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Is Orbot a good VPN? Check our honest review

6 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

Orbotis a nifty security/privacy application that can keep your mobile communications private while you’re online. It’s based on Tor, but it’s only available for Android phones.

As you probably figured it out already, you can’t exactly use it on Windows 10. Tor and its browser are enough protection and basically offer the same thing for your Windows 10 PC.

Many take Orbot for a dedicatedVPNservice, which is not exactly true. While Orbot does offer someVPNfeatures, it functions after a somewhat different set of rules.

Did we mention that it’s entirely free to use?

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Is Orbot a VPN?

Long story short, no, Orbot is not aVPNfor your Android phone. What this project manages to do instead is bring Tor functionality to Android phones. It’s optimized for these devices, so you can rest assured that it’s not just some port.

Orbot lets you connect to the Internet in a secure, private manner. You’re maybe thinking: right, but that’s the same thing aVPNdoes, so how is Orbot any different? Well, the truth is that thisapphas the best of both proxy servers andVPNs.

Proxy vs. VPN

Proxy servers let you access certain websites and services on the Internet by offering you a gateway. AVPNestablishes a secure tunnel to any server in its network.

Both proxies andVPNsmask your IP address, but proxy servers are generally less secure due to a lack of encryption. AVPNencrypts your traffic, but it can be a bit slower than a proxy.

Orbot uses Tor to encrypt your traffic by redirecting it through various nodes around the world. The nodes are usually other Tor users, but there’s also a chance you can bounce through an exit relay hosted on a dedicated machine.

Long story short, Orbot can be rather deemed as Tor for Android phones with addedVPNfunctionality (includes aVPNmode).

What is VPN mode in Orbot?

As we’ve briefly mentioned above, thisappencompasses aVPNmode. Upon closer inspection, you may notice that it acts exactly like aVPN.

It even asks you for permission to manage your connection, just like any other AndroidVPNservice does.

However, Orbot has a bunch of extra features that regularVPNsmay lack. For instance, it’s widely known that many websites haveVPNfilters, which are used to detect and blockVPNtraffic. One such website is the US version of Netflix.

How good is Orbot VPN?

Considering that it’s based on Tor, Orbot’sVPNcan’t be blocked by websites as easily. Your connection will bounce through several nodes until finally reaching the website, which makes it harder to detect and block.

Furthermore, your traffic will be both encrypted and dispersed throughout all the nodes on your connection. This makes it tenfold harder to decrypt traffic, given that it’s not all in the same place.

Last, but not least, Orbot’sVPNfeature lets you enable it only for certainappson your phone. It kind of works like split tunneling, letting you choose whichapps‘ traffic will be encrypted.

How to use Orbot VPN

Install it on your device
Launch Orbot
Connect to a server
Toggle VPN mode

It’s worth mentioning that you can select theappsfor which Orbot will encrypt traffic. Selecting noapps(by default, noappsare selected) will enable a system-wideVPN.

Additionally, we’ve found some hints that the system-wideVPNonly works on rooted phones. However, we’ve tested it on a non-rooted phone and it seems to work just fine.

Configure Orbot

Note that from an accessibility standpoint, Orbot can be easily configured, as most of the customization options work on a disable/enable model.

However, you should refrain from bringing any changes to the default configuration unless you really know what you’re doing. Otherwise, you may break Orbot’s security and even its functionality.

Bonus: for Samsung devices

Reportedly, there’s anapprunning on Samsung devices that listens to port 9050, which Orbot uses by default. You can either locate theappsthat are listening on that port (use third-partyappssuch asNetstat), force stop them and disable them.

However, it’s far easier to just change Orbot’s default Tor SOCKS port from theapp.

How to use Orbot VPN on Windows 10

As we’ve clearly mentioned above, Orbot is Android-exclusive. Thus, not only is theapponly available for Android, but it’s also optimized for these devices alone.

In conclusion, you can’t run Orbot on your Windows 10 PC natively, so you’ll have to improvise.

Although you can either use a regularVPNor Tor on Windows to the same effect as Orbot, if you’re stubborn you’ll need an Android emulator such asBlueStacksor NoxPlayer.

Once you have the emulator installed on your PC, deploy theappon it as we’ve described above.

Apparently, theappworks without any major issues on Android emulators. However, it won’t be able to hide any traffic from outside the emulator. Furthermore, it may not be as secure as installing and running it on an Android device.

Final thoughts on using Orbot as a VPN

All things considered, if you want a private, secureVPNon your Android device, Orbot is a good place to start. It basically brings all of Tor’s functionality on your Android phone, with added capabilities.

If you plan on using Orbot on your Windows 10 PC, it might be too much hassle. Since theappis Android-exclusive, you’ll need an emulator to get things running, and you might even notice certain bugs during theapp‘s runtime.

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Is Orbot a good VPN? Check our honest review#

Is Orbot a VPN?#

Proxy vs. VPN#

What is VPN mode in Orbot?#

How good is Orbot VPN?#

How to use Orbot VPN#

How to use Orbot VPN on Windows 10#

Final thoughts on using Orbot as a VPN#