Proxy Bastion vs handing out RDP or VPS access

Last checked 2026-09-10

A common way to share a proxy today is to put it on a Windows VPS and give several people the same remote desktop login, so they all browse from behind the same exit IP through the same shared machine.

That setup is not wrong because RDP or VPS hosting is bad. It is a fine way to run a full desktop environment. It is a bad way to hand out a network exit to several people who do not need a desktop at all, and this page compares the two approaches on the points where sharing one login actually causes problems.

RDP / VPS delivery: side by side

DimensionProxy BastionRDP / VPS delivery
Attribution Each person gets their own relay link with its own identity. Usage recorded against a link can only have come from the one person holding it. Everyone who logs into the same RDP session or the same VPS proxy setup is using the same Windows account and the same upstream credential, so activity in the logs cannot be tied back to one person.
Revocation Revoking one link cuts off one person. The proxy credentials underneath and every other link stay untouched. Cutting off one person on a shared box usually means changing the shared password, the RDP login, or the proxy credential, which also cuts off everyone else who was using it.
Cost You keep the proxy and the machine you already pay for. What you add is a thin metering and revocation layer in front of the proxy, priced by link, not by compute. A VPS or RDP box has to run continuously and is priced by compute (CPU, RAM, storage, sometimes a Windows license) whether one person is using it or five are sharing it.
Setup friction Registering an upstream and issuing a link is a couple of curl calls and a few minutes. Standing up a VPS, enabling and hardening RDP, and preparing a usable desktop session for each person takes considerably longer than pointing a proxy setting at a link.

Where this page draws the line

  • Proxy Bastion does not compete with RDP or VPS hosting, and it does not replace either one. It replaces a specific habit: putting a proxy inside a shared desktop and handing the same login to several people so they can all use it. If the real need is a desktop environment, a VPS or RDP box is still what is required; Proxy Bastion only stands in front of whichever proxy that box, or your own machine, uses.

When RDP / VPS delivery is the right choice

  • If what someone actually needs is a full remote desktop: a GUI, a persistent file system, or software that only runs locally, a VPS or RDP box is the right tool. That is a computer, not a network exit, and Proxy Bastion does not provide one.
  • If only one person will ever use that machine, there is no attribution or revocation problem to solve in the first place, and adding a relay layer in front of it is unnecessary.

Sources

  • Contabo's public VPS pricing page lists Cloud VPS 4 (4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 100 GB SSD) at EUR 5.50 per month as its cheapest listed plan, showing that a bare VPS capable of running a shared desktop is a low, fixed monthly cost independent of how many people use it. https://contabo.com/en/vps/ (checked 2026-09-10)