Outline VPN vs WireGuard (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, WireGuard grades higher than Outline VPN: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
WireGuard grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Which one is for you
Pick Outline VPN if
- Fits if you want to run your own VPN rather than trust a provider
- Works for sharing one server with friends or family
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you don't want a hosting bill, as you pay your own server host
- Skip it if you want to switch between countries, since traffic exits from one location
- Tight if you only have a phone, because creating a server needs a desktop computer
- Watch out: getoutline.me and a Telegram channel are not affiliated with the Outline team
Pick WireGuard if
- Fits if you are happy to run your own server and exchange keys by hand
- Works for people building a VPN or a provider's app on top of a small protocol
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a hosted VPN, as there are no provider servers
- Not for you if you want sign-in, users and policy, because those need other tools
- Too light for a team: pushing configuration to many people is outside its scope
- Watch out: the site says the project is under heavy development
- Watch out: the Mac and iPhone apps come from the App Store, and Android from Google Play or an APK
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAOutline VPNFair | 2.4GPAWireGuardFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe software is free, but only if you host it yourself, which needs a server; the site cites $5 a month or less at many providers. | CFree to download, but there are no provider servers, so you pay for a server of your own. Software that is only free if you host it yourself is a C. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe apps and server software cost nothing, but you also need a server of your own, so it is not free to use. | AFree outright, with donations asked for. The software has no plan or cap. |
| Features | CYour own server, access keys, per-key data limits and an SDK. There is one exit location, with no pool to switch between. | CKey-based tunnels with a small codebase. It does that job fully, but it is a smaller job: key distribution and pushed configuration are outside its scope. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record, and you create a server through the Manager on a desktop and manage it yourself. | DNo rating on record, and setup is on you: keys, a server and config files, usually from a command line. |
| Platforms and integrations | BManager on Windows, Mac and Linux, and clients for iOS and Android. | BWindows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android, though the listing names no API or integrations. |
| Best for | running your own VPN server for a few people | a fast tunnel you host yourself |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Outline VPN and WireGuard. How we grade
Price against what you get
Outline VPN has no paid plan and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. WireGuard has no paid plan and scores 2.0.
On this chart the two sit in the same place: the same score for the same starting price. Of the other VPNs on the chart, none scores higher than Outline VPN for less, and none scores higher than WireGuard for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Outline VPN is self-hostable, according to its own site.
In commonFree planWindowsmacOSLinuxiOSAndroidOpen sourceVPN
At a glance
| Outline VPN | WireGuard | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | The software is free and open source. You pay your own server host; the Get Started page says many providers offer plans for $5 a month or less. | Free open-source software; the project accepts voluntary donations. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Outline Foundation | Jason A. Donenfeld (ZX2C4) and Edge Security |
| Price read from | getoutline.org | wireguard.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Outline VPN
- You need your own server, so there is a hosting bill, and the site cites $5 a month or less at many providers.
- Your traffic leaves from the one server location you picked, with no pool of locations to switch between.
- The site says getoutline.me and a Telegram channel are not affiliated with the Outline team and cannot help with access keys from those services.
- Outline Manager runs on Windows, macOS and Linux desktops, so creating a server needs a desktop computer.
WireGuard
- It is software, not a hosted VPN: there are no provider servers, and you supply the server and keys.
- Key distribution and pushed configuration are outside its scope, so users, sign-in and policy need other tools.
- The site says the project is under heavy development.
- The macOS and iOS apps are installed from the App Store, and the Android app from Google Play or as an APK.
Key features
Outline VPN
- Your own server
- Outline Manager walks you through creating a server at a cloud provider such as DigitalOcean, AWS or Google Cloud, or on your own Linux machine, and lets you pick its location.
- Access keys
- Each person you share the server with gets a unique access key from the Manager, and a key can be managed or deleted from the server.
- Per-key data limits
- The Manager can set a data limit for each key so one user cannot use all of the server's bandwidth.
- Shadowsocks-based
- The server runs a Shadowsocks service with a REST API for key management, which the project says benefits from ongoing work on resisting detection and blocking.
- Outline SDK
- A cross-platform library and tools for building the same blocking-resistant networking strategies into other apps and VPN tools.
WireGuard
- Key-based tunnels
- A connection is made by exchanging public keys between peers, and each peer lists the tunnel IP addresses it is allowed to send from.
- Modern cryptography
- Uses the Noise protocol framework, Curve25519, ChaCha20, Poly1305, BLAKE2, SipHash24 and HKDF.
- Small codebase
- Designed to be short enough for one person to review, in contrast to the larger IPsec and OpenVPN codebases, the project says.
- Roaming
- A connection can keep working as a peer's IP address changes.
- Wide platform support
- The install page lists Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and many Linux and BSD distributions, plus OpenWRT.
Plans
Outline VPN
Outline$0
Free Manager and Client apps and server software. You host the server yourself at a cloud provider you choose or on your own Linux infrastructure.
WireGuard
WireGuard$0
Free software you set up and host yourself. The kernel components are GPLv2; other projects use MIT, BSD, Apache 2.0 or GPL licenses.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Outline VPN or WireGuard?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Outline VPN and WireGuard are free to use.
Which has a free plan, Outline VPN or WireGuard?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Outline VPN and WireGuard have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.