Defguard vs Pritunl
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?
Defguard
WireGuard VPN and identity platform with MFA
VS
Pritunl
Enterprise VPN server built on OpenVPN and WireGuard
| Feature | Defguard | Pritunl |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | bare-metal, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,798 | ★ 4,997 |
| First released | 2023 | 2013 |
| Replaces | OpenVPN Access Server, Twingate | OpenVPN Access Server |
Why pick each one
Choose Defguard if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Choose Pritunl if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (5k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Defguard or Pritunl better?
Neither is universally better. Pritunl has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Defguard and Pritunl free and open-source?
Yes. Defguard is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Pritunl under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Defguard and Pritunl with Docker?
Defguard: yes. Pritunl: yes.