onion project. It is open-source software that is decentralized. The browser works on onion routing that uses the Tor network to grant access to the internet. The Tor is an overlay network that uses a volunteer-run relay system to function. Similar to VPNs, it also provides encryption to online traffic and uses relays (servers) to bounce communication to facilitate remote access to the internet. However, the encryption employed is multi-layered, like an onion, and bounces off multiple random nodes. At a glance, this seems overkill and sufficiently more than a VPN but is it?

The problem lies when the traffic enters and exits the Tor network, as these two points are identifiable. Unlike VPNs, it does not offer complete encryption of your online traffic. It can only encrypt the traffic of the browser (client). Another problem is the volunteer-run nodes/relays. It may seem perfectly fine from an anonymity point of view but is that volunteer trustable? Unlike VPN providers’ servers, Tor does not have any control over its volunteer-run servers. Before we discuss this issue further, let’s take a look at the working of Tor.

How Tor works

When you launch the Tor browser, it initiates a connection with a circuit.
- A series of at least three random nodes/relays consisting of the guard/entry relay and your exit/final relay form a circuit.
The Tor browser scrambles your traffic such that it undergoes multiple rounds of encryption.
Generally, the layers of encryption equate to the number of relays in the circuit.
Now the Tor browser contacts the guard node to forward your online traffic.
The guard node decrypts the first layer of encryption to obtain the address of the second node.

At this point, the guard node is aware of your IP address (and so is your ISP). However, it doesn’t know anything regarding your traffic due to additional encryption; neither content nor destination. It simply forwards your traffic to the next relay.

The exact process repeats itself at the second relay before it sends it further to the final node.
The final node receives this traffic and completes the decryption process. It knows the destination but not the originating source. The only IP it knows is of the last relay in the circuit.
It completes the communication with the website.

Note. The website will only learn the IP address of the final node and nothing else. The traffic is never completely decrypted before it leaves the network. It focuses on anonymity, as relays are entirely random.

Tor trust model

Tor is a decentralized system and thus, no one owns it. The service is heavily dependent on volunteer-operated servers. On top of that, it is open-source software. Thus, the weight of trust doesn’t lie with Tor, unlike VPN providers. What a user needs to trust is the source code and whether the platform itself is dependable. Now, Tor may seem a good choice but remember, it has a lot of stigmas attached to it. Tor is a frequent hotbed of criminals and illegal activities. From websites to official organizations, seemingly no one likes Tor, hence a person who never strays away from legal territory can get in trouble regardless. Besides, it is a frequent receiver of attacks, rather slow (due to encryption, mainly), and has darknet concerns. Nonetheless, it’s an irreplaceable part of many people’s online safety routine because they trust its power of apparent anonymity.

Note – Once again, we would like to remind the user that nothing is truly anonymous on the Internet. Tor may be a revolutionary piece of software, but we only recommend using it if necessary.

Pros and Cons of VPNs

VPNs are faster than Tor. They are versatile and offer service across almost every OS. On top of that, they also provide users with advanced tools, the best of which, for some, is dedicated customer support. It is a paid service, there are hundreds of VPNs available on the market but some logging policies leave a lot to be desired.

Several advantages and disadvantages of a VPN are below:

Pros	Cons
Fast internet connection	Paid service
Customer support	Susceptible to being compromised
Very versatile and compatible	Trust issues with data logging
The best solution for bypassing geo-blocks, censorship, and firewalls	Client failure potential
Advanced privacy tools	Too many VPN providers on the market
Network-wide security and privacy
State-of-the-art encryption protocols
Prevents bandwidth throttling
Easy to use

Pros and cons for Tor

Unlike VPNs, Tor is entirely free to use but painfully slow. It is a decentralized network that is almost impossible to shut down. It is not as accessible as VPNs, and its overt misuse regarding the darknet leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Additionally, using Tor, even for legal activities, may land you into trouble, even though it offers the next best thing to complete anonymity.

The benefits and drawbacks of Tor are as follows:

Pros	Cons
Free to use	Sluggish speed
Almost impossible to shut down	Not suitable for downloading and P2P traffic
Offers the closest thing to anonymity	Faces frequent attacks
Can effectively bypass Geo-blocks and censorship	Bad for location spoofing
Decentralized network	Websites and governments consciously boycott it due to its connection with the darknet.
Multi-layered encryption	Not as versatile as VPNs
It takes multiple relays before your communication reaches the destination	Offers security only to browser traffic
	No customer support
	Complex to understand and use fluently

When to use a VPN?

