VPN vs proxy: what is the difference and which one do you need?

Use a VPN for privacy and security: on public Wi-Fi, to keep your internet provider from seeing which sites you visit, or to protect every app on a device at once. Use a proxy when one tool needs to appear from a particular place, such as checking how your website looks from another country or monitoring public prices, and privacy is not the point.

A VPN app creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and a VPN server. The operating system routes all traffic into that tunnel, from browsers and apps to background updates. Your network and your internet provider see only encrypted traffic going to one server, and websites see the server's IP address instead of yours.

Because it works at the system level, a VPN can also enforce rules that no proxy can, such as a kill switch that stops all traffic if the tunnel drops. Modern protocols keep the overhead small, especially when the server is close to you. Our protocol guide compares the options.

A proxy is a server that makes requests on your behalf. You enter its address, port and login in an app, such as a browser, a script or a testing tool, and that app sends its requests through it. Everything else on the device keeps using your normal connection.

The common types are HTTP proxies, which handle web traffic, and SOCKS5 proxies, which can carry other kinds of connections too. The connection between you and a standard proxy is not encrypted, but when you visit an HTTPS site through it, the page itself stays encrypted between your app and the site.

Proxies differ mostly in where their IP addresses come from. Datacenter proxies are fast and cheap. Residential proxies use home connections, which makes them look like ordinary visitors and also makes them slower and more expensive. Our guide to residential proxies goes deeper.

Setting up a proxy in common tools

• Firefox keeps its own proxy settings (Settings, then Network Settings, then Manual proxy configuration), so a proxy there does not affect other apps.
• Chrome and Edge use the system proxy settings on most platforms, so a proxy set there applies to other apps too. A separate browser profile with a proxy extension keeps it contained.
• Command-line tools usually accept a proxy option, such as curl -x, or the HTTPS_PROXY environment variable.
• Testing tools and scrapers have a proxy section where you enter the gateway, the port, the login and the password.

Two other kinds of product blur the line. Most browser extensions sold as VPNs are really proxies: they route the browser's traffic through a server, while every other app on the device keeps using your normal connection. Unless the extension also controls WebRTC, video-call features can still go around it. They are handy for quick tasks in one browser, not for protecting a device.

Smart DNS services only change which DNS server answers your lookups, so that some sites think you are somewhere else. Nothing is encrypted and your IP address does not change, so Smart DNS is not a privacy tool at all.

If you are unsure what a product really is, check one thing: does it add a VPN connection to your system's network settings? If it does, it is a VPN. If it only lives inside the browser, or only asks you to change DNS servers, it is not.

• From websites: both hide your real IP address, as long as nothing leaks. Browser proxies are more prone to WebRTC leaks; see our leak testing guide.
• From your Wi-Fi and internet provider: a VPN hides which sites you visit. A proxy does not hide that you are talking to the proxy, and anything unencrypted is visible on the way to it.
• From the operator: both the VPN provider and the proxy operator could see where your traffic goes. That is why the logging policy matters. Read what we store and never store.
• From trackers and cookies: neither. Cookies, logins and browser fingerprints identify you whatever your IP address. Use tracker blocking and separate browser profiles for that.

• On public Wi-Fi in cafes, hotels, airports and trains. Our public Wi-Fi guide covers the details.
• To keep your internet provider or the local network from seeing which sites you visit.
• To protect apps you cannot configure one by one, such as games, messaging apps and system updates.
• When travelling, for a consistent, private connection on networks you do not know.

• Checking how your own website, prices or ads appear to visitors in another country.
• Tracking search rankings from particular cities or countries.
• Monitoring public prices and availability across markets.
• Running one tool through another location while the rest of the device stays on your normal connection.

A proxy is the wrong tool for faking your location to earn rewards, complete offers or surveys, or open extra accounts. That is fraud, and our Acceptable Use Policy forbids it whatever tool is used.

Many people need both: a VPN for everyday privacy and a little residential proxy traffic for work. BoltVeil puts the two in one account. Plus covers the VPN from $4.99 a month, Pro adds 1 GB of residential proxy traffic every month and Max adds 5 GB, with prepaid packs if you need more. See pricing and the list of VPN locations.

You can also run them together. Connect the VPN for the whole device, then point one tool at the proxy. That tool's requests travel through the VPN tunnel to the proxy gateway and leave from a residential address, while everything else leaves from the VPN server.