small heads up:
BIP324 is proceeding apace. looks like we could see it as early as bitcoin core version 27.0, if not 28.0 (so ~ next summer or later).
that means bitcoin nodes can encrypt the data sent over (but not authenticate) their network connections with one another, for anyone wanting the tl;dr. This is a step toward one day obviating the need for VPN or Tor with Bitcoin clients, but is not sufficient on its own. It still improves privacy whether using VPN/Tor or not.
Indeed i see some PR (which mention "324" or mentioned on
https://bip324.com/sections/code-review/) got merged in last few months). Although on other hand, i don't see other full node software have plan to add BIP 324 soon.
Your Internet provider can figure out you do easily as messages aren't encrypted. In that case, you should just run via Tor.
This is important.
It's 'easier' and 'more convenient' to run without Tor, however it is best to do so especially if you are hosting from home. A rented VPS (no matter how privately it was acquired) might be more flexible on how important it is though it's not a big sacrifice to achieve privacy.
But VPS (with big storage space) from popular/reputable VPS prodier isn't cheap though, unless you're willing to use VPS with HDD or run pruned node.