VPNs and Tor both have their unique merits and demerits. At times using a VPN is beneficial to a user, and at certain times nothing comes closer to using Tor. It may not be better at anonymity than Tor, but it has its moments. Listed below are some reasons when it is wise to use a VPN:

When you want to bypass censorship — A VPN can allow you to access websites blocked by the local government to circumvent censorship. Tor also allows users to do the same however it is easily recognized and countered.
To access geo-restricted websites — To access geo-restricted websites, one has to spoof an IP address. Tor is not suitable for it as the servers are random. However, a VPN can solve this.
To prevent ISP throttling — Sometimes, your ISP practices bandwidth throttling according to your browsing habits. A VPN can hide your online frolics and thus prevent ISP throttling.
If privacy is your primary concern — VPN provides privacy and security across the whole device. It means anything that goes out of your device is encrypted. Tor doesn’t offer this level of safety.
On a public Wi-Fi — VPNs can aid you in maintaining safety on a public Wi-Fi network.
For torrenting — Tor is slow and thus unreliable for downloads. VPN can not only keep you safe while torrenting, but it is faster than Tor.
When you want to overcome firewalls — Leaving aside those national firewalls that practice DPI techniques, VPN can circumvent any firewall for you, such as your school or college network.

When to use Tor?

Similarly, there are times when using a Tor is undoubtedly better than a VPN. For example, when you must transmit sensitive data, it is wise to use Tor, hence why it’s the top choice for political activists and journalists. You can prefer Tor when:

You want anonymity — If you prefer anonymity to security, Tor is the best option for you.
You have trust issues regarding VPNs — Many users don’t trust the logging policies of a VPN, and rightly so. For them, Tor can be a worthwhile alternative.
If you’re interested in .onion sites — The sites with .onion in URL aren’t always illegal. If you want access for the sake of bypassing censorship or such, you must use Tor.
You have a sensitive job like a journalist or an activist — Some communications are highly volatile and can’t be subject to leaks. If you have a high-pressure job like an activist or a lawyer, use Tor for classified conversations.

Privacy vs anonymity debate: VPN vs Tor

At this point in the article, we feel it’s safe to conclude that VPNs and Tor have several distinct similarities and glaring differences that set them apart. One difference that we already discussed is the trust issues of VPN vs Tor. Another point worth noticing is that VPNs are more inclined towards a wholesome experience, central to your privacy. Meanwhile, Tor challenges the issue of anonymity adamantly. In short, VPN focuses on hiding what you do, while Tor hides who you are.

VPNs are legal tax-paying corporations. As such, they maintain records, believe it or not. If served with a compliance notice, they will have to hand over whatever the authorities require as per the law. True, some VPNs have a robust logging policy that will render the attempts to gain access to information moot, as there won’t be anything of value to salvage. However, this logging will only keep your online activity safe and hidden. Remember that VPNs need payment, which usually, but not always, require a transaction with centralized currency. Such records will comply with the law and get handled promptly. So with a VPN, you can never be anonymous. With a high-quality one, what you do online remains a mystery.

Tor, on the other hand, requires no such records to be maintained because it isn’t an entity as it pursues anonymity. It is hard to track someone on a Tor network with multiple encryption and relays in play. We’ll remind you that its use exposes your IP address within an entry node, and is associated with the dark web. Therefore, using Tor can predestine problems for you.

Overview of differences: Tor vs VPN

Basis	VPN	Tor
Organization structure	Centralized. It is a commercial service.	It is decentralized.
Network structure	It works like LAN.	It is an overlay network that runs on a volunteer system.
Software features	VPN services have advanced tools to aid in security.	Tor browser runs out of an old modded version of Firefox with no additional tools.
Accessibility	Services are available across almost every platform (routers, smart TV, and game stations included).	Provides only minimal support on popular operating systems.
Speed	Much faster than Tor.	Very slow due to multiple relays and encryption.
Access to geo-restricted websites	Yes, it can access restricted websites as the user can pinpoint which servers to use.	Unable to spoof IP address as the servers are random.
Torrenting	VPNs are suitable for torrents.	Since it is slow, it is not fit for torrents.
Customer support	VPNs provide a complete package that includes customer support to aid you with your queries.	Tor doesn’t provide any support to its users.
Legal Reputation	It is a legal entity but banned in some countries.	Although legal, Tor is much more infamous than VPNs due to the darknet association.
Online security	VPNs protect what you do online. They are more about your privacy than anonymity.	Tor hides who you are and offers the closest thing to anonymity.
Ease of use	A VPN is simple and easy to use.	Tor is easy to get & use but tweaking requires some knowledge.
Vulnerability	Depending on your provider, a VPN can be very robust or too easy to get around.	The exit nodes on Tor will always pose a risk.
Trust	You have to completely trust a provider to use a VPN. Your provider can log everything you do online.	Unlike VPNs, Tor isn’t a single entity, which boosts trustworthiness.