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Hillstone E-Series vs OpenVPN Access Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Hillstone E-Series
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
20th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (40th), SSL VPN (10th)
OpenVPN Access Server
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Hillstone E-Series is 1.9%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenVPN Access Server is 11.7%, down from 13.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
OpenVPN Access Server11.7%
Hillstone E-Series1.9%
Other86.4%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

TahirMahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Zubair Feeds
Offers good features like URL filtering, IPS, and IDS to users
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. When we updated the tool's features, everything became okay. The tool only had some memory-related problems. It took the tool a month to fix the issues.
AS
Network operation center engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Secure remote access has protected critical data and now simplifies role-based user management
An area for improvement is the pricing model. The concurrent user licenses get expensive pretty quickly as your organization grows, so more flexible pricing options would be a huge plus. Another area is configurational disconnect. While the admin web UI handles about 90% of what you need, the moment you have to do deep, advanced routing customization, you still have to drop back to the command line interface to make those changes. It would be great to see those deeper configurations completely integrated into the web portal. Lastly, it would be awesome to see native support for newer, lighter protocols through WireGuard built straight into the platform alongside standard OpenVPN for better performance efficiency.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients secure connectivity from a remote location to their offices or their servers."
"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option. The technical support team are very good and very quick."
"With Hillstone, TCO and ROI are very good, it's an easy sale."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ransomware protection that the tool offers."
"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."
"Five out of five ROI."
"I am impressed with the application filtering feature."
"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."
"I would recommend this solution to other people."
"We use the solution to access remote services."
"The initial setup was easy."
"It allows our employees to work remotely across Mac, Windows, and Linux platforms."
"If you're looking for a solid solution to establish VPN tunnels between sites, be sure to put OpenVPN on your list to check out."
"Provides privacy and cryptography for my network communication."
"The main benefits that I have seen from using OpenVPN Access Server are that it is simple, easy, and secure."
"It is easy to use."
 

Cons

"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"The tool only had some memory-related problems."
"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."
"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."
"The current usage reporting is very basic. I would like to be able to access more granular data."
"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."
"The room for improvement would be the SSL VPN license cost."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"If someone's key is not working, or if we had to remove someone's permission from it, or maybe an employee left the company and we had to take their key out, that seemed a little bit more complicated than it had to be."
"There are tasks that require logging onto the server to run commands, which is not intuitive through the UI."
"I would like to see a GUI or Web UI to manage users. Today these features are in the Pro Edition or are done by scripts."
"I rate the price for OpenVPN as overpriced at the moment."
"Some advanced networking of OpenVPN Access Server requires Linux network expertise for a person to work on."
"Everything in OpenVPN Access Server is very good, but the price is expensive."
"I want the tool to be faster. We have experienced connectivity issues while using OpenVPN and FortiClient."
"The connections could be faster and more stable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost per year for licensing, and hardware, is approximately $850 for the basic plan."
"Hillstone's pricing is economical and neither very high nor very low."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable. It depends on the model. The product's pricing is around 600 USD. You need to buy a software license to activate the features. You need to pay around 150 USD for that."
"The licensing model is very complex with many subcategories of licenses you can purchase. They could make it more simplified for customers to understand."
"OpenVPN Access Server is free and open source."
"OpenVPN Access Server was free for students. I don't know if you have to pay for an advanced version."
"One of the valuable features of OpenVPN is that it is free for a single user."
"With regard to setup cost, pricing and/or licensing, the simple answer is that you'll need to set aside some time to learn it and experiment with it."
"I don't need to pay for its license since it is an open-source tool."
"OpenVPN is a free and open-source solution."
"The product's pricing is good value, definitely. It is one of the best features, I would say. Evaluate the product before seeing which type of licensing is good for you. I think there is a good evaluation method available for OpenVPN, so you can just evaluate if it meets your needs. Then go forward with the right licensing policy."
"The licensing has a fixed pricing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise24
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Hillstone E-Series?
We received an update for the tool in July. The update was provided for the tool as there was a problem with the firewall, where too much memory was consumed, and the firewall was hanging a lot. Wh...
What is your primary use case for Hillstone E-Series?
I use the solution in my company for site-to-site VPN, SSL VPNs, URL filtering, IPS, IDS and all the other features which are available in the firewall.
What advice do you have for others considering Hillstone E-Series?
Our company did not use the tool's micro-segmentation features. There were no issues while integrating the tool. I have not used any AI in the tool. I recommend the tool to others. I rate the tool ...
How does Fortinet FortiClient compare with Open VPN Access Server?
Fortinet FortiClient is a feature-rich solution that is easy to use and deploy without sacrificing safety and security. It has a very fast connection rate and has a built-in VPN. With this solution...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OpenVPN Access Server?
I use it for a client, so I do not have much information regarding the pricing, setup cost, and licensing. But from what I have gathered, the pricing and setup costs are a little more expensive com...
What needs improvement with OpenVPN Access Server?
An area for improvement is the pricing model. The concurrent user licenses get expensive pretty quickly as your organization grows, so more flexible pricing options would be a huge plus. Another ar...
 

Also Known As

No data available
OpenVPN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank of China Macao, Instituto Tecnológico Bolivariano, Ministry of Labor in San Salvador, FEDCO
Verizon, Amazon, Disney, HP, Microsoft, IBM, Samsung
Find out what your peers are saying about Hillstone E-Series vs. OpenVPN Access Server and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.