{"id":387967,"date":"2021-12-31T15:00:14","date_gmt":"2021-12-31T12:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more\/"},"modified":"2021-12-31T15:00:14","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T12:00:14","slug":"what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"#What Is the Best VPN Protocol? OpenVPN vs. WireGuard vs. SSTP and More"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3641cd5df37\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3641cd5df37\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more\/#What_Is_a_VPN_Protocol\" >What Is a VPN Protocol?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more\/#How_a_VPN_Protocol_Affects_You\" >How a VPN Protocol Affects You<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more\/#OpenVPN\" >OpenVPN<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more\/#WireGuard\" >WireGuard<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more\/#SSTP\" >SSTP<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more\/#L2TPIPsec_and_IKEv2IPsec\" >L2TP\/IPsec and IKEv2\/IPsec<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more\/#PPTP\" >PPTP<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more\/#Proprietary_VPN_Protocols\" >Proprietary VPN Protocols<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more\/#Hydra\" >Hydra<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more\/#NordLynx\" >NordLynx<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-the-best-vpn-protocol-openvpn-vs-wireguard-vs-sstp-and-more\/#Lightway\" >Lightway<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#What Is the Best VPN Protocol? OpenVPN vs. WireGuard vs. SSTP and More&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage wp-image-771575 size-full\" data-pagespeed-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/shutterstock_1984368089.jpg?width=398&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 400w, https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/shutterstock_1984368089.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, 400w, 1200w\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/shutterstock_1984368089.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"A digital illustration featuring the term &quot;VPN.&quot;\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-illustration\/business-technology-internet-network-concept-vpn-1984368089\" data-credittext=\"Photon photo\/Shutterstock.com\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-illustration\/business-technology-internet-network-concept-vpn-1984368089\">Photon photo\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There are multiple VPN protocols, and which protocol a VPN uses has a big influence on how it functions. Some protocols are a lot better than others. Thankfully, finding the best VPN protocol is easy as there are only a few candidates.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Is_a_VPN_Protocol\"><\/span>What Is a VPN Protocol?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In short, a protocol is a set of rules that govern how devices within a network communicate with each other. When you connect to the internet, for example, you\u2019re using the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) to let your computer talk to the site you\u2019re accessing. A VPN protocol is a specific type of protocol meant for\u2014you guessed it\u2014VPNs.<\/p>\n<p>A protocol can include all kinds of information. In the case of HTTP, it\u2019s a set of rules surrounding how two devices can exchange data (in the form of HTML documents) as well as some basic security rules.<\/p>\n<p>When you use a VPN, you\u2019re rerouting your connection through a server operated by your VPN service. To do so securely, the VPN needs to use a separate protocol, one that\u2019s designed for VPNs and contains information about the encryption used in the connection as well as some other technical details.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_a_VPN_Protocol_Affects_You\"><\/span>How a VPN Protocol Affects You<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>This may sound a little abstract, but it affects you directly: A good protocol will be a lot faster and a lot more secure than a bad one. Some protocols are slow because they need more steps when sending information, while others are less secure because they contain a flaw or use an encryption key that has a known weakness.<\/p>\n<p>To help you pick the best VPN protocol for you\u2014and by extension the best VPN, period\u2014we\u2019re going to go over the protocols we\u2019ve come across the most, as well as some proprietary ones. We\u2019ll start with the best ones out there, OpenVPN and WireGuard, and work our way down from there.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"OpenVPN\"><\/span>OpenVPN<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/openvpn.net\">OpenVPN<\/a> is probably the most popular VPN protocol out there. Almost all VPN providers offer it to their customers in some form or another. It offers both speed and security, without any significant trade-off in either. When using OpenVPN, most VPN providers will allow you to choose between TCP and UDP. You\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>ly better off going with UDP, as it\u2019s faster.<\/p>\n<p>To give you an idea of how good OpenVPN is, almost all VPNs use it as their default. In the vast majority of cases, there\u2019s no good reason to use anything else. The only exceptions are WireGuard or particularly solid proprietary protocols like NordLynx and Lightway, all of which we explain below.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, we would go so far as to recommend not using any VPN that doesn\u2019t offer OpenVPN, and to be a little leery of any provider that doesn\u2019t have it as their default\u2014besides the exceptions we mentioned earlier. We talk about one example in our Surfshark vs. ExpressVPN piece, where we docked Surfshark some serious points for defaulting to a mediocre protocol.