Best Browsers with a Built-in VPN

Linux is widely regarded as a great OS for users looking to protect their privacy and security online. That being said, using a virtual private network, or VPN, is an easy and convenient way to strengthen your online security and protect your privacy and anonymity when using the Internet.

There are many great web browsers with built-in VPNs available that eliminate the need to manually set up a VPN, and often include privacy and browsing extras, from ad and tracker-blocking to private browsing, malware blocking, and more. These browsers are also simple to use and in many cases free, have no data limits, and there is often no registration required.  

In this article, we will introduce our top browsers with built-in VPNs, explore the key features and capabilities they offer, and the main benefits and drawbacks you should know about each. After reading this article, you will be equipped with the knowledge you need to determine which of these browsers is best suited for your needs.

How Does a VPN Work?

A VPN uses "virtual" connections routed through the Internet from a private network or a third-party VPN service to a remote site or person. VPNs help strengthen security and mask online behavior from snooping third parties by creating an encrypted connection, or "tunnel", between your device and a remote server operated by the VPN service. This ensures that anyone who intercepts the encrypted data can't read it and see the websites you visit. When using a VPN, this information is even hidden from your ISP. Furthermore, a VPN conceals your IP address by directing the network traffic through a specifically set-up distant server that is operated by a VPN host.

What Are the Main Benefits & Drawbacks of Using a VPN?

When determining whether or not to use a VPN, it is important to first understand the benefits and potential drawbacks of VPN usage. Key benefits of using a trustworthy VPN include:

• Protects your privacy online by disguising your IP, encrypting your connection, and making it truly anonymous.
• Improves security by giving the user a new IP address every time they go online, which can be enough to deter doxxing and DDoS attacks.
• Unblocks websites to help you browse the web freely, especially in restrictive countries.
• Allows for private downloading and helps you avoid copyright infringement notices.
• Helps you avoid bandwidth throttling by disguising your traffic type, making it impossible to restrict based on its type.

Potential drawback of using a VPN include:

• Although some VPNs claim to boost your internet speed, you will eventually experience drops in your connection speed.
• Depending on which VPN you use, you might never experience complete security and privacy. If you decide to go with a free VPN, there is a good chance that your connection will not be fully secure. Paid VPNs tend to provide stronger encryption and better security than free VPNs.
• Even when using a VPN, you are not completely safe from website tracking. If you visit websites where you use session cookies and have to login with your information, they still use your real public IP address rather than the VPN public IP address.
• VPNs can be difficult to configure, and it is critical that they are configured correctly. When it comes to using a VPN on Linux, you may find yourself doing a command line installation, and potentially having to configure it yourself.
• VPNs do not work as full antivirus software to protect against malware. To achieve optimal protection, you should use a VPN in conjunction with a robust antivirus package. If you do experience a malware infection on your Mac, here are the best solutions for great malware removal tools you may wish to use.

Do I Need a VPN?

While you don’t necessarily need a VPN, using one can be highly beneficial in protecting your security, privacy and anonymity when browsing the web. A trustworthy VPN is among the quickest and most effective ways to protect your online behavior and identity from prying eyes. With government agencies, ISPs, and cybercriminals increasingly threatening data privacy, now is an excellent time to begin using a VPN if you haven’t already. If you need an incentive, then think about what could happen if you don’t use a VPN. To begin, you are jeopardizing your privacy and security, your Internet activity may be spied on, and you may be denied access to certain services and websites. In the end, users can do as they please, but here at LinuxSecurity, we strongly recommend that you use a VPN!

Best Browsers with a Built-in VPN

Tor Browser

Tor browser is an excellent browser for users looking to protect their privacy and anonymity online that includes a built-in VPN feature. It uses layered encryption to prevent hackers, your ISP and government surveillance agencies from tracking you. 

The browser even ensures that you surf the web anonymously. In offers several powerful security and privacy-centric features including: 

• Tor uses the No Scripts and HTTPS Everywhere extensions to increase your digital privacy. 
• The browser allows users to manually or automatically delete cookies and other browsing data stored on their devices.
• Tor protects against browser fingerprinting. 

That being said, there are two notable drawbacks of using the Tor browser. First, Tor doesn’t provide real data encryption. Rather, it offers layered encryption that encrypts the data within the onion network. When the data goes outside the Tor exit node, it is in unencrypted form and is thus vulnerable to spying. Also, Tor hops your traffic via three relay nodes which impacts the overall speed, a factor that can be pretty frustrating when browsing the web. Regardless, Tor is overall very effective in protecting digital privacy and security, a factor that cannot be overlooked in the context of today’s threat landscape.

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox is among the most popular browsers, and recently released a VPN feature. The browser is user-friendly and offers multiple privacy-focused features including Enhanced Tracking Protection, Total Cookie Protection, DNS over HTTPS and  Fingerprinting that can help you improve your digital security. 

