Looking to use the internet anonymously? We took a look at 2 web browsers to protect your privacy but they only protect what you do in the browser itself. Another option is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or proxy to hide your IP address all the time or on-demand.

As you’re probably aware everyone has an IP address assigned to them. With today’s modern broadband, most people’s IP addresses rarely, if ever, changes. This means that anywhere you go, you leave your “address” behind and possibly for many years.

There are programs that will route all of your traffic through another server, or servers, so your IP address is not only hidden but can often be from whatever country you like. While most of these programs make big promises they don’t always completely hide you, but with a different IP address you can now get around censorship, block website trackers and possibly avoid malware, malicious websites and more.

While this is a good option, I also like using a Virtual PC, or sandbox when I want to do some questionable web surfing without damaging my PC. These allow you to do whatever you want and then delete it all when you're done never making any changes to your computer. It's a lot of fun. We use Vmware here to test software and you can see more on how it works with our video MajorGeeks software testing process.

Luckily for you there are dozens of free proxy and VPN tools so here's look at a 8 programs and what makes them better for you.

X-Proxy



X-Proxy allows you to surf anonymously, change your IP address, prevent identity theft, and intrusion from hackers. There are plenty of settings and choosing a country is very simple.

SafeIP



SafeIP protects your online identity by hiding your IP address from websites, email, games, and more. It encrypts all of your Internet traffic and has been reported to slow things down more than some.

TunnelBear



TunnelBear is designed to bring the benefits of VPN to everyone with this simple and easy to use application. I like TunnelBear because it's only 11 MB, easy to use and it can simply be turned on and off with 1 mouse click as needed. It's a good choice for simplicity but it limits you to 500 Mb of data sent. If you just want to use it occasionally, start here.

ChrisPC Free Anonymous Proxy



ChrisPC Free Anonymous Proxy is a simple but powerful application that allows you to surf anonymously online. This one is Ad-Supported so watch for that on install and a professional version is available here.

I2P the Invisible Internet Project



I2P - The Invisible Internet Project is meant to provide an anonymity layer, so users can communicate anonymously using a range of applications. This one is a solid 5 star program however it does require Java, something many security conscious people don't use. It's also a tad more complicated and more geared towards experienced users.

CyberGhost VPN



CyberGhost is an important tool for protecting your privacy by replacing externally visible IP addresses, which are furnished by their provider. The address is replaced with a CyberGhost VPN IP address. This one is also excellent however they use their own private servers and a free account is required to use it.

Betternet



Betternet is an easy to use application to let you surf the web anonymously through a VPN (Virtual Private Network). It is very easy to use but does install an additional driver to work. If you want to avoid additional software or drivers then this might not be your best bet.

We have others available for download however the programs listed above are all 4 star plus rated and have been recently updated. Due to the many servers available that come and go this is an area where using a recently updated program is a good idea.

If you simply want to occasionally browse anonymously then have a look at 6 Online Proxies to Access Blocked Websites and Surf the Web Anonymously and if you want to get your own proxy based browser have a look at 2 Anonymous Web Browsers to Protect Your Privacy.