# OpenVPN 19 Hacker News commenters recommended OpenVPN and 14 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 10 years (3 owners). **Verdict:** People recommend it for working in restrictive and firewalled networks and for reconnecting reliably; critics say it is more complicated to set up than WireGuard. ## Why people recommend it - Works in restrictive and firewalled networks (3 comments): "openvpn is much better if you live in a Country like China, Russia and a few others" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47506144)) "This allows me to VPN into my home in most firewalled office networks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46491897)) "connecting to OpenVPN over TCP was a huge improvement" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47347019)) - Reconnects reliably without intervention (3 comments): "Client automatically deals with reconnecting, never have to touch it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46011703)) "ssh connections stayed during my trip from office to home" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46644851)) "in over two years it has never failed me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46343252)) - Simple, trouble-free daily use (3 comments): "I have OpenVPN and it's trivial. Hit the toggle and I'm connected, no fuss." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46170668)) "I still use plain and simple OpenVPN and frankly i've been very happy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47847982)) "i rub openvpn and that works as well, on my iphone too" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46585601)) - Long-term reliable use over years (3 comments): "I still use plain and simple OpenVPN and frankly i've been very happy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47847982)) "Been using OpenVPN in one way for over 10 years." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50296894)) "in over two years it has never failed me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46343252)) ## What people warn about - More complicated to set up (4 comments): "OpenVPN requires a certificate pair while Wireguard uses a 40-character private and public key" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47901155)) "OpenVPN is far from "no fuss", especially when compared to Tailscale." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46171825)) "more complicated than most people want to deal with" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49307769)) - Drops or network changes break connections (3 comments): "ran into mount issues when the outer tunnels dropped a connection during a write" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46609860)) "OpenVPN would not connect and couldn't handle the IP address switch." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46262483)) "OpenVPN isn't very reliable in my experience as a network admin." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46170756)) - IPv6 traffic can bypass the tunnel (2 comments): "At least in Debian config openvpn tunneled only IPv4 by default." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48617636)) "Ever since OpenVPN silently routed IPv6 over clearnet" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47358589)) - Lookalike unaffiliated installers and sites (3 comments): "They made the site look like it was an official OpenVPN page, even though the URL was clearly not affiliated." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48547069)) "With OpenVPN it's hanging out there responding to everyone that asks nicely that yes, it's OpenVPN." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46494510)) "[3] is not openvpn, just some install script a rando not affiliated with openvpn did." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48757598)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [WireGuard](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wireguard.md): 315 recommend - [AmneziaWG](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amneziawg.md): 6 recommend - [GotaTun](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gotatun.md): 5 recommend - [TrustTunnel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/trusttunnel.md): 5 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "OpenVPN", https://hackerapproved.com/p/openvpn/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).