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NordLayer 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

NordLayer
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
23rd
Ranking in ZTNA
20th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (36th), Network Access Control (NAC) (19th), Internet Security (15th), ZTNA as a Service (25th), Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) (31st), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (24th)
OpenVPN Access Server
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
1st
Ranking in ZTNA
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of NordLayer is 2.2%, up from 1.4% 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%
NordLayer2.2%
Other86.1%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

Christophe Derdeyn - PeerSpot reviewer
Partner delaware Singapore at delaware Singapore
A convenient and easy tool with an incredibly high number of dialing points
The solution is convenient and easy. It has an incredibly high number of dialing points for pretty much every single country in the world. It has a few additional security features. It has a function that prevents unsecured access if my connection were to drop for any reason. It’s something I like. It has threat protection features. It can protect my web connection and files against malicious downloads and trackers.
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

"The solution is convenient and easy."
"What I appreciate the most about OpenVPN Access Server is that it's very easy to set up."
"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."
"I would recommend this solution to other people."
"It was very easy to set up users."
"The initial setup was easy."
"The solution is secure and user-friendly."
"Two-factor authentication allows us to not force frequent password changes."
"Overall, OpenVPN Access Server has positively impacted our organization by giving us a highly reliable, stable environment for remote work."
 

Cons

"The tool is not perfectly stable."
"I would like to see a simpler interface, so that we can make the connection between the local network using the LAN IP."
"Needs a better GUI."
"I would like to see continued advanced security implementation."
"The stability had room for improvement."
"The interface could be a little bit better in future iterations."
"The plan for OpenVPN Access Server could be improved. When adding new people, better plans for startups would be beneficial."
"OpenVPN Access Server can be improved by addressing the issue we faced with a single VPN server since it does not allow the creation of replicas without a load balancer, which we found to be an availability issue that could be easily fixed."
"It requires some experience of Linux server configuration to set it up."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I would say the product's pricing is a good value. I would recommend to other companies to implement it. I've seen other software, in tandem with the service, to be very expensive."
"OpenVPN is a free and open-source solution."
"It is free, you buy support."
"OpenVPN is an open-source solution. If the solution is used for personal use it is free. For non-personal use, the solution can be expensive."
"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 Access Server was free for students. I don't know if you have to pay for an advanced version."
"Open VPN Access Server is open-source and free of charge."
"The licensing has a fixed pricing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
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
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise24
 

Questions from the Community

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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?
In terms of specific outcomes or metrics with OpenVPN Access Server, we have saved time because otherwise, we need to purchase other software and their software takes a great deal of time in terms ...
What needs improvement with OpenVPN Access Server?
OpenVPN Access Server can be improved by addressing the issue we faced with a single VPN server since it does not allow the creation of replicas without a load balancer, which we found to be an ava...
 

Also Known As

No data available
OpenVPN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hostinger, Shutterstock, USMobile, Soundcloud, Calendly, whatagraph.
Verizon, Amazon, Disney, HP, Microsoft, IBM, Samsung
Find out what your peers are saying about OpenVPN, Tailscale, Fortinet and others in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN. Updated: July 2026.
908,877 professionals have used our research since 2012.