frp vs Docker 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?
frp
Fast reverse proxy to expose local servers behind NAT
VS
Docker OpenVPN
OpenVPN server in a Docker container
| Feature | frp | Docker OpenVPN |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 108,622 | ★ 9,088 |
| First released | 2016 | 2014 |
| Replaces | ngrok | NordVPN |
Why pick each one
Choose frp if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 108.6k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Choose Docker OpenVPN if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.1k GitHub stars
- Written in Shell
Frequently asked questions
Is frp or Docker OpenVPN better?
Neither is universally better. frp has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are frp and Docker OpenVPN free and open-source?
Yes. frp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Docker OpenVPN under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run frp and Docker OpenVPN with Docker?
frp: yes. Docker OpenVPN: yes.