head to head · open source
frp vs pivpn
frp has 109,524 GitHub stars, 15,214 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. pivpn has 8,043 stars, 682 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 21 days ago. frp leads on adoption by 1,262% (109,524 vs 8,043 stars). frp is written in Go under Apache-2.0; pivpn is written in Shell under MIT. frp has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, pivpn 8%. frp was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| frp | pivpn | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 110K | ★ 8.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-08-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 15K | ⑂ 682 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick frp if
- You weight community size — 110K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick pivpn if
- You want the pivpn feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and pivpn fits your workflow better
About frp
frp is a fast reverse proxy written in Go that exposes a local server behind a NAT or firewall to the internet, built for operators and developers who need inbound access to machines they cannot port forward.
About pivpn
PiVPN is a set of open source shell scripts that turns a Raspberry Pi, or an Ubuntu or Debian server, into a self hosted VPN server running WireGuard or OpenVPN, and it is built for people who want a cost effective personal VPN at home without having to become a networking expert.
read the full pivpn overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frp or pivpn more popular?
frp has 109,524 GitHub stars and pivpn has 8,043. frp has the larger community by that measure.
Are frp and pivpn free?
Both are open source. frp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pivpn under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frp and pivpn?
frp is written in Go and pivpn in Shell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, frp or pivpn?
Choose frp if you want the larger community (109,524 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pivpn if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.