To start let me give a short overview of what a bridge is, a Tor bridge hides that your connecting to Tor, if you can successfully hide that your using Tor, then you can bypass censorship. Different bridges have different level of effectiveness at hiding that your using Tor, but they basically just make it harder for someone to know your using Tor.

This is great in countries with censorship such as Russia, China, etc, but what about the U.S? You can access Tor no big deal, so why would you use a bridge, well I'm gonna go over the pros and cons, and in this when I say bridge I'm talking about all bridges, not just one.

Pros

  • You isp wont know your using Tor
  • Extra privacy for very sensitive stuff* (read last con)
  • Some schools and workplace networks block Tor, a bridge would get around that

Cons

  • Slower Connection, more latency (Varies on the bridge and relay speed tho)
  • Requires extra configuration
  • Somebody monitoring your connection can still pick up a pattern that your using Tor
  • A bridge replaces your guard, and doesn't change, so now one of you relays will always be the same for every website, not great

Note that your isp cant see what your doing on Tor, only that your using it.

In my other article How many people use Tor?, I found that on average around 380k people in the U.S use Tor, without a bridge, and around 11k use Tor with a bridge. The entire answer is what your situation is and what you value.

Ill give some situations when you should use a bridge

Situation 1: Your a student and want to use Tor on school networks; use a bridge, same with this next one, people might not understand why you need to access what they know as the 'darkweb' Situation 2: Your at work and want to use Tor on your works network; use a bridge, people don't fully understand that the 'darkweb' isn't just criminals Situation 3: Your at a coffee shop and want to use Tor; use no bridge Situation 4: Your at home and want to use Tor; this fully depends on if you want speed or privacy, personally ill go no bridge because using Tor isn't illegal in the U.S, and my isp probably doesn't care, as they cant see what your doing on Tor

Now if you want to directly connect to Tor, but want to look more normal you could use vpn, but read my other article on whether you should use a vpn with tor.

Short answer: If you don't have a VPN; not worth getting one just for Tor. If you do have a VPN; I would recommend using it in place of a bridge, as it will have the same effect but faster speeds.

Final Answer Answer: Depends on personal needs, but if you need a simple answer; No unless your on a work or school network