FreeRDP 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?
FreeRDP
Free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol
VS
OpenVPN
Robust and flexible open-source VPN solution
| Feature | FreeRDP | OpenVPN |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,527 | ★ 14,345 |
| First released | 2009 | 2001 |
| Replaces | Microsoft RDP | Cisco AnyConnect |
Why pick each one
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 FreeRDP or OpenVPN better?
Neither is universally better. OpenVPN has the larger community, while FreeRDP is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are FreeRDP and OpenVPN free and open-source?
Yes. FreeRDP is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenVPN under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FreeRDP and OpenVPN with Docker?
FreeRDP: check the project docs for container support. OpenVPN: yes.