OpenVPN vs Teleport
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?
OpenVPN
Robust and flexible open-source VPN solution
VS
Teleport
Identity-aware access for infrastructure
| Feature | OpenVPN | Teleport |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,345 | ★ 20,780 |
| First released | 2001 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Cisco AnyConnect | Cisco AnyConnect, AWS Systems Manager |
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
Choose Teleport if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 20.8k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenVPN or Teleport better?
Neither is universally better. Teleport has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are OpenVPN and Teleport free and open-source?
Yes. OpenVPN is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Teleport under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenVPN and Teleport with Docker?
OpenVPN: yes. Teleport: yes.