WireGuard vs OpenVPN: which is better?
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Since its release in 2015, WireGuard has become one of the best-known VPN protocols in the industry. Designed for ultra-fast speeds, rock-solid security, and remarkable user-friendliness, it quickly established itself as the superior protocol, and OpenVPN could no longer claim the top spot.
As this WireGuard vs OpenVPN comparison clearly shows, WireGuard is better, faster, and stronger overall. In fact, it has heavily influenced the creation of many proprietary tunneling protocols, including NordLynx, Lightway, and Catapult Hydra.
That said, OpenVPN shouldn’t be dismissed either. In fact, even though it was released in 2001, it still remains one of the most important tunneling protocols that can deliver great performance. Curious to learn more? Let’s dive in.
WireGuard vs OpenVPN
Here’s how WireGuard and OpenVPN compare to each other in terms of speed, encryption, security, auditability, and compatibility:
| WireGuard | OpenVPN | |
| Speed | High | Moderate |
| Encryption | High | Low to high (configurable) |
| Security | Relatively high | High |
| Auditability | High | Low |
| Compatibility | Low | High |
What is WireGuard?
WireGuard is a modern VPN tunneling (communication) protocol that uses UDP (User Datagram Protocol) for data transferring. UDP is the default protocol used by VPNs because it is very fast.
Let’s put all the techy jargon aside. You can think of WireGuard as a fast, highly secure mail delivery service. It first gathers all the data that’s trying to leave your device. Then, it encrypts your data and sends it to the intended recipient using a high-speed delivery route.
What is OpenVPN?
OpenVPN is a tunneling protocol that transfers data with either UDP or TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). It has been around for a long time, and is one of the best-known VPN protocols even to this day. It can be implemented on a variety of operating systems.
Despite being widely popular and used virtually everywhere, OpenVPN is relatively slow by modern standards. This is mostly due to it not being designed with modern processors in mind. On the flip side, it is still very secure. Unsurprisingly, most obfuscated VPN servers use OpenVPN as their primary protocol. Plus, OpenVPN can transfer data with TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), which is important if you want very stable connections.
OpenVPN is so reliable and stable that, even today, most VPNs have OpenVPN as one of the tunneling protocol options.
WireGuard vs OpenVPN: full comparison
Now that we’ve looked at what WireGuard and OpenVPN protocols actually are, it is time to compare and see how they differ from one another in various categories such as performance and encryption.
Speed comparison
Our expert Cybernews researchers conducted WireGuard and OpenVPN speed tests to see how both perform. We used Surfshark VPN for the analysis and tested both protocols using servers in a few different locations.
- Baseline: 930Mbps download / 600 Mbps upload
| Location/protocol | WireGuard download speed | WireGuard upload speed | OpenVPN UDP download speed | OpenVPN UDP upload speed | OpenVPN TCP download speed | OpenVPN TCP upload speed |
| UK | 706Mbps | 495Mbps | 796Mbps | 394Mbps | 65Mbps | 38Mbps |
| US | 612Mbps | 204Mbps | 788Mbps | 186Mbps | 29Mbps | 40Mbps |
| Germany | 714Mbps | 560Mbps | 525Mbps | 294Mbps | 122Mbps | 153Mbps |
| Australia | 110Mbps | 59Mbps | 84Mbps | 39Mbps | 9Mbps | 13Mbps |
| Singapore | 559Mbps | 108Mbps | 400Mbps | 101Mbps | 11Mbps | 14Mbps |
During our tests, WireGuard was faster than OpenVPN. On average, it delivered about 4% higher download speeds and roughly 41% higher upload speeds than OpenVPN UDP. In terms of ping, WireGuard was the winner as well – it had lower ping than OpenVPN UDP in all locations (tied in Australia).
While OpenVPN UDP demonstrated faster downloads in the US and UK (788–796Mbps) than WireGuard (612–706Mbps), WireGuard was faster in Germany, Australia, and Singapore. Plus, it was much faster in terms of uploads in every region.
As expected, OpenVPN TCP was much slower than OpenVPN UDP and WireGuard. That said, I’d recommend TCP for stability rather than speed, so it’s not really important to compare it directly to WireGuard or OpenVPN UDP for performance.
WireGuard wins against OpenVPN overall, averaging slightly higher downloads, much higher uploads, and lower latency in our tested locations. While OpenVPN UDP can spike higher in some runs, its performance was highly inconsistent. On the other hand, WireGuard was the steadier, faster choice.
Encryption
Encryption is what makes a VPN protocol suitable for secure data transfers. Let’s take a look and compare the encryption of WireGuard and OpenVPN.
| WireGuard | OpenVPN | |
| Encryption | ChaCha20 | AES-256-GCM (most common); also supports other ciphers like ChaCha20 in some configurations |
| Authentication | Poly1305 | Supports certificates and multiple authentication methods; Poly1305 may be used in some setups |
OpenVPN has configurable encryption options, meaning that one can choose whether the encryption of transmitted data is stronger or weaker. Such configurable encryption also allows for either slower or faster speeds on devices or servers that are generally slower.
Currently, there are six primary supported encryption ciphers that a user can choose from, weakest to strongest: AES-128-CBC, AES-192-CBC, AES-256-CBC, AES-128-GCM, AES-256-GCM, and ChaCha20-Poly1305. Other ciphers were also previously available, but are no longer supported as of now. OpenVPN also uses a variety of hashing algorithms for authentication processing, ranging from very strong to very weak.
