How to pick between OpenVPN’s 3 deployment options

One protocol, three very different products

OpenVPN started as a community-built encryption protocol and still offers what ZDNET calls “the only legitimate VPN platform that doesn’t cost a cent to use.” But the project has grown into a small product line aimed at very different users and deployment models.

OpenVPN Inc. now ships three main options built on the same core protocol and security model:

• OpenVPN Community Edition – fully self-managed, CLI-only
• Access Server – self-hosted with a web UI and policy controls
• CloudConnexa – fully managed, cloud-hosted VPN service

Over several weeks of testing, ZDNET’s Ritoban Mukherjee found there’s no one-size-fits-all pick. The best choice comes down to how much control you want versus how much overhead you’re willing to carry.

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Community Edition: maximum control, maximum effort

OpenVPN Community Edition is the open-source, community-maintained version. You run everything yourself: servers, configs, certificates, and authentication.

You’ll need to be comfortable with a command-line interface and basic PKI concepts, and be ready to maintain your own servers. OpenVPN Inc. still supports this edition, but only through community forums, with no real-time or premium support options.

The upside is flexibility and price. Community Edition is free, highly customizable, and ideal if you:

• Are a developer, hobbyist, or working on personal projects
• Want full control over infrastructure and configuration
• Don’t mind the setup and ongoing maintenance burden

ZDNET describes it as the most flexible option, but also “the biggest hassle in terms of setup and ongoing maintenance.”

Access Server: self-hosted with guard rails

Access Server keeps the self-hosted model but adds a web-based management interface, built-in access control, and integration hooks.

You’re still responsible for hosting the VPN server yourself on:

• Your own hardware
• A VPS provider
• Cloud platforms like AWS or Google Cloud

The trade is clear: you retain infrastructure control but offload much of the day-to-day management to a GUI. ZDNET notes the UI supports LDAP, SAML, RADIUS, and multi-factor authentication, significantly cutting down on manual configuration.

Pricing is where it diverges from Community Edition:

• Free for up to two concurrent connections
• Then $7 per connection per month beyond that
• Bulk pricing kicks in for deployments above 2,000 connections per month

That model, according to ZDNET, makes Access Server a fit for small-to-medium-sized organizations that already have hosting infrastructure and want centralized admin tools without going full cloud.

CloudConnexa: fully managed, zero-trust focus

CloudConnexa is OpenVPN’s fully managed cloud deployment option. There’s no server to configure and no CLI requirement.

If you want something that behaves like a commercial VPN such as ExpressVPN or Nord, but with OpenVPN’s protocol plus more enterprise controls, this is the product ZDNET recommends. It’s:

• Hosted by OpenVPN across 30+ server locations worldwide
• Administered via an easy-to-use cloud dashboard
• Designed with zero-trust infrastructure in mind

CloudConnexa adds controls you’d expect in a corporate stack, including location-based access policies, web filtering, and device compliance checks.

The pricing structure:

• Free plan up to five seats
• Then $7–$9.50 per seat per month beyond that, depending on options like priority support, SCIM, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee for larger deployments

ZDNET highlights CloudConnexa as a solid fit for larger teams that want a zero-trust VPN without managing servers, networking, or complex configs.

Side‑by‑side: which OpenVPN fits your use case?

ZDNET’s comparison of the three OpenVPN options:

Deployment model

• Community Edition: Self-managed, CLI only
• Access Server: Self-hosted with a web GUI
• CloudConnexa: Fully managed, cloud-based

Pricing

• Community Edition: Free
• Access Server: Free for 2 connections, then $7/connection/month
• CloudConnexa: Free for 5 seats, then $7–9.50/seat/month

Management features

• Community Edition: None — all configuration is manual
• Access Server: Web-based admin panel with built-in MFA
• CloudConnexa: Cloud dashboard, 30+ server locations, zero-trust features

Support

• Community Edition: Community forums
• Access Server: 24/7 official support
• CloudConnexa: 24/7 official support, with priority options on paid tiers

Best fit

• Community Edition: Developers, hobbyists, personal projects
• Access Server: SMBs wanting self-hosted control with less friction
• CloudConnexa: Larger teams needing zero-trust VPN minus infrastructure overhead

ZDNET’s bottom line: for most individuals spinning up a free, self-deployed VPN, Community Edition is enough. Organizations can choose between Access Server for self-hosted control or CloudConnexa for a paid, cloud-based VPN with strict zero-knowledge and compliance-focused policies.

One final detail from ZDNET: spending on any paid OpenVPN product partially funds the broader open-source initiative and the team maintaining it.