Is a VPN or a proxy better?īefore working with either of these tools, remember that in this age of eroding privacy, nothing is completely safe. Much like HTTP proxies, they don't offer any encryption unless you're using SSL. They're popularly used for torrent services (not that we condone them) or for connecting to FTP and web servers.īecause SOCKS proxies have to handle much more data (think Blu-ray rips), they're generally slower than HTTP proxies that only handle browser-based traffic.

Socket Secure (SOCKS) proxies are more geared toward internet traffic above and beyond HTTP traffic from your browser.

Remember, even when connecting to a site that uses HTTPS, you aren't getting the same protection a good VPN can offer. When using an HTTP proxy server, your traffic remains completely unencrypted unless you connect using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) - this is the 's' at the end of 'https' in your browser's address bar. This is the type of proxy you will use if you want to browse the internet, as it can only be used to access websites. HTTP proxies have been around for a long time, and they're the easiest and fastest to use. But the same problem holds true for proxies. This is especially true when going with a discount VPN option. For example, our top pick for a VPN, ExpressVPN, is about $100 for a yearly subscription and about $13 for a monthly subscription.Ĭompare this price with the plethora of free proxies out there - many unsafe, but we'll cover that in the proxy section - and you see where someone might be tempted to just temporarily configure a free proxy to watch a YouTube video that is blocked in their country.Īnother downside of a VPN is that it can be a bit slow if a ton of people use the same host server. The first and probably biggest downside of a VPN is the price. Before you rush out and download a VPN client, though, there are some downsides you should be aware of. Set up is generally straightforward, making it a suitable option for many people. For the casual user, though, you'll probably be purchasing a VPN service and connecting to their server in order to browse the internet privately and securely.

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