Great question! A forward proxy is more about rerouting traffic for things like bypassing geo-blocks or filtering content—think of it like a middleman for your web requests.
But a VPN? That’s the whole package. Encryption, IP masking, *and* traffic rerouting. If you’re just trying to access a blocked site, a forward proxy might do the trick. But for real privacy (like on public Wi-Fi), you’ll want a VPN.
Speed-wise, yeah, both can slow you down, but a VPN’s encryption adds more overhead. Tools like ProtonVPN or Windscribe are solid for VPNs, while Squid is a popular forward proxy.
But a VPN? That’s the whole package. Encryption, IP masking, *and* traffic rerouting. If you’re just trying to access a blocked site, a forward proxy might do the trick. But for real privacy (like on public Wi-Fi), you’ll want a VPN.
Speed-wise, yeah, both can slow you down, but a VPN’s encryption adds more overhead. Tools like ProtonVPN or Windscribe are solid for VPNs, while Squid is a popular forward proxy.