Proxy and VPN are both security services. They act as a security wall between the Internet and your PC. But, do you know what is the difference between them?
VPN works at system level. It means, when you turn on the VPN, all the incoming and outgoing traffic goes through the VPN. Means, all the applications on your PC are connected through the VPN.
However, Proxy works at application level. That means you can connect only specific applications using a Proxy.
What is Proxy? A proxy is a server between your PC and the internet that acts as a middle man to retrieve data from the internet while hiding your identity.
Proxy will hide your identity when you are visiting a website on the internet. Moreover, it also stores websites cache in the server. So, it loads the website faster when you open it again.
Though the Proxy has several benefits, it does not encrypt the data. This is where a VPN comes in.
What is a VPN? A VPN not only hides your identity but also protects your data by transferring it through a secure tunnel.
Hackers, government and internet service providers can track your online activity without you knowing it. Therefore, you require a much stronger security service than Proxy. That is a VPN.
Here are 7 Main Differences Between Proxy and VPN:
1. Encryption: Proxy Servers can hide/replace your IP address, but cannot Project the data. VPN can disguise your IP as well as protect the data transferred to and from the internet.
2. Speed: As the VPN sends and receives the data from different servers around the world with encryption, it might slow down the transfer speed. Whereas, proxies are comparatively faster than VPN.
3. Price: Proxy Servers are mostly free. Whereas, you need to pay monthly or yearly for using the VPN service. There are also free VPN services, but they have a usage limit and limited features.
4. Reliability: VPN services has a feature called Kill Switch, which disconnects the users from the internet when the secure connection goes down. However, proxy services do not offer such features.
5. Protection: When you activate a VPN, it protects the entire PC by encrypting all incoming and outgoing traffic. But, Proxy protects specific applications only.
6. Setting Up: Setting up a Proxy can be easy, if you are a moderate internet user. However, setting VPN is even easier. All you need to do is Download and Install the software, then just click on the ON/OFF button.
7. Compatibility: Not all applications support proxy. You can only set up a proxy on applications that supports proxy feature. But, VPN secures the entire computer by encrypting all incoming and outgoing data.
So, it depends on your usage. If you are a moderate internet user, you can go for a Proxy Server. However, if you want full protection, you must use VPN software.