head to head · open source
amnezia-client vs SoftEtherVPN
amnezia-client has 15,351 GitHub stars, 1,183 forks, 1,126 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SoftEtherVPN has 13,613 stars, 2,782 forks, 296 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. amnezia-client leads on adoption by 13% (15,351 vs 13,613 stars). amnezia-client is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; SoftEtherVPN is written in C under Apache-2.0. amnezia-client has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, SoftEtherVPN 20%. amnezia-client was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (openvpn, vpn), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| amnezia-client | SoftEtherVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 14K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | C |
| Last push | 2026-10-06 | 2026-10-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.2K | ⑂ 2.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick amnezia-client if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick SoftEtherVPN if
- You want the SoftEtherVPN feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and SoftEtherVPN fits your workflow better
About amnezia-client
Amnezia VPN Client is an open source, GPL 3.0 licensed VPN client for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS that connects to a VPN and also deploys a self hosted VPN server onto hardware the user already controls.
read the full amnezia-client overview →
About SoftEtherVPN
SoftEther VPN is an open source, cross platform, multi protocol VPN server and client, written in C and licensed under Apache 2.0, intended for administrators and self hosters who need one program to serve many VPN protocols instead of running several separate daemons.
read the full SoftEtherVPN overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Networking & Connectivity projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Networking & Connectivity field.
Frequently asked questions
Is amnezia-client or SoftEtherVPN more popular?
amnezia-client has 15,351 GitHub stars and SoftEtherVPN has 13,613. amnezia-client has the larger community by that measure.
Are amnezia-client and SoftEtherVPN free?
Both are open source. amnezia-client is licensed under GPL-3.0 and SoftEtherVPN under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between amnezia-client and SoftEtherVPN?
amnezia-client is written in C++ and SoftEtherVPN in C. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, amnezia-client or SoftEtherVPN?
Choose amnezia-client if you want the larger community (15,351 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose SoftEtherVPN if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.