AtlasVPN doesn’t offer SOCKS5 proxy support on the main VPN service or as a standalone plan. Likewise, the VPN provider hasn’t stated on its development roadmap that it’s working on introducing this in the future.
Thus, you may have to purchase another reliable VPN (like PIA or NordVPN) if you want SOCKS5 proxy support.
But why doesn’t AtlasVPN support this digital spoofing technology yet, and why does that matter?
Keep reading to find out!
Why Doesn't AtlasVPN Offer SOCKS5 Proxy Yet?
The SOCKS5 proxy service also hides your IP address like a VPN and ensures faster speed, but it’s not all rosy.
Here are some issues with this protocol that may have made AtlasVPN consider against it for now:
- Lack of encryption. SOCKS5 proxy might hide your IP address, but it doesn’t encrypt your traffic like a VPN. That’s why it gets faster internet speeds, but at the expense of exposing everything you do online.
- Limited P2P connectivity. AtlasVPN engineers its servers for P2P support, but the SOCKS5 proxy makes connecting to your data stream almost impossible. By extension, this makes the SOCKS5 proxy poor for torrent seeding.
- Poor data security. VPNs can promise no logs on their base service, but that’s impossible on the SOCKS5 proxy. Instead, you have a service that now reads all your internet data requests and may even collect that data for storage.
- Low censorship/firewall bypassing ability. VPNs must engineer special protocols (often obfuscation protocols) to bypass censorship and firewalls. Since the SOCKS5 proxy isn’t encrypted, it won’t bypass such severe internet traffic blocks.
- High chance of leaks. A lack of encryption makes IP and DNS leaks very likely. Even though the SOCKS5 proxy does a good job of changing your IP address, it doesn’t have the same kill switch technology on VPNs to prevent accidental leaks if the connection drops.
Does AtlasVPN Have SOCKS5 Proxy Alternatives?
AtlasVPN doesn’t have any direct SOCKS5 Proxy alternatives.
However, some features on the main VPN app mimic the speed, unblocking ability, and focused unblocking/digital security you get with SOCKS5 Proxy.
The best part is that this ultra-fast VPN also adds encryption, ensuring better security while getting all the benefits of SOCKS5 Proxy.
Some of these AtlasVPN features include:
- IP Address Change. You can choose from 750 AtlasVPN servers in 44 locations to change your IP address reliably. On the other hand, SOCKS5 Proxy locations are usually limited and might impact unblocking ability.
- Split tunneling. SOCKS5 Proxy allows you to bind your digital security to the needed app, such as torrenting clients. With AtlasVPN’s split tunneling, you can do the same without encrypting all your traffic.
- Unblocking websites. In fact, I prefer using a VPN’s reliable IP/DNS-leak protected servers to unblock content rather than a proxy service that’s susceptible to leaks.
- P2P Support. SOCKS5 Proxy servers are great for P2P traffic like torrent downloads and file sharing. But AtlasVPN’s servers are also optimized for P2P traffic. So, you’ll get a great experience using them.
- Multi-hop. SOCKS5 Proxy can also feature as Shadowsocks, which sends your traffic through multiple proxy servers for improved privacy. But that’s the same thing you get with AtlasVPN’s multihop
These sound great, but they’ll do nothing for you if you’re only interested in a VPN with SOCKS5 Proxy. So, please keep reading to see my top VPN alternatives with this proxy service enabled.
Alternative VPNs to Use for SOCKS5 Proxy?
Here are my top three VPN alternatives to AtlasVPN for SOCKS5 Proxy and what makes them worth your while.
- NordVPN – Offers SOCKS5 Proxy on 8 US, Netherlands, and Sweden servers. The proxy service comes at no additional cost to the basic VPN subscription.
- Private Internet Access (PIA) – PIA only has one SOCKS5 proxy address, which looks to be available in the Netherlands. It also comes free with the paid VPN subscription. Likewise, this VPN allows you to seed torrents and use Shadowsocks, a form of SOCKS5 proxy.
- IPVanish – Provides 20+ SOCKS5 proxy addresses in 14 countries to unblock torrent websites, download torrents securely, bind to torrent clients, and get faster web performance.
Choose your preferred SOCKS5 proxy provider, configure it, and start enjoying the benefits of this performance protocol.
Final Thoughts
AtlasVPN doesn’t offer SOCKS5 proxy support now and may never introduce it.
After all, even old-timers in the VPN industry, like PureVPN and ExpressVPN, don’t offer the service yet.
However, it may be in the works for AtlasVPN.
For now, though, you may either have to make do with the VPN service alone or consider alternatives with SOCKS5 Proxy. You can read the detailed reviews of NordVPN, PIA, and IPVanish to know what you’re getting alongside the proxy service.