The built-in browser VPN is a great option for anyone concerned with their online privacy and security for the following reasons:

• Firefox’s built-in VPN offers device-level encryption and uses the advanced WireGuard protocol to mask your IP address and encrypt your network activity. 
• The browser VPN offers over 400 servers in 30 locations including the United States, Austria, Canada, France, Germany and the UK.
• The VPN follows a no-log policy, so you can be confident that your activity and connection logs are not being logged and shared. 
• It comes with no bandwidth restrictions, which means that you can browse the web at reliable speeds. 

The VPN built into Mozilla Firefox is available for Linux, Android, Windows, iOS and Mac. It offers impressive functionality on Linux and, and is arguably the best browser VPN for Linux users. However, the Mozilla VPN feature is not free, but it is well worth the small fee in our opinion!

Brave Browser

Brave browser is a Chromium-based web browser with an intense focus on privacy and security. It helps you achieve greater online anonymity without sacrificing functionality. Brave offers a built-in VPN feature for an additional $9.99 per month. Brave browser offers key security and privacy features including:

• The Brave Firewall + VPN feature blocks trackers, cookies, and malicious scripts from interfering with your browsing experience and threatening your security. 
• The browser provides partial encryption using HTTPS site encryption to protect your data from being tracked. 
• Brave is among the few secure browser VPNs that protect against WebRTC leaks. 
• You can enable the Brave Shield feature to prevent irrelevant and unwanted ads from being displayed and interrupting your browsing experience. 

Brave browser is easy to use, lightweight (meaning it won’t consume much of your space), and offers a sleek user interface. You can use Brave browser on all popular operating systems including Linux, Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows.

Opera

Opera browser is the oldest browser, and has been in use since 1995. The browser has over 350 million active users, a number that is expected to increase daily. It offers a faster, smarter, significantly more secure browsing experience than many other default browsers. Opera comes with a selection of features designed to offer maximum privacy and security, including a built-in ad blocker and protection against tracking, phishing and malware.

Opera browser also comes with a free built-in VPN that protects your Internet traffic within the browser and prevents you from needing to download additional software or browser extensions for this purpose. The Opera browser built-in VPN offers the following key benefits:

• It uses an automatic ad and tracker blocker that prevents ads and trackers from disturbing your browsing experience or threatening your privacy.
• You can browse the web with consistently fast speeds.
• The Opera browser VPN has servers in five international locations: The United States, Canada, Germany, Singapore, and the Netherlands. 
• The VPN follows a strict no-log policy, so you don’t have to worry about it logging your data or infringing on your privacy.

The built-in Opera browser VPN  provides excellent functionality and robust privacy and security controls; however, the VPN comes with a 500MB data limit, which could potentially restrict your activities.

Aloha Browser

Aloha is an excellent mobile browser for the privacy- and security-conscious user that allows you to surf the web without leaving any tracebacks. It is user-friendly and has a clean and easy-to-use interface, making it ideal for both advanced and beginner users. The Aloha browser offers an integrated VPN that provides additional online privacy protection and enhances your web browsing experience. 

Key benefits of the built-in Aloha browser VPN include: 

• It encrypts traffic and increases your anonymity online.
• It conserves your mobile data and increases the speed at which you can load web pages by blocking ads. 
• The browser VPN prevents trackers from gathering your data, and doesn’t log or share your browsing data. 
• The Aloha browser built-in VPN uses hardware acceleration that loads pages up to two times faster than other browsers. 
• You can secure your downloads using the file manager feature and lock your folder with fingerprints or passcodes.
• The Aloha browser built-in VPN comes with a fully-featured media player with a VR feature that allows you to watch movies and listen to music.

It is important to note that since Aloha is only a mobile browser, not all users and use cases can benefit from it. 

Epic Privacy Browser 

The Epic privacy browser is a secure Chromium-based browser that blocks intrusive ads, crypto mining, fingerprinting, and trackers. In fact, it blocks over 600 tracking attempts in an average browsing session! 

The browser offers an impressive built-in VPN extension that keeps your online activities private and secure. The Epic privacy browser built-in VPN is among the best browser VPNs to use for the following reasons:

• It uses encrypted proxies to encrypt data and hide your IP address, and allows you to access blocked sites. 
• The Do Not Track feature prevents trackers from following you from website to website. 
• None of your browsing history is recorded or sold to third parties. Rather, your browsing data is permanently deleted after each session
• The Epic browser protects from WebRTC leaks to strengthen your online security. 
• The built-in VPN offers server access in eight different locations. 

Key Takeaways

Linux is an excellent OS for privacy- and security-conscious users. That being said, using a VPN is a simple and effective way to strengthen your privacy, security and anonymity online. The browsers with built-in VPNs that we’ve introduced in this article make using a VPN even more convenient and straightforward.

Are you using one of these built-in browser VPNs? How has your experience been? Comment below- we’d love to hear your thoughts!