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Both VPN and Proxy are the technologies that hide your IP address and keep your identity anonymous, but they work a bit differently. The proxy acts as a gateway to the software, but they are not encrypted.
A VPN tends to protect your entire internet connection from the moment you get connected to it. It is necessary for you to understand the difference between a VPN and a proxy if you don’t know which one to use when.
Go through this guide and learn more about a VPN and proxy and find out some differences between them.
Through this post, let’s have the same details in a different way! Let’s start with the basics.
What Is A VPN?
A VPN is a simulation of a private local area network that extends across the public network. A Local VPN client software establishes your connection with the VPN server and relays you to the destination anonymously.
The traffic going to the network from your computer is totally encrypted and all your web traffic appears to be coming from the virtual private network rather your personal computer/laptop.
The VPN tends to protect the user security and privacy, reducing the risk of your activities being tracked by some third-party.
The corporate VPNs are handled differently and are basically used by the employees of the company to connect to the proprietary network, letting them see and transmit the data while working remotely.
The consumer VPNs can be used by individuals to protect their identity and stay anonymous while browsing the internet. While comparing the VPNs with proxies, we are talking about consumer VPNs.
What Is A Proxy?
A proxy is much simpler than VPN and easier to use, though it is less versatile than a VPN. By using the functionalities that are included in the internet browser, the user can simply set their internet requests to go to a proxy server (independent server) first which will be responsible for making all the data requests on user’s behalf.
This will mask your IP address to add a basic level of anonymity to the internet browsing. It will even obscure the geolocation of the user as the destination server can only see the location of a proxy server.
One of the most common uses of a consumer proxy is simply to bypass the filters. The students make use of proxies to bypass the school blocks on certain online services and in a similar fashion, the people make use of proxies to bypass the filters and access restricted content on the web.
The use of the proxy server is basically established within the browser settings of the users. A few proxies might come with their client software, but most of them are available within the users’ browser settings.
VPN vs Proxy: A Few Differences
Though VPN and Proxy work in a similar fashion, still there are a few differences that might turn out to be the major differences when we talk about security, logging, and other aspects. Let’s check some of the differences between a VPN and a proxy.
1. Online Security
A VPN provides you a high-level military grade 256-bit AES encryption. It acts like a safe vault for the users. Once the user has established a connection with the VPN server, all the communications are encrypted.
However, a proxy offers low-level security. It works well on the SSL connection, but everything is vulnerable if the connection is non-SSL one.
2. Online Privacy
While using a VPN, all your private data and browsing sessions stay encrypted. Therefore, no intruder can easily break through the security and steal your vital data.
Even your ISP is unable to monitor your activities on the internet. But if you are using a proxy, anyone can intercept your personal data easily.
3. Online Freedom
Using a VPN, you can access just any website from anywhere across the world, but the proxy works for only a few geo-restrictions and it can hardly bypass the strong firewalls and censorships imposed for accessing a website or online media.
4. Speed
The VPN offers you good solutions to boost up the internet speed. Using SmartDNS technology, the speed can be optimized and streaming can be made better.
VPN hardly slows down the speed of your internet connection. The proxy compromises with your internet speed because of the overloaded servers.
5. Compatibility
A good VPN will always work with multiple platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and even with routers while the proxy is limited to a few browsers only. Proxy is less compatible than a VPN.
6. Reliability
A VPN is a sophisticated tool that ensures your online security, privacy and internet freedom. It ensures that no intruder can break through your network security and no-logs are stored.
It is also a reliable solution to access the internet without any fear. The proxy can bypass the geo-restrictions but provides no security. It can turn out to be dangerous for the people looking for a secured connection.
7. Stability
A quality VPN is always stable and ensures that the maximum server uptime is maintained. This is the reason why a VPN have multiple servers at different locations.
A proxy can crash many times because of the overload on its servers. Because most of the proxies are free, there is a huge load on the servers.
Why Choose A VPN Over A Proxy?
A VPN can turn out to be a much more reliable solution over a proxy for a user. The VPN can not only bypass the geo-restrictions, it is also capable of protecting your online privacy and securing your entire connection.
The Proxy only bypasses the geo-restrictions and only encrypts the SSL connections. This is one of the major reasons why most of the people prefer using a VPN over a Proxy.
The EndNote
A number of VPN services provide free Proxy, but it is recommended to go with a VPN only. A VPN is much more secure and reliable when compared to Proxy.
It can help you enjoy complete internet freedom with any fear and worries. Stay safe because the internet is a cruel world.
