Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, are popular services for (supposedly) increasing your security and privacy on the internet. They are often marketed as all-encompassing security tools, and something that you absolutely need to keep hackers at bay. However, many of the selling points for VPNs are exaggerated or just outright
Tor browser is not free. The cost is externalized. It is run by people who see value in the community.
If you use mullvad, or safing spn, your paying directly to support the network without externalized costs. Both are good options.
If you have the means, and ability, I highly recommend donating to run a Tor node or running one yourself.
https://donate.torproject.org/
Makes sense. I don’t use Tor for much of anything, just have an awareness of it, but I do donate money to lemmy.world and SDF for pretty much exactly this reason.