Pritunl vs Subspace
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?
Pritunl
Enterprise VPN server built on OpenVPN and WireGuard
VS
Subspace
Simple WireGuard VPN server with a web dashboard
| Feature | Pritunl | Subspace |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | HTML |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,997 | ★ 1,805 |
| First released | 2013 | 2019 |
| Replaces | OpenVPN Access Server | OpenVPN Access Server, Twingate |
Why pick each one
Choose Pritunl if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (5k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Choose Subspace if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Pritunl or Subspace better?
Neither is universally better. Pritunl has the larger community, while Subspace is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Pritunl and Subspace free and open-source?
Yes. Pritunl is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Subspace under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pritunl and Subspace with Docker?
Pritunl: yes. Subspace: yes.