I’m fairly certain this post might end up revealing my lack of knowledge on this topic rather than being a sound technical question, but here goes:
Why are most people keen on VPN services when TOR was present all along? Is it just because TOR is “slower” than VPNs or some other reason related to access?
Here are the points that confuse me:
- Many services block TOR.
True, but that’s the case with VPNs too. Netflix, Spotify, or some government website (won’t specify which country) will give you a tough time when they detect VPN use.
- Your ISP will know you used TOR.
Sure, but they also know that you used a VPN. Not sure why so many people use this argument. Besides, if you use TOR bridges, your ISP won’t know it.
- VPNs are super helpful when trying to circumvent CG-NAT.
And you’d be right there. Accessing clearnet to serve or host a service is much easier with a VPN. But then again, most people aren’t trying to circumvent their CG-NAT to host service. They’re trying to use the web more generally.
This post was inspired by my utter disillusionment of Mullvad.
TOR is mostly designed to run within the Tor Browser or specialized operating systems like Tails or Whonix. While it is possible to use Tor systemwide on a normal OS, it comes with many problems, such as slow connection speeds, very limited bandwidth, no split tunneling, and other technical network limitations. VPNs, in comparison, usually provide a better user experience, but privacy-wise, Tor is the superior tool.