OpenVPN review (2026): is the free plan enough?
Open-source VPN protocol plus business VPN products built on it
Black Friday: is there a OpenVPN sale?
OpenVPN report card
Good · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026
Best for remote access for staff, hosted by you or by them
OpenVPN has a free community edition and two business products, Access Server and CloudConnexa, for giving staff access to company networks. The free tiers stop at 2 connections and 5 seats, and the extras your IT team may need sit on dearer plans.
Who OpenVPN is for
- Fits if you need a few people to reach company apps and networks
- Works for teams who want to host the VPN themselves
Who OpenVPN is not for
- Not for you if you want a consumer VPN with a server list, as these are business products
- Tight if you outgrow 2 connections on Access Server Free or 5 seats on Starter
- Pricey if you need SAML, SIEM log streaming and a public API, which start on Essential at $7 a seat
- Watch out: SCIM, longer log retention and the 99.9% uptime SLA are Premium or Enterprise only
- Watch out: Access Server refunds go through sales, and unused funds are credited when you cancel
Why OpenVPN gets a 2.8
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for money$7 a seat a month yearly on Essential and $9.50 on Premium. Those sit between the middle and the dearer quarter of a category that runs $3.99 to $8, and the 10-seat example costs $70 a month.
- BFree plan and trialThe community edition is free, Access Server is free for 2 connections and CloudConnexa Starter is free for 5 seats. One person or a very small team could live on that.
- BFeaturesSelf-hosted or cloud, identity and device policies, content filtering, IDS/IPS and an open-source edition. It covers the whole job of remote access, with some parts on dearer plans.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. Setup means connecting a server or a cloud account to your identity provider and apps.
- APlatforms and integrationsWindows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android and ChromeOS, plus a public API on Essential and hooks into Azure, Docker, VMware and Hyper-V.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from OpenVPN's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/openvpn#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/openvpn.svg" alt="OpenVPN: 2.8 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where OpenVPN stands among VPNs
OpenVPN's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 36 of the 50 other VPNs we grade, and level with 7.
It stands best on platforms and integrations (A, above 46 of 50) and worst on value for money (C, above 3).
Its paid plans start at $7 a month for each person, against a middle price of $4.99 for the category: 31 of the 40 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 3.0 out of 4. 2 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 51 VPNs we grade, cut by the letter each got. OpenVPN’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 3 of 50, level with 27
- BFree plan and trialAbove 35 of 50, level with 7
- BFeaturesAbove 33 of 50, level with 17
- CEase of useAbove 6 of 50, level with 16
- APlatforms and integrationsAbove 46 of 50, level with 4
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 46 VPNs. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep OpenVPN, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace OpenVPN you would be making servers in dozens of countries, kept fast and private. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.8 is higher than 36 of the 50 other VPNs we grade. It costs $84 a year. OpenVPN is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
What you could not
- Servers in dozens of countries, kept fast and private.
- Apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android that stay in step with each other.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- It plugs into other products, Azure, Docker and VMware ESXi among them, and has an API.
- What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. OpenVPN’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is OpenVPN?
OpenVPN is a VPN protocol with a free open-source community edition, and OpenVPN Inc. also sells two business products built on it: Access Server, which you host yourself, and CloudConnexa, which is cloud-delivered. Both are aimed at giving employees and contractors access to company apps and networks. Client apps cover Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and ChromeOS.
Worth knowing
- The pages read show the yearly-billed price only; a monthly price for Access Server was not displayed, and CloudConnexa advertises up to 20% off for annual billing.
- Access Server Free stops at 2 simultaneous connections, and Growth at 2,000; larger deployments are Enterprise with custom pricing.
- CloudConnexa's SCIM, longer log retention and 99.9% uptime SLA are on Premium or Enterprise only.
- Refunds on Access Server subscriptions go through sales; unused funds are credited to the account when you cancel.
Key features
- Self-hosted Access Server
- Runs on cloud IaaS, Docker, Linux, Hyper-V or VMware ESXi, with per-user and per-group access and SSO plus MFA.
- Cloud-delivered CloudConnexa
- Connects users to apps across offices and clouds from one console with no VPN servers to run, using OpenVPN or IPsec.
- Identity and device policies
- CloudConnexa sets access policies based on identity, device posture and location, with logs for audits.
- Content filtering
- CloudConnexa includes DNS filtering and IDS/IPS on every plan, and blocks known malicious sites.
- Open-source community edition
- The free OpenVPN community edition has Windows installers and source archives.
OpenVPN pricing
As of Nov 13, 2026, OpenVPN has a free plan, and paid plans start at $7 per connection or seat / month, billed annually.
- Starts at
- $7 per connection or seat / month, billed annually
- Free plan
- Open-source community edition; Access Server free for 2 connections; CloudConnexa Starter free for 5 seats.
- Free trial
- 14-day free trial of paid plans; Access Server's trial needs a credit card, and the free plans do not.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Community edition | $0 | Open-source OpenVPN that you download and host yourself, with Windows installers and source archives. |
| Access Server Free | $0 | Self-hosted, up to 2 simultaneous connections, all features. New sign-ups start with a 14-day trial of up to 100 connections. |
| Access Server Growth | $7per connection / month, billed annually | Self-hosted, up to 2,000 simultaneous connections, priced per connection with volume discounts; the page's example is 10 connections at $70 a month. |
| CloudConnexa Starter | $0 | Cloud-delivered, 5 seats included, with access policies, DNS filtering and IDS/IPS. |
| CloudConnexa Essential | $7per seat / month, billed annually | Adds LDAP and SAML, IPsec support, log streaming to a SIEM, a public API and 24-7 priority support. The page's example is 10 seats at $70 a month. |
| CloudConnexa Premium | $9.50per seat / month, billed annually | Adds SCIM, multiple authentication methods, longer log retention, a dedicated account manager and a 99.9% uptime SLA. The page's example is 10 seats at $95 a month. |
Read from openvpn.net on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with OpenVPN before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discountUp to 20% off CloudConnexa with annual billing
The CloudConnexa pricing page offers an annual discount of up to 20%; the prices shown there are the annual ones.
Stated on openvpn.net
Works with
OpenVPN alternatives
- OpenVPN vs Firezone
Free plan · from $50/yr
- OpenVPN vs NordLayer
From $8/mo
Common questions
Is OpenVPN open source?
Yes. OpenVPN is open source, according to its own site. It can also be run on a server of your own.
Does OpenVPN have an API?
Yes. OpenVPN offers a public API, according to its own site.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026.