Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Onion.link VS Freenet

Compare Onion.link VS Freenet and see what are their differences

Onion.link logo Onion.link

Enabling search and global access to Tor's onion-sites.

Freenet logo Freenet

Mae-enjoy mo na ang LIBRENG INTERNET ACCESS mula sa freenet! Ang libreng net na bet! freenet is an app where you can access the internet for free. Get 24/7 free access to our partner apps and sites. FREE INTERNET!
  • Onion.link Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-02-28
  • Freenet Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

Onion.link features and specs

  • Access to Tor Content
    Onion.link allows users to access sites within the Tor network without needing to install or configure Tor software, providing a simple web-based interface.
  • Ease of Use
    Users can easily navigate to .onion sites using a regular browser, removing technical barriers to accessing encrypted and private content.
  • Convenience
    By using Onion.link, users can quickly access the dark web when Tor Browser is not available on a particular device or when setup time is a concern.

Possible disadvantages of Onion.link

  • Reduced Security
    The service potentially makes users more vulnerable because Onion.link operates as a third-party proxy, which may not provide the same level of anonymity and security as the Tor Browser.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Using a browser-based service could expose a user’s activity to the service operator or other monitoring parties, potentially compromising privacy.
  • Limited Functionality
    Not all Tor features are supported, and some websites may not work as expected due to the service's operational differences compared to accessing Tor directly.
  • Potential Censorship
    Onion.link could be blocked or restricted by certain networks or governments, limiting its availability and efficacy in providing unfiltered access to Tor content.

Freenet features and specs

  • Privacy and Anonymity
    Freenet is designed to allow users to publish and retrieve information with strong privacy guarantees. This is achieved through decentralized data storage and routing, which makes it difficult to trace the source or destination of data.
  • Censorship Resistance
    Due to its decentralized nature, Freenet is built to resist censorship. Data is spread across various nodes, making it hard for any single entity to control or block access to information.
  • Decentralized Network
    Freenet does not rely on centralized servers; instead, data is distributed across a network of volunteers. This reduces single points of failure and lowers the risk of network shutdown.
  • Self-Healing Technology
    Freenet incorporates self-healing algorithms to ensure data redundancy and resilience. If a node goes offline, the network automatically redistributes the data, maintaining availability.
  • Free Software
    Freenet is open-source software, meaning its code is freely available for anyone to inspect, modify, and distribute. This openness fosters transparency and collaboration among developers around the world.

Possible disadvantages of Freenet

  • Performance Issues
    Due to the encryption and decentralization methods used, Freenet can be slower than traditional internet services. Users may experience longer wait times for data retrieval and downloads.
  • Complexity
    Setting up and using Freenet can be more complex compared to conventional internet applications. Users may need to invest time to understand the system and properly configure it.
  • Limited Content Availability
    Freenet's user base is smaller compared to the traditional internet, leading to less content being available. Additionally, because it's decentralized, finding specific content can be more challenging.
  • Storage Load
    As a node in the Freenet network, users contribute storage space to help host distributed data. This can consume significant disk space, affecting the performance of the host machine.
  • Potential for Malicious Content
    The anonymity and decentralization that protect privacy and resist censorship can also be exploited to distribute illegal or harmful content. This raises ethical and legal concerns.

Onion.link videos

No Onion.link videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Freenet videos

Aaron Jones: Introduction To Freenet

More videos:

  • Review - Internet Security: TOR and Freenet

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Onion.link and Freenet)
VPN
12 12%
88% 88
Security & Privacy
23 23%
77% 77
Security
12 12%
88% 88
Web Browsers
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Onion.link and Freenet

Onion.link Reviews

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Freenet Reviews

The 10 Best Open Source VPN Apps
Although you can get this VPN free of cost, the creators recommend making donations so that the software can be updated more frequently. Lastly, you can install this application on Windows, Linux, and macOS, but Freenet is not available on mobile platforms like some of the other entries on our list.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Freenet seems to be a lot more popular than Onion.link. While we know about 33 links to Freenet, we've tracked only 2 mentions of Onion.link. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Onion.link mentions (2)

  • Domino's India data breach is huge!! Hackers are allowing you to view details.. you can see ALL addresses you've ever used + # of orders + total amount spent. Payment data has been withheld as of now.
    It's a Tor2Web proxy. Any link that ends with onion.link is one. A link which ends in .onion is the dark web link which can only be accessed through Tor. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Domino's India data breach is huge!! Hackers are allowing you to view details.. you can see ALL addresses you've ever used + # of orders + total amount spent. Payment data has been withheld as of now.
    Hey! I realized only after I clicked on it that it is an onion.link page. I used chrome to open it, is there something specific I should I do now? I cleared my cookies etc. Kind of worried I compromised my phone security in some way? Source: almost 4 years ago

Freenet mentions (33)

  • We're getting some positive attention on HN right now
    You are linking "original Freenet" to a PDF on freenet.org instead of linking to freenetproject.org ? Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Freenet 2023: A drop-in decentralized replacement for the world wide web
    It clashes with the Freenet project https://freenetproject.org/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: What Are Alternatives to the Internet?
    There's a few abstractions of the web you can use today. https://freenetproject.org/ https://geti2p.net/en/ https://www.gnunet.org/en/ https://www.ipfs.tech/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • A player-owned RPG - would you want to participate in such a game?
    Instead of use of Blockchain you could also use Freenet . The only bad thing here data could be lost, but mostly only data is lost when not used. This could be used to auto purge forks that most people dislike. If for example some reason there are multiple alternatives how the story goes some of them will die after a while and removed from system. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Internet Archive Takes Down BBC’s Documentary on PM Modi: Report
    An automatically space balancing solution would be Freenet. Given that it's content addressing, it's possible to push data into it and have it deduplicate automatically. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Onion.link and Freenet, you can also consider the following products

Onion.pet - Tor2Web gateway for Tor and I2P hidden services

I2P - The I2P network provides strong privacy protections for communication over the Internet.

Tor2web - Tor2Web Install with SSL.

Tor Browser - Tor is free software for enabling anonymous communication.

Onion2web - Onion2web: Access .onion sites without Tor Browser.

Psiphon - Psiphon is circumvention software for Windows and Mobile platforms that provides uncensored access to Internet content. Read more about Psiphon.