I'm curious as to how similar the free Tor browser is to using a purchased VPN.

Please comment on how similar or dissimilar the two are. I'm particularly interested in knowing if the Tor browser encrypts as to hide browsing/downloading/P2P file sharing etc... from an ISP...

i use paid vpn, not Tor.

it is very easy to use, all is setted-up automatically. like iptables rules etc.
if you use Tor browser it is suggested that you should use VPN also, so that Tor endpoints cant sniff ur port 80 traffic.

my VPN costs 80€ for 36 months, and my VPN provider is PIA VPN - https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/

tor-browser doesnt encrypt torrent traffic.

If you were curious, why didn't you put "what is the difference between a vpn and the tor browser" into your favorite search engine and read any of the over 4.2 million hits, such as this:
https://www.pandasecurity.com/en/med...cy/tor-vs-vpn/

Although both of these technologies of course fall-back to the same underlying civilian-grade cryptographic technologies, they apply them in entirely different ways and for entirely different purposes:

"TOR = The Onion Router" was an originally-spook-driven technology that was intended to see to it that "a message could get through," even when it was forced to pass over a hostile network which would have intercepted it had they been able to identify it. The term originates from a "layers of an onion" metaphor for multiple layers of concealment and subterfuge. It is devised to conceal the fact that you exist, where you exist, that you are actually sending messages, and to whom. "Spies need that."

"VPN = Virtual Private Networking" is an entirely different thing. Here, the objective is to create "a cryptographically-secure TCP/IP router or switch." To create provably-secure communications over public networks, namely the Internet, instead of much-more-expensive alternatives such as the old 'T-1 lines.'"

The objective of TOR is to conceal "the fact that a message is even being passed at all." Whereas, the objective of VPN is "to facilitate reliable secure communication over an inherently insecure channel."

In the first case, the parties don't want you to be able to detect that they are communicating with each other. In exchange, they're willing to accept "not-entirely reliable communication." In the second case, they don't mind that you are aware that they are communicating, but they require the reliability of a ... well ... "[virtual] private network."

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Now, to clarify: "purchased VPN" simply means that you are paying someone to act as the public "output port" of your communications – knowing that from that IP-address onward they will pass through the remaining Internet "in the clear." This is entirely different from the "corporate VPN" scenario, where the cryptographic endpoint is private and internal. The technology is the same, but the application is altogether different.

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Because I may actually want to have further conversations with users on this subject or have follow up questions.

Why don't we just kill all the forums and message boards and rely on Google

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Conversation means you actually bring meaningful questions or information to the discussion. Asking folks to look things up and tell you the basics isn't.

Asking, "If I understand xxx correctly..." is one thing. You didn't, and apparently just wanted someone to explain it to you, instead of doing any research of your own.

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Question: Does a Tor Browser encrypt and hide your activity from your own ISP - I know most purchased VPN's do...

Congratulations, you have reached "ignore user" status in my account.

Thanks. Good to know. Questions like this:
...are a great example of the lack of effort on your part. From the link (of the 4.2 million that somehow had to be looked up for you), says specifically that TOR encrypts data. And you come back to ask, "Hey, does TOR encrypt data?"

TOR essentially works by "scattering the pieces of a message far and wide," then reassembling it. I presume that it also encrypts the message, partly for the obvious reason of concealment but also as a way of knowing when the message is complete. TOR is not an efficient process, but efficiency is not one of its goals.

VPN, on the other hand, does attempt to be as efficient as a non-encrypted router/switch. The crypto processing and the key-negotiation are devised to be as low-overhead as possible. VPN makes no attempt to conceal the fact that parties are talking – its goal is to securely encrypt everything that is said without drawing any attention to itself. "The tunnel simply exists, and to its users it's an ordinary [virtual ...] device."

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It does encrypt, as part of it's normal operation. Since the whole network operates on voluntary relay nodes, you can sometimes get a great connection speed...and sometimes not.
Well said.

Thanks for clarifying – I could never imagine that TOR wouldn't encrypt the traffic as a matter of routine.

FYI – since most routers are just "baby Linux boxes," many of them have OpenVPN as an available download, and a small handful of them support it right out of the box.

In the usual corporate context when using digital certificates (as you always should ...) VPNs provide the very important feature that they securely identify both every connected client, and every downstream server that they may connect to. This also means that you can selectively revoke the access granted to any client without impacting anyone else. VPN automatically guarantees that every message will be "received as tendered." And yet it is entirely invisible, except to the poor bloke who has to set it all up. OpenVPN has the additional ability to conceal the presence of the server from casual detection, which prevents your systems from having to waste time with pointless unauthorized access attempts: they just don't happen anymore. You'll never again launch an "ssh" server without putting a VPN in front of it.

This is were wireguard comes in to play and doesnt send responses to unauthenticated packets and is invisible to illegitimate peers and network scanners.

Yeah he was my welcome wagon to the forum aswell. Just ignore the troll as I do and keep asking questions he doens't represent the whole LQ community just a small minority.

..which doesn't address the OP's original question, does it? And ANY VPN works that way, not just wireguard. As you say, 'Stalk me much'?? Got to go looking for a thread that had been closed for months to post an unrelated reply?
And you certainly don't represent the community at all, seeing as you're a spammer/advertiser, and are just trying to promote your 'business'. Want to help?? Then actually start giving meaningful answers, and remove your advertising/spam links on your own accord. Until then, you deserve as much courtesy as any other spammer.