Direct: your app connects to the exit node itself. 2-hop: it connects to an entry node, which forwards your traffic to the exit over a tunnel. 2-hop costs both nodes' prices plus the fee, and keeps your IP address away from the exit.
Direct: You → exit → internet exit price + 20%
2-hop: You → entry → exit → internet entry + exit price + 20%
Direct (1-hop)
Your app connects straight to an exit (origin) node, usually abroad.
The exit sees your IP address and the sites you connect to, as with any VPN server.
Price: the exit's price + 20%.
One hop fewer, so usually the faster choice.
2-hop (entry + exit)
Your app connects to an entry (edge) node, often one that stays reachable from inside your country.
The entry forwards your traffic, still encrypted, to the exit over a WireGuard (or GRE+IPsec) tunnel. It sees your IP address and the cover site name your app uses, not the sites you visit.
The exit sees the sites you connect to, but only the entry's address, not yours.
Price: the entry's price + the exit's price, + 20%.
Reality, Hysteria2 and XHTTP can all go through the entry. olcRTC always goes to the exit directly, through the video service.
When to pick which
Direct when it works: fewer hops, lower price.
2-hop when your network blocks or throttles connections to addresses abroad but not to a domestic entry node, or when you would rather the exit did not see your IP address.
2-hop divides what each node sees. That protects you from one party seeing both your IP address and your destinations only when the entry and the exit are run by different operators, and the marketplace does not show who runs a node.