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Tor Browser: what it does that a VPN cannot

Tor and a VPN are often set against each other. In fact they do different jobs.

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No card, no account. The key is cut and delivered in Telegram in about a minute.

  • 60 sfrom the bot to a working key
  • 5devices on one key
  • 6locations, two of them in the UK
  • 0logs kept
Locations
  • London9 ms
  • Manchester14 ms
  • Dublin19 ms
  • Amsterdam16 ms
  • Madrid34 ms
  • New York78 ms

Every location runs VLESS over Reality, which reads as ordinary HTTPS on a filtered network.

Hallmarks
  • Fits v2rayNG, Hiddify, V2Box, Streisand
  • No app of ours to lose
  • Five devices on one key
  • Five days free, then a flat price per term
  • No logs, no account

The difference in one paragraph

A VPN sends your traffic through one server run by one operator. Tor browser sends it through three relays run by volunteers, and each relay knows only its neighbours. Nobody along the path gets to see both your identity and your reading matter. That is a stronger kind of anonymity than any VPN can offer, since a VPN operator is a single point of trust by definition. What you give up is speed and ease. If you were asking what is tor web browser actually for: reading and publishing without being identified. iPlayer and online banking are not what it is built for.

How the two compare

Trust: Tor spreads it across three strangers. A VPN puts it in one company.
Speed: Tor crawls. A VPN on a close server stays near the pace of your normal line.
Coverage: Tor Browser shields only one browser, whereas a VPN takes in the entire device.
Friction: many sites show captchas to Tor users, or block them altogether.
Visibility: your provider can see that you are using Tor, though not what you open with it.
Cost: Tor is free and is run by a non profit organisation.

Is it legal in the UK?

Yes. Tor is lawful to download and to use here. The BBC even runs an official onion version of its news site, so that people in censored countries can reach it. What you do through Tor falls under the same laws as everything else you do online. Because UK providers can be required to keep connection records, the fact that you connected to the Tor network may be recorded, even though the contents are not.

Getting it safely

1Download it only from torproject.org, or from the official listing on Google Play for Android.
2On iPhone, the Tor Project recommends Onion Browser.
3Leave the window size and the settings alone. Changing them makes your browser stand out.
4Do not add extensions.
5Update when it prompts you to.

Using both together

If you connect the VPN first and then open Tor Browser, your provider sees an ordinary encrypted session and not a Tor connection. That also helps on networks that block Tor. The anonymity still comes from Tor. All the VPN alters is how that first hop appears to onlookers. With a Royal Key that means connecting the client and then opening Tor Browser, with no special settings. The reverse order, Tor first and a VPN after it, is fiddly to arrange and rarely worth the effort, so we do not describe it here.

Sensible rules

✓Leave torrenting well alone on Tor.
✓Do not sign in to personal accounts during the same session as sensitive reading.
✓Expect pages to load slowly.
✓A .onion address will open only inside Tor Browser.
✓We do not support unlawful use, whether through Tor or without it.

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Tor Browser: what it does that a VPN cannot - 10 days free

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  • Your key arrives in Telegram within a minute
  • No card, no email address, no ID checks
  • Fits a client you may already have
  • Covers five devices
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The ledger

We keep no ledger of you, only of the key

Royal Key holds three things: a Telegram chat, the key sent to it and the date that key expires. No account sits behind them, so there is nothing for a log to attach to, and we never ask for a name, an email address or a phone number. It is a modest claim, and we prefer it to pretending that no jurisdiction could ever reach us.

Nothing on file
  • No account, email address or phone number
  • No record of the sites you visit
  • No connection times or IP addresses kept
  • No card details: you pay inside Telegram
  • No renewal and no charge you did not choose

At the counter

Asked at the counter

Am I allowed to use Tor in Britain?

Yes. Downloading and using it is lawful.

Tor or a VPN: which is safer?

For staying anonymous, Tor, because no single relay knows both ends. For everyday privacy on shared Wi-Fi, a VPN is the practical tool.

Why does every page crawl?

Your traffic is bounced between three volunteer machines, often on different continents.

Does BT or Sky know that I am using it?

They can tell that you connected to the Tor network, unless a VPN or a bridge comes first. They cannot see what you read.

Are my other apps protected?

No. Only what happens inside Tor Browser uses the Tor network.

Is there any point in running both?

Yes, if you want to hide Tor use from your provider, or want the rest of the device covered too.

Question not on the list?

The bot that cuts keys also answers questions. The setup section names the client to install.

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