Tor vs VPN
Both hide your IP address, but a VPN trusts one company while Tor — the onion router — trusts none. Here’s how they compare, and which one actually fits what you’re protecting.
A VPN and Tor both hide your IP address, but they make very different trade-offs about speed, trust, and anonymity. A VPN routes your traffic through one company’s server; Tor routes it through three independent relays run by strangers who never see the full picture. Which is “better” depends entirely on what you’re protecting against.
| VPN | Tor (The Onion Router) | |
|---|---|---|
| Hides your IP | Yes | Yes |
| Who can see everything | The VPN provider | No single relay ever does |
| Trust model | Trust one company | Trust no single party |
| Speed | Fast | Slower by design |
| Cost | Usually a subscription | Free network |
| Best for | Streaming, general privacy | Strong anonymity |
How a VPN works
A VPN builds one encrypted tunnel from your device to a server the provider runs. Websites see the server’s address instead of yours, and your internet provider sees only that you’re connected to a VPN. It’s fast and simple — but the provider can see everything you do, so their honesty and logging policy is the whole game.
How Tor works
Tor, the onion router, sends your traffic through three relays, each peeling back one layer of encryption. The entry relay knows your address but not your destination; the exit relay knows your destination but not you. No one operator sees both ends, which is why Tor gives stronger anonymity than any single-server VPN.
Many people searching for a VPN hardware router or the “best VPN for using Tor” actually want what Tor already provides: network-wide anonymity without trusting one company. If that’s you, a hardware Tor router is the more direct answer.
Can you use Tor and a VPN together?
Yes — connecting to a VPN and then Tor hides your Tor use from your internet provider, while Tor still keeps the VPN from seeing your activity. It adds latency, and it only helps in specific threat models, but it’s a valid layered setup.
Where THOR fits
THOR is a hardware Tor router: it puts the onion router on a dedicated box so every device on your network is anonymized automatically, with a kill switch that stops traffic if the circuit drops. If you want VPN-style “set it and forget it” convenience but Tor-grade anonymity, that’s the gap THOR fills. See how a hardware Tor router works, or read the onion router explainer. Prefer a classic VPN router instead? We build VPN routers too.
Skip the setup. Plug in and disappear.
THOR ships pre-configured and tested · $199.99 · free worldwide shipping.