Proxy servers and VPNs are the best tools for protecting your user identity and online privacy. Aside from that, both tools allow you to access geo-restricted and blocked content and provide a range of other services. 

Since more and more internet users are mentioning VPNs and proxies interchangeably, we felt the need to emphasize the difference between them. One protects your privacy, and the other doesn’t. 

Today’s article is about proxy vs VPN. Let’s see how the two differ from one another.

The Difference in Encryption

The biggest difference between proxy vs VPN is encryption. A VPN encrypts all incoming and outgoing data. You’re free to send and receive data, browse the internet as long as you please, without any fear of hacking attacks. 

In other words, third parties, advertising companies, various enterprises, government agencies, ISPs, and hackers won’t be able to track your online activities and see what you’ve been up to online. A proxy doesn’t do that, which is why you shouldn’t use them to handle sensitive data. 
The Difference in Pricing

While there are free VPNs out there, many experts and specialists in cybersecurity say that paid VPN service is a much better option. A VPN service provider charges a fee for their service, but they also offer more reliable performance, more secure connections, and more data privacy. 

A free VPN may be more available, affordable, and convenient, but these services are usually unreliable. These VPNs use only one connection, otherwise referred to as point-to-point tunneling protocol or PTTP, to protect your data, whereas paid VPNs utilize the latest data encryption protocols to keep your online privacy safe and secure. 

That’s why paying for a top-class VPN service is well worth it. In the world of proxy servers, you’ll find the majority of proxies to be free, resulting in proxy server connections dropping on a much more frequent level. It’s also worthy of mentioning that paid VPNs promote online privacy and are more intended for regular internet users than proxies. If you are interested in buying proxies from reliable providers, visit Oxylabs for more information. 

The Difference in Use

There is a great reason why proxies are more intended for businesses than VPNs. Since a VPN needs an operating system to work, they can be a bit slower than proxies, due to the time it takes to encrypt your data. 

They connect to your router and reroute all your traffic through the encryption tunnel. On the other hand, proxies are more intended for specific browsers or applications. It’s the main reason why so many companies lean more toward proxies than VPNs. 

Proxies are an excellent way to cover the application level and use the traffic rerouting on a browser or application. Still, since proxies don’t prevent hackers, government surveillance, and ISP tracking, you should think twice before using them to protect your sensitive business and personal data.
The Difference in Drawbacks

While proxy servers can hide your internet activity, they might interfere with your performance and disturb your downloading or streaming efforts. Other traffic and high ping times on proxies can slow down web page loading times. 

This is one of the biggest reasons why internet users and businesses choose to go with a paid proxy server, as this can speed up your connections by reducing the number of users. However, one of the biggest drawbacks of proxies is their security exploit vulnerability. 

They are prone to hack attacks and can result in stolen data and penetrated networks. On the other hand, they can record passwords and usernames, and track and store your browsing behavior, contributing to your anonymity online. 

VPNs also have one or two performance issues, depending on the number and proximity of servers you’re connecting with. They can also be more complex to set up and manage than proxies. 

Keep in mind that both VPNs and proxies can’t guarantee full anonymity while browsing. However, VPNs use HTTPS protocols to encrypt your traffic, which is more than proxies can do for you.
How to Decide Which One You Need

Security and privacy are the hottest topics today. Regardless of what you want to protect, your business data, or your private information, having some kind of protection is a smart way to go. 

Both VPNs and proxies can protect your privacy and data by providing an additional layer of protection and cybersecurity. However, both have their ups and downs. If you’re looking for a good security tool for remote work that provides a safe connection and access to your business resources, a VPN might just be the right solution for you. 

If it’s just data protection that you’re after, a VPN is for you. On the other hand, if your business requires you to know what web pages and sites your consumers are visiting daily, a proxy server is the tool you’re looking for.

Conclusion

VPNs are mostly used by regular internet users, while proxies are more commonly utilized by businesses. In addition, VPNs encrypt all outgoing traffic while proxies route only the traffic going through a specific tool. 

With all this in mind, we can safely conclude that both VPNs and proxies have a lot to offer in terms of privacy. It all comes down to what you need and want.