VPN and Smart DNS proxies are handy if you want to hide your digital identity from various online services. However, their functionality is wildly different, and one of them is considerably more effective than the other at safekeeping your privacy.
It’s no secret that VPNs are one of the most efficient ways to anonymize your online traffic, but they’re not the only privacy protection tool on the market.
Proxies, Tor and even the Incognito mode of some browsers can help you evade online profiling and prevent various entities from monitoring and logging your traffic.
However, few know of another type of service that can protect your privacy, called Smart DNS (also referred to as smart DNS, SmartDNS, or Smart DNS proxy).
Although Smart DNS proxies and VPNs seem to work in a similar way, several factors set them apart.
A DNS (Domain Name System) works like a phonebook for Internet-enabled devices: it let you access websites and other online services by using domain names instead of IP addresses.
Most users rely on ISP-supplied DNS servers. While this is not inherently wrong, your ISP (or network administrator) can easily prevent you from accessing certain websites by blacklisting their domains. The good news is that you can circumvent this by changing your ISP-issued DNS server.
Changing your DNS is perfectly legal, reversible and, unless your ISP has some hardwired limitations, it’s also a great way to circumvent geoblocking (geo-restrictions).
A smart DNS consists of DNS and proxy technologies to spoof your actual geographical location. The way this service works is quite simple:
At this point, a smart DNS service looks like a regular proxy, which is technically accurate to some degree. However, unlike a proxy server, smart DNS doesn’t hide your IP address. Instead, it strips your connection data from all elements that might give away your real location by changing your ISP-assigned DNS.
A trusted VPN like Bitdefender VPN protects your privacy thoroughly by covering the entire set of tracks you leave online whenever you connect to various services.
Unlike smart DNS services, VPNs mostly have no built-in DNS-changing features. However, connecting to a secure, private server should be enough to circumvent geo-restrictions.
Furthermore, a VPN replaces your IP address with the address of the server you connected to, so online services detect all requests as coming from the VPN server instead of your device.
In addition to changing your IP address and routing network traffic from your entire system through its tunnel, a VPN also encrypts your traffic, preventing threat actors from monitoring your connection.
Last but not least, some VPNs go the extra mile and provide you with additional privacy-protection tools, such as ad-blocker and anti-tracker modules.
Although smart DNS services can’t offer you the same level of privacy protection that a VPN can, they still have some strong points. Namely:
However, as you’d expect, some factors might make you want to pick a VPN instead of a smart DNS, especially if you’re concerned about your privacy:
If you’re concerned about your privacy, turning to a VPN is clearly the safer choice for these reasons:
On the other hand, several factors would attract some users to a smart DNS instead of a VPN, especially if privacy is not their primary concern:
It’s easy to see how smart DNS proxies and VPNs differ. Although they can both keep you anonymous to some degree, a VPN focuses more on protecting your privacy, while the smart DNS is better at circumventing geo-restrictions.
The bottom line is that, if you don’t care much about protecting your privacy, then a smart DNS might be what you’re looking for; it’s fast, doesn’t encrypt traffic, and can bypass geo-restrictions.
However, if safekeeping your privacy matters more to you, a trustworthy VPN such as Bitdefender VPN is far more suitable; it hides your online identity, encrypts traffic, circumvents geoblocking, and can prevent online tracking.
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Vlad's love for technology and writing created rich soil for his interest in cybersecurity to sprout into a full-on passion. Before becoming a Security Analyst, he covered tech and security topics.
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