5 Best VPNs for Tor to Maximize Online Privacy
Combine Tor with a VPN for unbreakable online privacy
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Key notes
- Tor masks your IP address, allowing you to browse anonymously.
- It also lets you access a series of so-called hidden services, most of which aren't legal.
- These pages aren't very regulated, so you risk getting your data stolen or being tracked.
- For this reason, it's recommended you use a VPN alongside Tor, for maximum privacy.
If anonymity and privacy are your foremost concern, you should be using VPNs to browse the Internet. However, only VPNs are not enough.
With Tor, your connection is routed via a number of nodes (relays) maintained by volunteers all over the world. And VPN will protect your IP address from the ISP as well.
Not all VPNs support Tor. This is why we have looked at the best VPNs with Tor support and reviewed them for speed, data leak, IP Hide, and security features.
Why use a VPN with Tor?
In authoritarian countries, the government heavily monitors user behavior online. Journalists, activists to ordinary citizens might get into trouble for accessing any data that is censored by the govt.
While the govt agencies ask Internet Service Providers to block access to websites and services, people usually use VPN to bypass the restrictions to access contents that are otherwise blocked in the country.
Even if you are using VPN, the VPN provider knows your IP address and locations. You have to take your VPN provider’s word for the privacy policy and trust them blindly.
If you are looking for the best VPNs that work with Tor, this article will help you find the ones with the most features and affordable price tags.
Best VPNs to use with Tor (The Onion Router)
ExpressVPN – Best overall
ExpressVPN offers top-notch security, and reliable speed as well as thousands of servers in over 90 countries that allow you to bypass censorship and unblock geo-restricted content.
For security, ExpressVPN relies on 256-AES encryption. Along with that, you can connect via multiple VPN secure protocols such as OpenVPN or Lightway.
This Tor-supported VPN also has a strict no-logging policy, none of your activity is tracked by ExpressVPN.
This VPN is also very reliable when it comes to speed. We tested it and were able to reach a maximum of 84 Mbps download, and 52 Mbps upload speed over a 100 Mbps connection.
One of the most notable features of this VPN is that it can unblock geo-restricted content on Netflix and Amazon Prime, as well as other geo-restricted platforms.
It also offers basic VPN features such as IP hiding, Killswitch, P2P server support, and cross-platform support.
✔️ Pros
- Tor over VPN supported
- 2000+ servers in 94 countries
- Multi-platform support
- Unblock Netflix
- Strong encryption protocol
❌ Cons
- Pricier than other VPNs
- Only supports 5 simultaneous connections
ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is a solid VPN service that works great even with Tor.NordVPN – Best obfuscation features
NordVPN is one of the highly rated VPNs that comes with all the security features, reliability as well as speed. It comes in both monthly as well as yearly plans for short-term and long terms users.
For that extra layer of protection, NordVPN supports Onion over VPN which allows you to route your traffic through VPN and then send it to the onion routers.
NordVPN relies on 256-AES-CBC encryption to protect user data and supports OpenVPN along with other tunneling protocols.
During the speed testing, NordVPN performed better than average reaching 74 Mbps down and 46 Mbps up on the EU server.
SmartPlay features in the VPN allow you to unblock Geo-restricted content on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and BBC, etc.
It also comes with DNS leak protection and Kill-Switch to terminate the connection when the VPN connection is interrupted.
✔️ Pros
- Tor support
- Netflix unblocking supported
- Kill Switch available
- Six devices simultaneous connection
❌ Cons
- Expensive monthly plans
NordVPN
NordVPN is an excellent service that goes great with Tor.Private Internet Access – Largest server network
Private Internet Access is the perfect VPN to use in conjunction with Tor Browser.
While keeping your data secure, you also benefit from all the other features of PIA and you can connect to one of their thousands of servers worldwide.
Using the Tor Browser is a good way of keeping your data safe. IP theft has been on the rise in the last years and taking precautions against this is common sense.
For much better online security, you pair Tor with this VPN and benefit from both layers of security.
Your initial IP is masked by the VPN, which is then routed by the Tor browser, and out the other end comes a secure and encrypted stream of data.
✔️ Pros:
- Military-grade data encryption
- P2P support
- WireGuard®, PPTP, OpenVPN and L2TP/IPSec protocols
- SOCKS5 Proxy Included
- Multiple VPN gateways
- No traffic logs
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Protection for up to 10 devices simultaneously
❌ Cons:
- Can’t unlock all streaming apps
Private Internet Access
Private Internet Access and Tor Browser work together to keep you completely safe and anonymous when online!CyberGhost – Great cross-platform apps
With over 2900 servers in 59 countries, CyberGhost is a popular VPN client. CyberGhost is compatible with Tor and other proxy services and makes your connection a little more secure than using a bare VPN.
It comes with all the essential features of a VPN including IP hiding, Killswitch and multiple device connections to up to 7 devices simultaneously.
We did not find any instances of data leaks in our testing. The user policy is clear regarding data logging as well.
Moreover, it is a cross-platform software that can be used on your computer as well as portable handled devices like smartphones.
If you want to use CyberGhost for downloading torrents, its Torrent Anonymously feature helps you to download torrents using untraceable servers.
It also uses dedicated IP addresses for unblocking streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
On the speed front, CyberGhost is not the fastest of the lot. Upon testing, CyberGhost reached a maximum download speed of 52 Mbps and upload speed of 23 Mbps which can again vary depending on the server.
✔️ Pros
- Tor and proxy server compatible
- No log files saved
- Simple user interface
- Torrenting supported
❌ Cons
- Short-time plans can get costly
CyberGhost
Want a trustworthy VPN that will work with Tor? Try CyberGhost VPN.IPVanish – Great speed rates
If you only want Tor support for web browsing on a VPN, then IPVanish can be a good choice. It comes with all the essential features related to security while offering good transfer speed as well.
IPVanish is a US-based company but does have a strict no-logging policy. We did not find any case of data leak while using the VPN.
One of the advantages of using IPVanish is its speed. On a 100 Mbps connection, we reached a maximum download speed of 83 Mbps while the upload speed was decent at 44 Mbps.
The software comes with a simple user interface. You can manually select the servers based on the country and city or let the software find the best-performing server for you.
IPVanish uses the AES-256 encryption protocol to safeguard your data even from brute force attacks. For tunnelling, it uses SOCKS5 Web proxy along with other protocols including OpenVPN, PPTP, and L2TP.
Another advantage of using IPVanish is that it supports up to 10 devices with a simultaneous connection which is more than other VPNs is offering.
You can download Torrents without any problem and also unblock online streaming sites like Netflix with ease.
IPVanish offers everything you need in a VPN. Speed, security, Tor support as well as affordable plans that come with a money-back guarantee.
✔️ Pros
- Limited Tor support
- Up to 10 simultaneous connections to multiple devices
- Unlimited torrenting
- Strong encryption
❌ Cons
- US-based
IPVanish
Your old VPN doesn’t seem to get along with Tor? Why not upgrade to IPVanish?Tor is an incredible tool to protect your privacy and comes in handy when you want to deal with sensitive data and don’t want the authorities to get hold of it.
However, using Tor with VPNs will provide ultimate protection. You can not only keep your activities from your ISP safe but also everyone else.
We have selected only VPNs that are compatible with Tor so that you don’t end up buying a VPN that is not compatible with Tor.
Do let us know your favourite VPN service provider in the comment below.
