Why a VPN app is always better than a VPN plugin
If you want to use the internet privately and securely, then you need a VPN. But with all the different types of VPNs available, how do you decide between using a VPN app and a VPN plugin (or VPN browser)?
On the surface, it seems that using a VPN plugin is the better choice. After all, they’re almost always free and comparatively easy to install. And in the case of VPN browsers, the VPN already comes pre-installed in your web browser. What’s not to like with a VPN service that requires no payment, no subscription account, and only a few clicks to install?
Before you decide to entrust your online privacy and security to VPN plugins and browsers, here are a few things you should consider.
A VPN plugin or browser only protects your browser traffic, not the rest of your network traffic
Installing a VPN plugin onto your web browser or using a VPN browser protects all of your browser traffic and nothing else. So if you have a VPN Plugin on Chrome, all of your Chrome traffic is encrypted and protected from prying eyes. However, if you use Outlook, Skype, or any other tool that exchanges information online, that traffic will not be protected by a VPN plugin or browser (which can leak your IP address anyway).
In essence, there is not much technical difference between a VPN plugin and an encrypted HTTP proxy. Although you’ll see your IP address change when checking a “what is my IP” website, your other applications will still use your home IP, effectively de-anonymizing you and leaving your traffic vulnerable to snooping by internet service providers.
To completely protect all of your network traffic, you need a VPN app.
Using a free plugin or browser means you’re likely paying with your privacy
Virtually all VPN plugins and browsers on the market are free, which should be cause for caution instead of celebration. This is because maintaining the servers required to power a VPN service is expensive. So, if providers are not receiving revenue from customers, they are almost certainly making it from other means.
For example, some providers may choose to use cheap infrastructure to save money, resulting in slow and unstable connections. Others may decide to limit their technology upgrades and customer support in order to cut costs. Worse still, some providers may sell user logs and IP addresses to third parties, which defeats the purpose of a VPN in the first place.
A VPN app is the best choice for internet privacy and security
Given these concerns, a VPN app remains the most professional option for safeguarding your online life. Not only does it encrypt and protect all of your device’s network traffic, but paying a small subscription fee also ensures that your provider can continually invest in upgrading its technology and maintaining its hardware. The result is increased privacy, comprehensive security, and unlimited online freedom. And that’s something worth paying for.
On the surface, it seems that using a VPN plugin is the better choice. After all, they’re almost always free and comparatively easy to install. And in the case of VPN browsers, the VPN already comes pre-installed in your web browser. What’s not to like with a VPN service that requires no payment, no subscription account, and only a few clicks to install?
Before you decide to entrust your online privacy and security to VPN plugins and browsers, here are a few things you should consider.
A VPN plugin or browser only protects your browser traffic, not the rest of your network traffic
Installing a VPN plugin onto your web browser or using a VPN browser protects all of your browser traffic and nothing else. So if you have a VPN Plugin on Chrome, all of your Chrome traffic is encrypted and protected from prying eyes. However, if you use Outlook, Skype, or any other tool that exchanges information online, that traffic will not be protected by a VPN plugin or browser (which can leak your IP address anyway).
In essence, there is not much technical difference between a VPN plugin and an encrypted HTTP proxy. Although you’ll see your IP address change when checking a “what is my IP” website, your other applications will still use your home IP, effectively de-anonymizing you and leaving your traffic vulnerable to snooping by internet service providers.
To completely protect all of your network traffic, you need a VPN app.
Using a free plugin or browser means you’re likely paying with your privacy
Virtually all VPN plugins and browsers on the market are free, which should be cause for caution instead of celebration. This is because maintaining the servers required to power a VPN service is expensive. So, if providers are not receiving revenue from customers, they are almost certainly making it from other means.
For example, some providers may choose to use cheap infrastructure to save money, resulting in slow and unstable connections. Others may decide to limit their technology upgrades and customer support in order to cut costs. Worse still, some providers may sell user logs and IP addresses to third parties, which defeats the purpose of a VPN in the first place.
A VPN app is the best choice for internet privacy and security
Given these concerns, a VPN app remains the most professional option for safeguarding your online life. Not only does it encrypt and protect all of your device’s network traffic, but paying a small subscription fee also ensures that your provider can continually invest in upgrading its technology and maintaining its hardware. The result is increased privacy, comprehensive security, and unlimited online freedom. And that’s something worth paying for.
Here are some of the best Chrome VPNs for you to check out.
Hola Better Internet
Hola Unblocker is a free extension for Chrome that uses a slightly different system than others. The free version of it uses bandwidth of users connected to it to power its service. This works similar to how torrent downloads work.
This cannot be disabled but users can sign up to become Premium users so that their devices are not used as a peer to power the service.
A premium account is available for $5 per month or $3.75 per month if paid yearly in advanced.
Free users don't need to create an account to use Hola Unblocker. It works automatically right after installation in Google Chrome.
A click on the icon in the address displays custom information. If you are on a specific site, you can select a remote server location that you want used for the connection.
