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AWS Direct Connect vs OpenVPN Access Server Enterprise comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 31, 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
13th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
OpenVPN Access Server Enter...
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of AWS Direct Connect is 2.1%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenVPN Access Server Enterprise is 13.0%, down from 15.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

Flavio Gomes Figueira Camacho Junior - PeerSpot reviewer
Establish secure and private connections between on-premise infrastructure and cloud environments
AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure. This is particularly beneficial because it helps me use our infrastructure for databases and testing while leveraging AWS's computing power for production purposes. I also do not need to expose management of our machines to the public internet, enhancing security by using a private connection.
LAWAL YUSUF - PeerSpot reviewer
Has robust features for encryption and stability
We use the product for secure remote access, including WiFi and IoT device security The product has strong encryption and scalability features. It provides security for private network connections. The product’s connectivity is very slow. It could be faster. We have been using OpenVPN Access…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The platform's most valuable feature for us is its robust network performance."
"The most valuable feature of Direct Connect is its low latency to the users."
"Direct Connect provides an improved connection quality and a diversified link, which contributes to high availability and failover capabilities."
"AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure."
"The most valuable feature of Direct Connect is its low latency to the users."
"It is a stable solution."
"AWS Direct Connect is highly secure and much faster compared to normal network infrastructure."
"AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet."
"I like that it's easy to use, easy to download, and not hard to manage."
"It can securely do remote product updates... just as if it was on our LAN."
"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 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 features I have found to be most valuable are the levels of encryption I can enact and the compression I can apply to improve throughput."
"Highly configurable. You can create your own custom client installer and can rebrand the server-side program."
"It can scale well."
"OpenVPN Access Server allows us to establish a secure connection to an IP address that would otherwise be inaccessible without using a VPN."
 

Cons

"It can be difficult to configure compared to cloud-based GUIs."
"It would be good if we could connect AWS Direct Connect from different networks."
"There is no room for improvement in Direct Connect right now."
"AWS Direct Connect is straightforward and performs well for me."
"AWS Direct Connect should support cross-cloud connections, such as migrations between Azure and AWS, for disaster recovery purposes on different cloud platforms."
"I would like to see better traffic visibility and higher throughput security, especially for organizations that require more than what the current limit allows."
"It is complicated to do additional BGP configuration for the product."
"The platform's stability needs improvement."
"There sometimes is an incompatibility between some VPNs."
"The interface could be a little bit better in future iterations."
"It is not scalable."
"The stability had room for improvement."
"The solution should provide a faster connection, and its security could be improved."
"The stability of the solution could improve."
"OpenVPN Access Server needs to have fewer updates."
"I think right now the GUI part of it is locked out behind the pay wall. It could use something that gives it a very basic, minimal, graphic interface for logging in, for the community version. That would probably be a good step forward."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The solution was free of charge."
"It is free, you buy support."
"At one point I had to purchase addition connection licenses. I was very pleased with the pricing and licensing; so much easier than navigating the confusing jungle of Microsoft and Cisco licensing and pricing. That alone made the product a delight to manage."
"OpenVPN is a free and open-source solution."
"The Pro Edition has a reasonable price per user."
"I don't need to pay for its license since it is an open-source tool."
"The solution is free of cost."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
10%
University
7%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
It is working fine for us as it is. AI is the icon in the future, so they need to provide more information for us. For us, it is a new concept, and we will try to use it for our vertical industry i...
What is your primary use case for AWS Direct Connect?
We are using SAP boxes for the ERP system. We are using VPNs, elastic internet IPs. We have Route 53. We have mail because it is necessary to have mail if we want to publish a domain on the interne...
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?
We recommend checking the compliance you need for the project and picking the product that meets those requirements within the best price. For us, it was OpenVPN.
 

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 Enterprise and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.