The WireGuard protocol uses ChaCha20 encryption, which is kind of similar to AES-256-GCM in terms of security strength, and thus is the strongest level of encryption right now. For authentication processing, WireGuard employs the Poly1305 Hashing function, which is the most universal and very secure.
In summary, while OpenVPN allows for variety in encryption levels, and WireGuard doesn’t, they both use the latest technology to encrypt the transmitted data.
It’s a draw in terms of encryption. While WireGuard might have been stronger when it first came out, OpenVPN has caught up and now offers WireGuard’s ChaCha20-Poly1305 cipher as one of its top-tier options.
Privacy
Due to modern design, WireGuard is considered more private than OpenVPN. However, when it comes to VPN use, both protocols are equally private. So, when discussing privacy, it’s much more important to consider specific providers and their view towards user data, anonymity, and privacy.
A tunneling protocol merely secures the tunnel, but it’s the provider that controls the server endpoint where your private data is decrypted. Ultimately, even top-grade encryption will not protect you if the company routing your traffic is secretly logging your browsing history. So, to keep things private, go for a VPN that operates in a privacy-friendly country, uses RAM-only servers, and regularly undergoes independent third-party audits. I recommend NordVPN.
WireGuard might be more modern, but OpenVPN is just as privacy-focused. Ultimately, both protocols provide exceptional, top-tier security tailored to different hardware capabilities. And if you care about privacy, you should primarily focus on VPN providers who employ WireGuard and OpenVPN.
Auditability
VPN tunneling protocols need to be audited from time to time to make sure they are reliable and don’t contain any malicious code or vulnerabilities that could be exploited. This is done by inspecting the code.
When it comes to WireGuard vs OpenVPN, it is nice to know that both protocols are open-source. However, that doesn’t mean that it is equally easy to audit them. In general, WireGuard is considered more auditable than OpenVPN. Its current version has just around 4,000 lines of code, which is approximately 17 times less than OpenVPN’s 70,000 lines of code.
| WireGuard | OpenVPN | |
| Open-source | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Code length | ~4,000 lines | ~70,000 lines |
Although OpenVPN is considered of lower auditability – as it would require a team of experts and a lot of time to conduct a thorough inspection of the code – both protocols have been audited and their bugs and vulnerabilities have been fixed and patched.
WireGuard's codebase is quite minimalistic, consisting of roughly 4,000 lines of code. This should make it easier and faster for independent security researchers to audit for vulnerabilities compared to OpenVPN. Overall, WireGuard provides a much smaller attack surface and a clearer view of its cryptographic design.
Compatibility
A VPN protocol must be compatible with various operating systems and not too difficult to implement for it to be widely recognized and used.
One advantage OpenVPN has over WireGuard is that it has been around for much longer, and many experts and VPN makers have already familiarized themselves with it quite closely. They know how it works, the implementation process, and other specifics.
Besides, OpenVPN is compatible with basically any operating system, which makes it extremely versatile. And if you want to set up a VPN on your router, OpenVPN would be the best for that. Especially in cases when you’re facing older and legacy routers.
WireGuard, on the other hand, was primarily designed for Linux, specifically with the intention of integrating it into the Linux kernel. Versions for other operating systems followed only some time later after the initial release. On top of that, many routers now support WireGuard.
Overall, while WireGuard was once a relatively new protocol, it is no longer less widely spread than OpenVPN. In fact, WireGuard has become a standard feature with nearly all major VPN providers due to easy auditability and great speed.
When it comes to compatibility, OpenVPN is the standard for legacy devices. However, WireGuard has native integration into the Linux kernel and has established widespread support across Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and modern routers. In short, WireGuard has become the new standard for home networks.
Conclusion
Both OpenVPN and WireGuard are really secure open-source VPN protocols, if properly implemented. However, WireGuard is newer and faster than OpenVPN, because it was designed with modern devices and processors in mind. It is also easier to audit and maintain.
WireGuard has inspired the creation of many new tunneling protocols, including NordLynx by NordVPN. You can also find WireGuard used by Surfshark, IPVanish, Proton VPN, CyberGhost, and many other well-known VPNs.
Nevertheless, OpenVPN has been around for a very long time, and is just as reliable and just as accessible across VPN providers. You can find it on NordVPN, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, PrivateVPN, and other great VPN tools.
FAQ
Can WireGuard replace OpenVPN?
Yes, as WireGuard has gained popularity in recent years, it can be viewed as an alternative to OpenVPN. While both protocols are considered equally private, WireGuard is easier to audit and maintain.
Is WireGuard safe in 2026?
Yes, WireGuard is still safe to use in 2026. There were concerns regarding the security of WireGuard because a vulnerability was discovered in 2022, but it is not uncommon. By contrast, OpenVPN has had dozens of vulnerabilities found and fixed during its lifetime, whereas WireGuard has only had a few.
Is OpenVPN more secure than WireGuard?
No. While WireGuard strictly uses ChaCha20 encryption, OpenVPN supports both AES-256-GCM and ChaCha20, which means they both offer top-tier security. Notably, OpenVPN’s encryption is configurable and can be lowered to accommodate older hardware. However, both WireGuard and OpenVPN use modern hash functions for message authentication processes.
Is WireGuard the fastest VPN protocol?
Yes, in terms of secure, heavily encrypted VPN protocols, WireGuard is the fastest option on the market in 2026. While faster tunneling protocols than WireGuard exist, they usually don’t offer encryption or use outdated standards, which means they don’t fulfill modern security needs.