Other options include opening the options, or configuring specific site and country links so that these connections are established automatically by the application when a connection to the site is made.
Performance: While connections to US-based and German-based websites worked fine and without any performance issues -- buffering for instance -- issues were noticed during connections to sites based in the UK. While contents loaded fine, buffering was an issue as the stream paused frequently.
DotVPN
DotVPN has been around since 2014 and is now starting to gain serious traction. It has more than 500,000 users according to the Chrome Web Store, and has an average review score of 4 stars (from almost 5,000 reviews).
Some of its best features include:
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 12 virtual locations (Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom)
- Unlimited switches between locations
The developers are also keen to underline the security benefits; it uses 4096-bit key encryption – that’s two times greater than modern banking standards
ZenMate VPN
ZenMate VPN brands itself as a “cyber security solution”. They have a worldwide network of highly secure proxy servers which encrypt your information and protect you from malicious websites.
The ZenMate VPN service can be broken down into three parts – Internet privacy, Wi-Fi security, and unrestricted Internet access.thing about it.
With regards to privacy, this will prevent trackers from banner ads, website analytics, and social media following you around the web. From a Wi-Fi perspective it will add an extra line of defense when you’re on unsecured public networks, and from an unrestricted Internet standpoint it will help you overcome geo-blocking.
With regards to privacy, this will prevent trackers from banner ads, website analytics, and social media following you around the web. From a Wi-Fi perspective it will add an extra line of defense when you’re on unsecured public networks, and from an unrestricted Internet standpoint it will help you overcome geo-blocking.
ZenMate VPN also offers a premium service which improves the speed, adds extra locations, and offers 24/7 support. It’s available from $7.99 per month.
Hotspot Shield
Hotspot Shield is one of the new kids on the block.
Before we discuss its features, it is important to note that the service is operated by Anchor Free. Anchor is widely considered to be one of the most reliable companies in the industry; it’s more than 10 years old, has seen in excess of 400 million downloads across its different apps, and currently has 20 million active users in 190 countries.
In terms of the service, it’s both free and unlimited and has versions available for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, OS X, and Windows.
Like ZenMate, there is also a premium version of Hotspot Shield. It starts at $2.08 per month, depending on your subscription length.
Tunnello
Tunnello is a browser VPN for the Google Chrome web browser that is offered for free currently as it is in beta. Speed and bandwidth are not limited during the beta.
The service offers connections to servers in 12 different regions currently including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France and Spain.
Please note that you need to register an account before you can start using the service.
The interface lets you pick one of the servers and either connect to it or disconnect from it. The only other option is WebRTC leak protection that is enabled by default.
Performance: The performance of the VPN is good but not best in class. I got about 25 Mbps download and 7-8 Mbps upload on all servers on a 50/10 Mbit line. Testing streaming services worked fine for the most part but some commercial services did not.
CyberGhost VPN
CyberGhost VPN is another provider that makes privacy and security its main selling points, rather than geo-blocking. According to its website, the service is responsible for blocking nearly 150 million adverts, 210,000 malicious websites, and 260 million tracking attempts.
CyberGhost VPN list nine key features of its service:
- Ease of Use: One click on/off button
- Protection from hackers, cyber scams, bank-account thefts, and phishing e-mail fraud
- Anonymous browsing
- Ad-free browsing
- An ISO-certified supplier which releases an annual “Transparency Report”
- Worldwide geo-unblocking
- Protection against malicious sites
- Data compress for mobile hotspots
- And finally, forced HTTPS connections where available
The premium version is $3.79 per month.
Browsec VPN
Browsec VPN claims to be “an advanced analog of ZenMate, Stealthy, Hola, and frigate”.
Its main benefits are letting its users access any sites from anywhere, enhancing user privacy online, and protecting user data from sniffers and trackers.
It makes a big push on the geo-blocking, but rather than focus on opening up content from different countries’ stores on Netflix or BBC, Browsec VPN instead mention services like Spotify, Pandora, and SoundCloud – some of which are completely blocked in certain regions.
Browsec VPN also advertises its service as a way to access sites that are blocked on office or school computers, such as Facebook, Reddit, and YouTube.
Browsec VPN also advertises its service as a way to access sites that are blocked on office or school computers, such as Facebook, Reddit, and YouTube.
TunnelBear VPN
Of all the services we’ve discussed in this list, TunnelBear has the best reviews – an unprecedented 5 stars from almost 10,500 individual ratings at the time of writing. Rather than being a true VPN, this service is actually an encrypted proxy.
Readers who’ve been working with VPNs for a long time will be well-aware of the brand name; TunnelBear VPN has been around for many years and has made very successful desktop-based products for both Windows and Mac.
There is one key difference between this Chrome extension and the desktop offerings, and it’s an important one to understand — TunnelBear for Chrome only encrypts your browser traffic, whereas TunnelBear VPN for desktop encrypts 100 percent of your data.
TunnelBear boasts some of the fastest speeds of all the VPNs on this list and has servers available in 20 countries worldwide.
