Alternatives to OpenVPN Access Server
A self-hosted business VPN server with a web admin interface, free for two simultaneous connections. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
OpenVPN Access Server
A self-hosted business VPN server with a web admin interface, free for two simultaneous connections.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as OpenVPN Access Server.
Pritunl
A self-hosted VPN server for OpenVPN, WireGuard and IPsec, managed through a web interface.
Pritunl is an open source self-hosted server for OpenVPN, WireGuard and IPsec with a web interface and site-to-site links, without a connection-count limit on the free version.
OpenVPN Community
The VPN protocol and client that has been the default for two decades, and still runs on everything.
OpenVPN Community is the GPL-2.0 edition of the same protocol, free and open source, but without a web admin panel and with complex server configuration.
SoftEther VPN
An open-source multi-protocol VPN server and client for remote access and site-to-site networking.
SoftEther VPN is an Apache-2.0 multi-protocol server that also runs on Windows and macOS, with SSL-VPN, dynamic DNS and NAT traversal, but a dated documentation site.
ocserv
An open-source Linux SSL VPN server compatible with OpenConnect and AnyConnect clients.
ocserv is a GPL-2.0 Linux SSL VPN server for OpenConnect and AnyConnect clients, with Radius and OpenID Connect authentication but no web admin panel.
defguard
A self-hosted WireGuard VPN platform with built-in identity management and multi-factor authentication per connection.
defguard replaces OpenVPN with self-hosted WireGuard, adding MFA on each connection, LDAP, Active Directory and OIDC integration and central firewall management.
WireGuard Easy
A Docker image that runs a WireGuard VPN server with a web interface for managing clients.
WireGuard Easy runs a free WireGuard server with a web client manager in a Docker container, suited to personal use rather than business authentication options.
Firezone
WireGuard-based zero trust access with self-hosted gateways.
Firezone gives WireGuard zero trust access with identity-driven policies and self-hosted gateways under Apache-2.0, though its control plane is hosted by the vendor.
NetBird
A WireGuard-based mesh network with single sign-on, multi-factor authentication and access policies, self-hostable or managed.
NetBird replaces a central VPN server with a peer-to-peer WireGuard mesh with SSO, MFA and group rules, fully self-hostable under the AGPL or managed.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
OpenVPN Connect
The official OpenVPN client app for connecting to OpenVPN servers from desktop and mobile devices.
Tunnelblick
A free, open-source graphical OpenVPN client for macOS that bundles everything needed to connect.
Viscosity
A native OpenVPN client for macOS and Windows with a graphical editor, traffic statistics and DNS control.
WireGuard Portal
A self-hosted web portal for managing WireGuard server interfaces and user peer configurations.
OpenZiti
An open-source zero trust networking platform that connects services by identity instead of IP address.
Twingate
An identity-based network access service meant to replace a traditional VPN for teams.
