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AWS Direct Connect vs OpenVPN Access Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 14, 2025

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

AWS Direct Connect
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
12th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
OpenVPN Access Server
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of AWS Direct Connect is 1.9%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenVPN Access Server is 13.9%, down from 14.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
OpenVPN Access Server13.9%
AWS Direct Connect1.9%
Other84.2%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

HS
Business Analyst & Agile Strategist at Charles Schwab
enables seamless hybrid cloud connectivity and ensures secure, low-latency data transfers with robust security features
AWS Direct Connect is very useful for transferring data between on-premise and cloud servers quickly, with minimal latency issues. It is cost-effective for large data transfers and offers excellent network performance, even with low internet quality. Its security features are critical, especially for industries like healthcare and finance, providing secure data transfer without breaches. It supports multi-account and multi-tenant environments, allowing centralized management with a single connectivity.
Girraj Godia - PeerSpot reviewer
Devops Engineer at Emergent
Has improved internal app access by allowing secure user onboarding and simplified network whitelisting
The plan for OpenVPN Access Server could be improved. When adding new people, better plans for startups would be beneficial. I'm working in a startup and sometimes people think we should take the enterprise plan or not. If there was a dedicated plan for startups, it would be really helpful. For instance, providing store credit for OpenVPN Access Server through a startup program, similar to YC's program which gives credit to new startups. UI-wise, OpenVPN Access Server is easy to manage, but the overall overview dashboard in the admin portal could be improved. Currently, you have to go through dropdowns to find where to add users or whitelist IPs. Creating an onboarding dashboard where an admin person can find these things easily would be beneficial.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a stable solution."
"The most valuable feature of Direct Connect is its low latency to the users."
"The most valuable feature of Direct Connect is its low latency to the users."
"AWS VPN is cost-effective and affordable; it has the security regulation with 3DES protocol, and they have the security protocol required to encrypt the information in the link."
"Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten."
"The platform's most valuable feature for us is its robust network performance."
"AWS Direct Connect is highly secure and much faster compared to normal network infrastructure."
"AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure."
"The compatibility with almost any Linux operating system, and how easy it is to write scripts and generate keys for people to use and log in. I found it easy to deploy quickly."
"It can securely do remote product updates... just as if it was on our LAN."
"The product has strong encryption and scalability features. It provides security for private network connections."
"Provides privacy and cryptography for my network communication."
"​It allows us to give access to our office network in a safe and secure way to users, no matter which computing platform they use. ​"
"The most valuable feature is stability."
"It is open source and therefore affordable for small projects."
"The setup is easy."
 

Cons

"AWS Direct Connect should support cross-cloud connections, such as migrations between Azure and AWS, for disaster recovery purposes on different cloud platforms."
"It would be good if we could connect AWS Direct Connect from different networks."
"Its terminologies are challenging to interpret."
"There is no room for improvement in Direct Connect right now."
"AWS Direct Connect is straightforward and performs well for me."
"It can be difficult to configure compared to cloud-based GUIs."
"Having more locations could improve the convenience of using the service."
"The platform's stability needs improvement."
"The logs should be made easier to read."
"Open VPN Access Server could be more user-friendly."
"There are tasks that require logging onto the server to run commands, which is not intuitive through the UI."
"The product’s connectivity is very slow. It could be faster."
"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."
"The server configuration file needs to be improved, it's the biggest problem in the configuration process."
"There are certain shortcomings in the product's stability that need improvement."
"If there was a Graphical User Interface to help streamline the configuration, I believe OpenVPN would probably venture more into the non-geek realm as it were."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."
"It is an expensive solution."
"I don't need to pay for its license since it is an open-source tool."
"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."
"The price point is fantastic since it is free."
"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 solution is free of cost."
"OpenVPN Access Server is a cheap corporate solution."
"The product offers yearly as well as monthly subscription plans. It has moderate pricing."
"The Pro Edition has a reasonable price per user."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
12%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS Direct Connect?
AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet.
What needs improvement with AWS Direct Connect?
We encountered issues with the connection. The VPN was not connecting on multiple occasions.
What is your primary use case for AWS Direct Connect?
I'm not an end user of any of those SAP products. I wanted to have a comparison between different solutions for process mining and process modeling, but I'm not an end user of any. I have Microsoft...
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 do you like most about OpenVPN Access Server?
OpenVPN Access Server is a simple and easy-to-use solution that I can use myself without anybody's help.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OpenVPN Access Server?
The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for OpenVPN Access Server is really good, not that expensive. I am easily able to add new users from the OpenVPN Access Server official websit...
 

Also Known As

No data available
OpenVPN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Verizon, Amazon, Disney, HP, Microsoft, IBM, Samsung
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Direct Connect vs. OpenVPN Access Server and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.