VPN Chrome Extension vs a Real VPN: What's the Difference?

VPN Chrome Extension vs a Real VPN: What's the Difference?

A VPN Chrome extension is appealing because it's so convenient — you click a button in your browser and a blocked site suddenly opens. Before you rely on one, though, it helps to understand what it actually is. Most browser "VPN" extensions are really proxies rather than full VPNs, and they only cover the traffic that flows through your browser.

When you turn on a Chrome VPN extension, it routes the requests from your browser tab through a remote proxy server. That changes the address websites see, which is enough to open many blocked pages. However, anything outside the browser — a game, a desktop app, another client — still uses your normal connection. And beyond the encryption a site already provides over HTTPS, many extensions add little protection of their own.

Because an extension only touches your browser, it leaves the rest of your device exposed. Free extensions are also a mixed bag: some log or even sell your browsing data, so it's worth reading the privacy policy before installing one. And since the traffic is fairly easy to recognise, strict filters that use deep packet inspection (DPI) can detect and block these extensions without much trouble.

If you want to protect your entire device, use apps beyond the browser, or get past aggressive censorship, a full VPN is far more capable. A good one encrypts all of your device's traffic, uses a modern obfuscated protocol such as Reality to resist DPI, and offers multiple servers so a blocked one fails over automatically. Some people keep a lightweight extension for quick browser-only unblocking and run a full VPN for everything else.

Are Chrome VPN extensions safe? Reputable ones are fine for casual unblocking in the browser. The ones to avoid are unknown free extensions that may quietly harvest your data.