Networking · alternatives
Alternatives to OpenVPN
20 networking tools sit alongside OpenVPN in this directory. Below is what separates each from OpenVPN on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 12
- Cheaper to start
- -
- OpenVPN starts at
- Free
Why people look past OpenVPN
Nothing on the record flags a reason to move. OpenVPN has a free tier. People still switch over fit and workflow, and those are not things a catalogue entry can measure, which is what the comparisons below are for.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Zero-trust mesh VPN built on WireGuard with identity-based access
- Publishes an entry price of Free, where OpenVPN does not.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than Open source core is free; Access Server billed per simultaneous connection.
- 4 tiers to OpenVPN's 3.
Software-defined mesh networking, free up to 10 devices and one network, then billed per device
- Sold on a Free up to 10 devices and 1 network, then per additional device per month model rather than Open source core is free; Access Server billed per simultaneous connection.
Open source firewall software with a free Community Edition and a separate commercial Plus edition sold by Netgate
- Sold on a Open source Community Edition, free; commercial Plus edition sold separately by Netgate model rather than Open source core is free; Access Server billed per simultaneous connection.
- 2 tiers to OpenVPN's 3.
Open source infrastructure monitoring, free at its core, with paid support and modules sold separately by Icinga GmbH
- Sold on a Open source core, with paid repository, module and support subscriptions sold separately model rather than Open source core is free; Access Server billed per simultaneous connection.
- 2 tiers to OpenVPN's 3.
Free, community-driven network monitoring with commercial support sold by a third-party partner, not the project itself
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee; commercial support sold by a third-party partner model rather than Open source core is free; Access Server billed per simultaneous connection.
- 1 tier to OpenVPN's 3.
Internet and digital experience monitoring, with a genuinely published entry price through its WebPageTest product line
- Sold on a Free tier plus published entry tiers, enterprise quote-only model rather than Open source core is free; Access Server billed per simultaneous connection.
- 4 tiers to OpenVPN's 3.
Every OpenVPN alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenVPN (this page) | Free | Open source core is free; Access Server billed per simultaneous connection | 3 | |
| TailscaleFor a mesh VPN with a more modern peer-to-peer architecture and simpler zero-config onboarding | Free | Freemium | 4 | vs OpenVPN |
| ZeroTierFor an alternative software-defined networking tool priced by total device count rather than simultaneous connections | Free | Free up to 10 devices and 1 network, then per additional device per month | 3 | vs OpenVPN |
| pfSenseFor VPN functionality bundled into a full firewall platform rather than a dedicated VPN server product | Free | Open source Community Edition, free; commercial Plus edition sold separately by Netgate | 2 | vs OpenVPN |
| Icinga | Free | Open source core, with paid repository, module and support subscriptions sold separately | 2 | vs OpenVPN |
| LibreNMS | Free | Open source, no licence fee; commercial support sold by a third-party partner | 1 | vs OpenVPN |
| Catchpoint | Free | Free tier plus published entry tiers, enterprise quote-only | 4 | vs OpenVPN |
| NetBird | Free | Per user per month | 3 | vs OpenVPN |
| Nebula | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs OpenVPN |
| Headscale | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs OpenVPN |
| Twingate | Free | Per user per month | 3 | vs OpenVPN |
| Zabbix | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs OpenVPN |
| Netdata | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs OpenVPN |
| Domotz | On request | Per collector or per managed device per month | 2 | vs OpenVPN |
| Juniper Mist | On request | Quote, hardware plus required Wi-Fi Assurance subscription | 2 | vs OpenVPN |
| Auvik | On request | Quote, per managed device | 1 | vs OpenVPN |
| Kentik | On request | Annual contract only, per tier | 2 | vs OpenVPN |
| Cisco Meraki | On request | Quote, hardware plus mandatory recurring licence | 1 | vs OpenVPN |
| PRTG Network Monitor | On request | Per sensor tier, billed monthly on an annual contract | 5 | vs OpenVPN |
| ThousandEyes | On request | Quote, unit-based consumption on annual or prepaid contracts | 1 | vs OpenVPN |
| MikroTik RouterOS | On request | One-time purchase, per licence level | 2 | vs OpenVPN |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the OpenVPN badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
What you would be giving up
OpenVPN is most often brought in for a technical team wanting a fully free, self-configured vpn server using the open source protocol without any vendor relationship, a small business wanting a supported, easier-to-administer vpn server, willing to pay per concurrent connection rather than per employee, an organisation with more staff than typical concurrent vpn usage, since access server bills only active simultaneous connections, not total accounts, an iot or large-scale deployment needing custom enterprise pricing above 2,000 connections. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If OpenVPN is broadly right and the question is cost, the OpenVPN pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Networking category lists everything the directory holds, and best networking tools ranks them.
OpenVPN runs on linux, windows, macos, ios, android. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about OpenVPN alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to OpenVPN?
- 20 other networking tools are listed in this directory, led by Tailscale, ZeroTier, pfSense, Icinga. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to OpenVPN?
- 12 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Tailscale, ZeroTier, pfSense, Icinga, LibreNMS.
- Is there a reason to switch away from OpenVPN?
- Nothing in the data flags one. OpenVPN has a free tier. Fit and workflow are the usual reasons to move, and those are not things this record can measure.
- What would I give up by switching from OpenVPN?
- OpenVPN is most often brought in for a technical team wanting a fully free, self-configured vpn server using the open source protocol without any vendor relationship, a small business wanting a supported, easier-to-administer vpn server, willing to pay per concurrent connection rather than per employee, an organisation with more staff than typical concurrent vpn usage, since access server bills only active simultaneous connections, not total accounts, an iot or large-scale deployment needing custom enterprise pricing above 2,000 connections. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to OpenVPN?
- None of the networking tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these OpenVPN alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Networking, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare OpenVPN against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against OpenVPN covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every networking tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Networking category, 20 tools beside OpenVPN. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.