VPS vs Multi-Accounting Browser

MARCH 4, 2024 • PRIVACY & ANONYMITY • EXPERT OPINION

An alternative to using multi-accounting browsers is renting multiple VPS servers, each running Chrome. A single VPS with one browser instance acts like a multi-accounting browser profile. In a nutshell, VPS for fingerprint spoofing is used as follows: a virtual dedicated server is acquired, on which a browser is launched. For a user remotely accessing the Internet through such a browser, the IP address is replaced with the datacenter address of the server, and the hardware parameters are replaced with the server's digital fingerprint.

Let's explore whether this method can effectively replace using a multi-accounting browser.

When you use a VPS, information about your server hardware is included in your digital fingerprint. Typically, this can be a rather specific set of parameters, not resembling those of regular users. This makes it relatively easy to detect the use of server hardware through the digital fingerprint. Moreover, if you use several VPS servers from the same provider, their digital fingerprints may coincide.

Octo Browser, on the other hand, replaces hardware fingerprints at the browser kernel level and allows you to choose the hardware set you want, offering popular user setups that help you blend in with the crowd. This significantly improves fingerprint quality and reduces the likelihood of fingerprint-based blocking.

To make using VPS servers for fingerprint spoofing cost-effective, you'll have to rent the cheapest hardware. Typically, these are low-performing servers. Working with the browser can become uncomfortable due to slow page loading and tabs closing spontaneously.

Meanwhile, Octo Browser runs directly on your hardware. Usually, a laptop or a PC will be much more powerful than a rented server, allowing you to easily launch multiple profiles simultaneously.

The cheapest Linux VPS starts from one to several dollars per month and allows opening one browser with several tabs. Anti-bot and anti-fraud systems are likely to detect that the work is being done on a Linux server, making this option suitable only for the most basic tasks. A Windows-based VPS, which is better suited for fingerprint spoofing, will cost around $10 per month.

One VPS can perform only a part of the functions of an Octo profile, meaning the cost of ten profiles obtained this way can vary from $10 to $100 per month, depending on the operating system and server specifications. In Octo, 10 profiles cost 21 euros, and the price becomes even more favorable with higher subscriptions.

Additionally, it is necessary to invest in high-quality proxies when using a multi-accounting browser. This expense, however, positively affects the spoofing quality: datacenter IPs that come with VPS servers raise significantly more suspicions from anti-bot and anti-fraud systems than high-quality mobile or residential proxies.

One significant risk when working through VPS is a provider's failure. In this case, you risk losing all your browser data. This risk can be avoided by setting up data backups, but this is not always straightforward or cheap and may require the involvement of a system administrator.

Octo Browser does not suffer from issues resulting from failures of this kind: all your profile and browser data is encrypted and sent to a secure cloud, where it is stored for as long as you need. No one has access to your data except you and your employees, and all profile actions take place only locally on your workstation. Additionally, if you want to restore a profile state from a few launches ago, you can always do so.

An additional VPS security risk arises because the provider may disclose user data, or the profile data may not be encrypted. These risks do not exist with Octo Browser: you can pay for your subscription with cryptocurrency, and browser profiles are always encrypted.

In most cases, you need team collaboration tools to work with multi-accounting effectively. Employees should have access to their work accounts and should not see their colleagues' accounts.

To manage browsers opened on VPS jointly, access to them must be distributed among all employees. This is already inconvenient, as you will need to store login data for each server somewhere. Another difficulty when using VPS is that employees should always remember which accounts use which VPS servers. Let's say that an employee has changed positions and needs to use different accounts now. In this case, access to VPS must be reconfigured. If there are many of them, this can be time-consuming and inconvenient: creating and configuring one server takes about 10 minutes and requires certain system administration skills.

Octo Browser allows easily providing access to all profiles from within one application: you simply install the browser, invite employees to the team, and distribute access rights. Changing access rights is likewise convenient, easy, and fast, done with just a couple of clicks.