Security · paid tool
NordVPN alternatives
Virtual private network for encrypted browsing and geo-unblocking.
Free alternatives
Highest score first. The score weighs licence openness, repository activity, traction, feature coverage, and cost; factors without data are left out and the rest are reweighted.
Tailscale
Ranking score 83.8/100
Private mesh network built on WireGuard for devices and teams.
- Licence
- BSD-3-Clause
- Platforms
- macos, windows, linux, ios, android
- Self-hostable
- No
- Repo activity
- Last release October 21, 2026
- GitHub stars
- 38,116
- Last verified
- October 24, 2026
Why this rank
Score breakdown for Tailscale Factor Points Weight Licence opennessBSD-3-Clause licence (open); not self-hostable 17.5 25% Repository activityLast activity 0 day(s) before 2026-10-26 25 25% Popularity38116 GitHub stars 19.5 20% Feature coverage4 of 6 curated capability tags covered 13.3 20% Costopen-core pricing model 8.5 10% Points add up to the score. Factors without data are left out and the remaining weights are renormalised.
OpenVPN
Ranking score 83.6/100
Long-standing VPN server and client for encrypted network links.
- Licence
- GPL-2.0
- Platforms
- macos, windows, linux, ios, android
- Self-hostable
- No
- Repo activity
- Last release October 7, 2026
- GitHub stars
- 14,729
- Last verified
- October 24, 2026
Why this rank
Score breakdown for OpenVPN Factor Points Weight Licence opennessGPL-2.0 licence (open); not self-hostable 17.5 25% Repository activityLast activity 0 day(s) before 2026-10-26 25 25% Popularity14729 GitHub stars 17.7 20% Feature coverage4 of 6 curated capability tags covered 13.3 20% Costfree pricing model 10 10% Points add up to the score. Factors without data are left out and the remaining weights are renormalised.
WireGuard
Ranking score 76.6/100
Modern VPN tunnel with a small codebase and fast handshakes.
- Licence
- GPL-2.0
- Platforms
- macos, windows, linux, ios, android
- Self-hostable
- No
- Repo activity
- Last commit October 8, 2026
- GitHub stars
- 2,028
- Last verified
- October 24, 2026
Why this rank
Score breakdown for WireGuard Factor Points Weight Licence opennessGPL-2.0 licence (open); not self-hostable 17.5 25% Repository activityLast activity 17 day(s) before 2026-10-26 25 25% Popularity2028 GitHub stars 14.1 20% Feature coverage3 of 6 curated capability tags covered 10 20% Costfree pricing model 10 10% Points add up to the score. Factors without data are left out and the remaining weights are renormalised.