WireGuard vs OpenVPN
WireGuard and OpenVPN are two VPN protocols: sets of rules for how an encrypted tunnel is set up and run. OpenVPN, released in 2001, is mature, extremely configurable and runs almost everywhere. WireGuard, which reached the mainline Linux kernel in 2020, is a newer design that deliberately keeps a small codebase and a fixed, modern set of cryptography, aiming for high performance and simplicity.
WireGuard is a newer, lean VPN protocol focused on speed and a small audited codebase; OpenVPN is a mature, highly configurable protocol with very broad compatibility.
How they compare
- 01
Codebase: WireGuard is intentionally small (a few thousand lines), which makes it easier to audit; OpenVPN is much larger and more feature-laden.
- 02
Performance: WireGuard is generally faster, with lower overhead and quicker connection setup, partly because it runs in the kernel on Linux and uses a small, fixed set of ciphers.
- 03
Configurability: OpenVPN is highly flexible, with TCP or UDP transport, many cipher options and plenty of ways through restrictive networks. WireGuard is deliberately minimal and makes these choices for you.
- 04
Maturity and reach: OpenVPN has two decades of deployment, tooling and platform support; WireGuard is newer but has been adopted very widely and quickly.
Why WireGuard is fast and lean
WireGuard fixes its cryptographic choices rather than negotiating them, which removes a class of configuration mistakes and shrinks the code that has to be trusted and audited. It runs in the operating-system kernel on Linux, avoiding context-switch overhead, and its handshake is lightweight, so tunnels come up quickly and roam well between networks. The trade-off for this simplicity is fewer knobs: it doesn't offer OpenVPN's wide menu of transports and options for slipping through hostile networks.
Where OpenVPN still shines
OpenVPN's strength is its flexibility. It can run over TCP to look like ordinary HTTPS traffic and pass through restrictive firewalls, supports a broad range of ciphers and authentication methods, and has mature integrations on nearly every platform and device. For environments that need that flexibility, or that already have OpenVPN tooling and expertise, it remains a solid, proven choice. WireGuard tends to win where raw speed, simplicity and a minimal trusted codebase matter most.
How this relates to Vexaro Mesh (in development)
This is a comparison of two third-party protocols; it isn't a statement about Vexaro Mesh's own tunnel. Vexaro Mesh is in development, and this site doesn't name the protocol it will use; its tunnels are planned to be encrypted with modern cryptography.
See the planned features