# OpenVPN review (2026): is the free plan enough?

> Open-source VPN protocol plus business VPN products built on it

Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA.

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.

- **Category:** VPNs
- **Made by:** OpenVPN Inc. (since 2002)
- **Website:** https://openvpn.net
- **Runs on:** Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
- **Who should skip it:** Not for you if you want a consumer VPN with a server list, as these are business products.
- **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026

## Pricing

As of Nov 13, 2026, OpenVPN has a free plan, and paid plans start at $7 per connection or seat / month, billed annually.

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **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 | $7 per 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 | $7 per 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 | $9.50 per 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 https://openvpn.net/cloud-vpn/pricing/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with OpenVPN before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **Up to 20% off CloudConnexa with annual billing** (Annual discount): The CloudConnexa pricing page offers an annual discount of up to 20%; the prices shown there are the annual ones. Source: https://openvpn.net/cloud-vpn/pricing/

## 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.

## Good for

- IT teams giving employees and contractors remote access to company apps
- Organizations that want to self-host their VPN server
- Small groups using the free 2-connection Access Server or the 5-seat CloudConnexa plan

## 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.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.8 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. 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.

- **Value for money: C.** $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.
- **Free plan and trial: B.** The 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.
- **Features: B.** Self-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.
- **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. Setup means connecting a server or a cloud account to your identity provider and apps.
- **Platforms and integrations: A.** Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android and ChromeOS, plus a public API on Essential and hooks into Azure, Docker, VMware and Hyper-V.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. 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.

## Where it 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.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/vpn

## Keep it, 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.

- You could not: Servers in dozens of countries, kept fast and private.
- You could not: Apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android that stay in step with each other.
- You could not: It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- You could not: It plugs into other products, Azure, Docker and VMware ESXi among them, and has an API.
- You could not: What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on.
- You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## Works with

Azure, Docker, VMware ESXi, Hyper-V

**Tags:** VPN, Open source, Self-hostable, Public API

## Alternatives

- [WireGuard](https://toolgpa.com/tools/wireguard): Free, open-source VPN protocol and tunnel software. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/openvpn-vs-wireguard)
- [SoftEther VPN](https://toolgpa.com/tools/softether-vpn): Free multi-protocol VPN server and client from a Japanese university. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/openvpn-vs-softether-vpn)
- [Firezone](https://toolgpa.com/tools/firezone): WireGuard-based zero-trust remote access for teams. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/firezone-vs-openvpn)
- [NordLayer](https://toolgpa.com/tools/nordlayer): Business VPN and network access control from Nord Security. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/nordlayer-vs-openvpn)
- [Outline VPN](https://toolgpa.com/tools/outline-vpn): Open-source software for running your own VPN server. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/openvpn-vs-outline-vpn)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026:

- https://openvpn.net
- https://openvpn.net/access-server/pricing/
- https://openvpn.net/cloud-vpn/pricing/
- https://openvpn.net/community/
- https://openvpn.net/client/
- https://openvpn.net/about/

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/openvpn
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).