strongSwan
Modern IPsec-based VPN implementation
strongSwan is a complete IPsec implementation for Linux and other platforms supporting IKEv1 and IKEv2 key exchange. It is widely used for site-to-site and remote access VPNs.
Key features
- Full IPsec implementation
- IKEv1 and IKEv2 support
- Certificate-based auth
- Cross-platform
Strengths
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (3k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
strongSwan replaces
Compare strongSwan
5 head-to-head comparisons.
Similar remote access & vpn apps
RustDesk
Remote Access & VPNOpen-source remote desktop alternative to TeamViewer
Replaces TeamViewer, AnyDesk
frp
Remote Access & VPNFast reverse proxy to expose local servers behind NAT
Replaces ngrok
Headscale
Remote Access & VPNOpen-source self-hosted Tailscale control server
Replaces Tailscale
Sunshine
Remote Access & VPNSelf-hosted game-stream host for Moonlight clients
Replaces NVIDIA GameStream, Parsec
Tailscale
Remote Access & VPNZero-config mesh VPN built on WireGuard
Replaces ZeroTier
JumpServer
Remote Access & VPNOpen-source bastion host and PAM platform
Replaces CyberArk, Teleport