OpenVPN
Open-source VPN software for building secure, encrypted network tunnels
openvpn.net — this link takes you to the developer's own website.
- Version
- 2.7.501
- License
- Open source
- Platforms
- Windows
- Publisher
- OpenVPN Inc.
OpenVPN Community Edition is the open-source project behind the OpenVPN protocol, maintained by OpenVPN Inc. together with outside contributors. It uses SSL/TLS-based tunneling to establish secure connections between two computers or networks, encrypting traffic that passes between them.
On Windows, the software installs as the OpenVPN GUI client plus a background service that manages the actual tunnel. Rather than including a built-in VPN service with preset server locations, it works with .ovpn configuration files that either point to a commercial VPN provider supporting the OpenVPN protocol or to a server the user has set up themselves with the same open-source software.
Because it is a client and daemon rather than a packaged consumer app, it suits users who want direct control over their VPN setup: administrators running self-hosted VPN infrastructure, businesses building site-to-site tunnels, or anyone connecting to a provider that distributes OpenVPN config files. People looking for a ready-to-use VPN app with an included network of servers should look at a commercial VPN service instead, since this project provides only the connection software.
OpenVPN Inc. also sells separate commercial products, Access Server and CloudConnexa, built on the same underlying protocol but distributed and licensed differently from the Community Edition covered here.