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"WireGuard\"><\/span>WireGuard<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>For most people, most of the time, OpenVPN seems to be the ticket. However, in 2021 a very interesting new protocol came out, which has the potential to dethrone OpenVPN. Named <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wireguard.com\">WireGuard<\/a>, it\u2019s fast as greased lightning, often beating OpenVPN on a similar server load\u2014though keep in mind that there\u2019s a lot more than just the protocol to determine a VPN connection\u2019s speed.<\/p>\n<p>Still, WireGuard looks solid. It has had at least one excellent proprietary protocol based off of it: NordVPN\u2019s NordLynx. That said, there have been some rumblings about <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/restoreprivacy.com\/vpn\/wireguard\/\">how private WireGuard<\/a> really is, as it seems to store users\u2019 IP addresses indefinitely in some cases.<\/p>\n<p>That said, if speed is your overriding concern, WireGuard may be an excellent alternative to OpenVPN. While overall we prefer OpenVPN, WireGuard comes in a close second.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"SSTP\"><\/span>SSTP<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Our third entry is the Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol, or SSTP, which dates from the early 2000s and is generally considered to be fast and secure, though generally performs a little less well than OpenVPN. If for whatever reason you can\u2019t use OpenVPN, SSTP is a solid fallback choice, though.<\/p>\n<p>The main issue people seem to have with it is that its code is owned by Microsoft, a company with a less-than-stellar reputation when it comes to privacy. Though it\u2019s unclear whether Microsoft gathers data from SSTP connections or not, if it\u2019s something you\u2019re worried about, you may want to avoid this protocol.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"L2TPIPsec_and_IKEv2IPsec\"><\/span>L2TP\/IPsec and IKEv2\/IPsec<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This entry is two for the price of one: both L2TP and IKEv2 are two connection protocols that are generally paired with the IPsec security protocol to beef up encryption. In both cases, you\u2019re making a trade-off: L2TP is reliable, but slow, while IKEv2 is fast\u2014very fast, even\u2014but has <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/community.cisco.com\/t5\/vpn\/ikev2-issues\/td-p\/2876040\">security issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In either case, they\u2019re an interesting choice for developers as they\u2019re much more flexible than OpenVPN. Most run-of-the-mill users, though, may not notice much of a difference. Generally, we only recommend using these two if you have no other choice.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"PPTP\"><\/span>PPTP<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>From some of the better VPN protocols out there, we go to probably one of the worst available. Point-to-point tunneling protocol (PPTP) is a VPN protocol dating from the nineties\u2014ancient in tech terms\u2014which is not particularly secure and incredibly slow.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s generally not used anymore as it\u2019s obsolete, but for some reason some VPNs still offer it. Whatever you do, don\u2019t use PPTP\u2014especially if you\u2019re doing anything sensitive like using BitTorrent to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">download<\/a> files or\u00a0tunneling out of China.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Proprietary_VPN_Protocols\"><\/span>Proprietary VPN Protocols<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We\u2019ll finish up by going over three interesting proprietary protocols which have come out. Developed by a VPN service for its own use, these protocols usually boast higher speeds, though some of them are a bit of a black box.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hydra\"><\/span>Hydra<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The Hydra protocol was developed for and used by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hotspotshield.com\/\">Hotspot Shield<\/a> and is a good example of sacrificing some security for speed. It\u2019s very fast but uses <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/support.hotspotshield.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/360029139772-Is-my-VPN-connection-secure-and-private-\">weaker encryption<\/a>\u2014128-AES rather than the 256-bit variant. It\u2019s not the biggest deal, and the insane speeds Hydra tests at may be worth it.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"NordLynx\"><\/span>NordLynx<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.anrdoezrs.net\/links\/3607085\/type\/am\/sid\/770807\/https:\/\/nordvpn.com\/\">NordVPN<\/a> also wanted its own protocol, but it tweaked WireGuard to its liking rather than developing one from scratch. The result is a blazing fast VPN protocol that seems quite secure. It would be even better if NordVPN fixed its servers, something we go over in our article comparing NordVPN vs ExpressVPN.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Lightway\"><\/span>Lightway<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Last but not least is Lightway, developed from scratch by our overall favorite VPN, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/uxnzmft.com\/offer\/coupon?offer=3monthsfree&amp;a_fid=howtogeek&amp;data1=htg&amp;data2=770807\">ExpressVPN<\/a>. Like NordLynx, it seems perfectly secure but is somehow even faster than anything else put out there, including WireGuard. Though we hesitate to call it the best VPN protocol\u2014OpenVPN just has a better pedigree and track record\u2014it is definitely worth checking out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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OpenVPN vs. WireGuard vs. SSTP and More&#8221; Photon photo\/Shutterstock.com There are multiple VPN protocols, and which protocol a VPN uses has a big influence on how it functions. Some protocols are a lot better than others. Thankfully, finding the best VPN protocol is easy as there are only a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":387968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/shutterstock_1984368089.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-387967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}