SHSelfHostIndex

OpenConnect Server vs SoftEther VPN

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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OP OpenConnect Server SSL VPN server compatible with AnyConnect clients VS SO SoftEther VPN Multi-protocol VPN server from the University of Tsukuba
FeatureOpenConnect ServerSoftEther VPN
CategoryRemote Access & VPNRemote Access & VPN
LicenseGPL-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageCC
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM128 MB256 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, dockerbare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 600★ 13,447
First released20132014
ReplacesCisco AnyConnectCisco AnyConnect

Why pick each one

Choose OpenConnect Server if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in C
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
OpenConnect Server details

Choose SoftEther VPN if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • Mature project with 13.4k GitHub stars
  • Written in C
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
SoftEther VPN details

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenConnect Server or SoftEther VPN better?

Neither is universally better. SoftEther VPN has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are OpenConnect Server and SoftEther VPN free and open-source?

Yes. OpenConnect Server is licensed under GPL-2.0 and SoftEther VPN under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run OpenConnect Server and SoftEther VPN with Docker?

OpenConnect Server: yes. SoftEther VPN: check the project docs for container support.

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