Tor Education
Anonymous Networks Compared
You know Tor. You have heard of I2P and Freenet — now Hyphanet — and you want to know where they fit. The short answer: they are not three versions of the same thing. They are three different answers to three different problems, and this guide compares them from the point of view of someone who already understands Tor.
If you want the full side-by-side of the three networks from scratch — their histories, their designs, and a table of every difference — read our Tor vs I2P vs Freenet guide in the dark web section . This page is the Tor user's version: what each network does that Tor does not, what Tor does that they do not, and when it is worth learning a second network at all.
Start with the job, not the tool
A network is a tool, and tools are judged by the job. So start there:
- Browse the ordinary web without revealing your address — that is Tor's job, and it is the only one of the three built for it.
- Run or use services that live entirely inside an anonymous network — that is I2P's job: websites, email, chat and file sharing that never touch the public internet.
- Publish something that must stay available — that is Hyphanet's job: content stored in pieces across its users, so no single server can be shut down.
If your job is the first one, you already have the right tool, and the rest of this guide is context. If your job is the second or the third, Tor will not do it alone — and that is the point of the comparison.
What Tor does that the others do not
Tor is the only one of the three with exit relays to the ordinary web. That single feature is what makes Tor a browsing tool rather than a closed network: you can read the news, visit a forum, or reach an ordinary site without revealing your address. I2P has only limited gateways out, and Hyphanet is self-contained — it has no way to reach the ordinary web at all.
Tor is also the largest network by users and relays, the best documented, and the easiest to start: Tor Browser is one download from torproject.org, and the defaults are designed to protect you. That matters more than it sounds — a network with more users gives each user more cover, and a network with better documentation is a network whose users make fewer mistakes.
What I2P does that Tor does not
I2P was designed from the start as a network for services inside itself, not as a way to browse the ordinary web. Three design choices set it apart from Tor:
- One-way tunnels. Tor builds a circuit and sends traffic there and back along the same path. I2P builds separate inbound and outbound tunnels, so the path a message takes in is different from the path the reply takes out — which makes traffic analysis harder, because an observer watching one direction sees only half the conversation.
- Garlic routing. I2P bundles several messages together into one encrypted package, so an observer cannot easily tell which message is which. Tor wraps one message in layers; I2P wraps several messages into one bundle.
- Everyone relays. In Tor, a small share of users run relays, and everyone else is a client. In I2P, every user automatically relays traffic for others, so the network's capacity grows with its users — and the relay list is not a public directory, which makes it harder to enumerate and block.
The trade-offs are real. I2P is slower to start — a new router needs time to integrate and build its tunnels — and its internal sites, called eepsites, are fewer and harder to find than Tor's onion services. It is a network you live in, not a tool you open for an afternoon.
What Hyphanet does that Tor does not
Hyphanet, formerly Freenet, does not route your browsing at all. It stores content. When you publish something, it is split into encrypted pieces and spread across the computers of its users. When someone requests it, the pieces travel from computer to computer until they are reassembled. There is no server hosting the document, so there is no server to seize, block, or take down.
That makes Hyphanet the strongest of the three for one job — keeping a document available — and the weakest for everything else. You cannot browse the ordinary web with it, you cannot reach a live service through it, and retrieving content can be slow, because the network is optimised for availability rather than speed. And the same property that protects a document also protects content that nobody should publish — Hyphanet's design does not distinguish, and that is a deliberate, debated consequence of its design.
The trade-off table, Tor-first
| What you need | Tor | I2P | Hyphanet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Browse ordinary websites anonymously | Yes — the only one built for it | Only through limited gateways | No |
| Host a hidden service | Yes — onion services | Yes — eepsites, built for this | No — it stores content, not services |
| Publish content that survives takedown | You must keep your server running | You must keep your service running | Yes — content persists in the network |
| Easy to start | Yes — one download | Moderate — router setup | Moderate — node setup |
| Users and documentation | Largest, best documented | Smaller, technical | Smaller, technical |
| Speed | Slow by design | Slow, slower at first | Slow to retrieve |
When to learn a second network
For most Tor users, the honest answer is: you do not need to. Tor covers anonymous browsing and onion services, which is the job most people have. Learn I2P when you want to run or use a service that lives inside an anonymous network for a long time — a forum, a chat service, a file store — and you want the design that spreads load across all users. Learn Hyphanet when your problem is publishing, not browsing: a document that must stay available with no server of your own.
What you should not do is treat the three networks as a ladder, or as layers to stack. Running all three does not add their anonymity together. Each has its own limits, and each demands its own discipline — and a user who splits attention across three networks usually makes more mistakes than a user who understands one deeply.
None of them guarantees anonymity. Tor, I2P and Hyphanet all make tracing harder. None of them makes it impossible, and none of them protects your behaviour. Logins, downloads, writing style and operational mistakes identify people on every network. Choose the tool for the job — and then use it carefully.
Sources
- Tor Project — A short introduction to Tor (Tor Specifications, accessed 14 November 2026)
- I2P — The Invisible Internet Project (geti2p.net, accessed 14 November 2026)
- Hyphanet — Help (hyphanet.org, accessed 14 November 2026)
- I2P — Wikipedia (accessed 14 November 2026)
The 2023 Freenet-to-Hyphanet rename is documented on the Hyphanet project pages. Last checked: 14 November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Which anonymous network is best?
There is no single best network — each was built for a different job. Tor is best for anonymous browsing of the ordinary web. I2P is built for anonymous services inside its own network. Hyphanet, formerly Freenet, is built for publishing content that cannot easily be removed. The right question is which job you are doing.
Is I2P more anonymous than Tor?
I2P has design features that Tor does not, such as one-way tunnels and garlic routing, and every user also relays traffic. But 'more anonymous' depends on the threat, the use, and the user's behaviour — and neither network guarantees anonymity. Logins, downloads and mistakes identify people on both.
What is Hyphanet?
Hyphanet is the new name of Freenet, renamed in mid-2023. It is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant publishing: content is stored in encrypted pieces across its users' computers, so a popular document stays available without any single server to shut down.
Can I use Tor, I2P and Hyphanet together?
They are separate networks with separate software, and they do not connect to each other. You can run more than one, but each one is used for its own purpose, and combining them does not add their anonymity together — each still has its own limits.
Do I need to learn all three networks?
No. Start with Tor: it is the most used, the best documented, and the one whose concepts transfer to the others. Learn I2P or Hyphanet when you have a job that Tor does not fit — anonymous internal services, or publishing that must survive takedown.