Comparing TCP & UDP
Last updated
Last updated
TCP provides more features than UDP, but at the cost of additional overhead.
For applications that require reliable communications (for example downloading a file), TCP is preferred.
For applications like real-time voice and video, UDP is preferred.
There are some applications that use UDP, but provide reliability etc within the application itself.
Some applications use both TCP & UDP, depending on the situation.
| TCP | UDP |
|---|---|
Connection-oriented
Connectionless
Reliable
Unreliable
Sequencing
No sequencing
Flow control
No flow control
Use for downloads, file sharing, etc
Used for VoIP, live video, etc