Chisel vs OpenVPN
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Chisel
Fast TCP/UDP tunnel over HTTP secured by SSH
VS
OpenVPN
Robust and flexible open-source VPN solution
| Feature | Chisel | OpenVPN |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | bare-metal, docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,362 | ★ 14,345 |
| First released | 2015 | 2001 |
| Replaces | ngrok | Cisco AnyConnect |
Why pick each one
Choose Chisel if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 16.4k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Choose OpenVPN if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 14.3k GitHub stars
- Written in C
Frequently asked questions
Is Chisel or OpenVPN better?
Chisel is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider OpenVPN if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Chisel and OpenVPN free and open-source?
Yes. Chisel is licensed under MIT and OpenVPN under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Chisel and OpenVPN with Docker?
Chisel: yes. OpenVPN: yes.