Quite the opposite, they're quite adamant about only using free (as in freedom) and in this case, beer, software. And denounce the usage of VPNs at every opportunity. ;)

So they really want you to use Tor - where the fact that you are connecting to a Tor node is extremely obvious, and flags you as a being part of the fractional percentage of internet users who do so - but don't want you to use a VPN, the use of which, while still not exactly baseline, is increasingly common? That may give you privacy, but it hardly seems like it makes you anonymous. Rather, wouldn't that send up a giant beacon for anyone at your ISP who cares to look at connections they (or the authorities) might want to pay more attention to?

You can run a VPN on the host, or you can use a bridge on the VM if you want to minimize the probability of your ISP knowing you're using Tor.

> where the fact that you are connecting to a Tor node is extremely obvious

Yes, additionally, it has been concluded that it is impossible to hide the usage of Tor from the ISP, VPNs do not help. The usage of Tor is obvious.

> but don't want you to use a VPN

If you can't use Tor safely, it would be unlikely that you can use a VPN safely either.

> That may give you privacy, but it hardly seems like it makes you anonymous.

What makes you say that? There are millions of Tor users connected at any time, if you believe the number of users is an issue. I suggest you read more about Tor on their website - https://torproject.org

> Rather, wouldn't that send up a giant beacon for anyone at your ISP who cares to look at connections they (or the authorities) might want to pay more attention to?

No, I don't believe so granted that you live in a western democracy.