ELI5: what is the difference between vpn and proxy

A VPN is like having a secret tunnel that hides your whole house (your internet activity), while a proxy is like using a friend's address to send a postcard (only hiding the address of that one activity).

Imagine your internet activity is like sending letters from your house.

• Without either a VPN or proxy, you're sending letters directly, with your house address clearly visible. Everyone knows where the letter came from.

• A proxy is like asking your friend, Bob, to send a single letter for you. You give Bob the letter, and he puts his address on the envelope as the sender. The recipient sees Bob's address, not yours. Only that one letter is hidden. All your other letters still come directly from your house.

• A VPN is like building a secret tunnel from your house to a post office far away. All your letters (every website you visit, every app you use) go through this tunnel. When the letters leave the post office, they have the post office's address on them, not your house address. Nobody knows where your house is located because all your letters are routed through the tunnel. Plus, the tunnel is super secure, so no one can read your letters along the way.

• A proxy hides one specific activity.
• A VPN hides all your internet activities.
• A VPN also encrypts your data, making it more secure.