Firezone vs strongSwan
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Firezone
Open-source secure remote access platform
VS
strongSwan
Modern IPsec-based VPN implementation
| Feature | Firezone | strongSwan |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Elixir | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,103 | ★ 2,987 |
| First released | 2021 | 2005 |
| Replaces | Cisco AnyConnect, Tailscale | Cisco AnyConnect |
What are Firezone and strongSwan?
Firezone
Firezone is a self-hosted secure remote access platform built on WireGuard, offering zero-trust network access with policy-based controls. It replaces traditional corporate VPNs.
- Zero-trust access policies
- WireGuard under the hood
- SSO integration
- Web admin portal
strongSwan
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.
- Full IPsec implementation
- IKEv1 and IKEv2 support
- Certificate-based auth
- Cross-platform
Firezone vs strongSwan: key differences
Firezone is written in Elixir, while strongSwan is built with C. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Firezone versus GPL-2.0 for strongSwan. StrongSwan is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Firezone. StrongSwan is the more established project (first released 2005), while Firezone arrived in 2021. Firezone has the considerably larger community, at 9,103 GitHub stars versus 2,987. Firezone lists first-class Docker deployment; strongSwan does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Firezone if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.1k GitHub stars
- Written in Elixir
Choose strongSwan if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (3k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Firezone or strongSwan better?
Firezone is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider strongSwan if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Firezone and strongSwan free and open-source?
Yes. Firezone is licensed under Apache-2.0 and strongSwan under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Firezone and strongSwan with Docker?
Firezone: yes. strongSwan: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Firezone or strongSwan?
strongSwan has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Firezone. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.