WireGuard is a next generation open-source VPN protocol, designed to be lighter, faster and ultra secure. WireGuard VPN uses the most advanced state-of-the-art encryption methods, like the Noise protocol framework, Curve25519, ChaCha20, Poly1305, BLAKE2, SipHash24, HKDF, and secure trusted constructions.
Best WireGuard VPN Services:
WireGuard was designed to perform considerably better than OpenVPN that is known to be one of the slowest VPN protocols with massive overhead. IPsec based VPN protocols, including IPsec/IKEv2, are generally a lot faster than OpenVPN so they offer a better overall experience. The downside is that IPsec is a proprietary protocol so you have to trust that it does not have any backdoors for the government intelligence agencies.
WireGuard reconciles the best of both worlds by offering a lightweight performing VPN protocol that is also open-source and very secure, when implemented correctly. WireGuard is a low level VPN protocol that functions inside the Linux kernel which results in high-speed secure networking. WireGuard works equally well on smartphones, desktop devices and routers.
At the moment, there are only a handful VPN providers that implemented WireGuard VPN. Since by default the protocol has some privacy issues, the best VPN services we chose modified their WireGuard implementation to offer the most secure WireGuard connection that aligns with their no logs privacy policy. If you are considering WireGuard to increase your VPN speed, you may also want to read our Gigabit VPN guide.
ANNUAL PRICE: 3.49 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 11.95 USD
Panama based NordVPN is one of the best security oriented VPN companies with amazingly fast infrastructure. NordVPN is a no logs VPN service that was independently audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG based in Zurich, Switzerland (one of the Big 4 auditing firms) to back the claims that they don’t log identifiable user information under any circumstances.
NordVPN was one of the first VPN services to setup WireGuard under the name – NordLynx – a modern, extremely fast, insanely lean, but also a very secure implementation. They achieved this result by developing a “double NAT” solution that allows NordVPN users to establish a secure VPN tunnel without storing any identifiable data on a server.
NordVPN custom apps have DNS and IP leaks protection and a kill switch that actively monitors your network and shuts down Internet access when your VPN in not running.
NordVPN offers a Double VPN – a privacy feature that sends your Internet traffic through two VPN servers, encrypting it twice.
Onion Over VPN servers is a powerful NordVPN feature that takes your privacy and security to the next level. Using this tech, you first connect to a VPN server and then to the Tor network. Your ISP does not know you are connected to Tor because your entry point in a secure VPN server, while your destination sees an anonymous Tor exit point.
NordVPN obfuscated VPN servers are a perfect choice to use on restrictive networks and to hide the fact that you are using a VPN. These VPN servers are generally recommended for countries that block VPN altogether because the technology can bypass even the most advanced network filtering. Obfsproxy hides OpenVPN and makes your VPN use completely undetectable. Neither your ISP nor the government will know that you are on VPN.
A strict no logs privacy policy, double data encryption, obfuscation tools and a number of advanced security features, makes NordVPN one of the best VPN providers for security and privacy for users with high expectations.
Besides, NordVPN has a Smart Play technology offering an encrypted connection to access geo-restricted content on Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Spotify and similar services. If you are a torrenting user, NordVPN has torrenting VPN servers as well.
NordVPN offers over 5,000 high-speed servers in 62 countries, dedicated & shared IP types, 6 simultaneous logins; the infrastructure is built to provide maximum online security, bypass Internet restrictions, online censorship and network firewalls.
To read a full NordVPN review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 4.49 USD/mo [promocode]
MONTHLY PRICE: 8.99 USD
Offering over 3,000 servers in 55 countries, all mainstream protocols and top-notch security, TorGuard rightfully earned its place as a top VPN provider.
No logging TorGuard VPN is a reliable, fast and secure service for privacy oriented users. WireGuard uses encryption cipher ChaCha20 and Poly1305 for authentication, both of which are on the leading edge of cryptography and highly secure. TorGuard modified WireGuard server authentication to ensure that user IP address is never logged or stored on the server. TorGuard’s privacy-oriented WireGuard VPN setup is available on all TorGuard VPN servers.
TorGuard desktop apps have a kill switch feature that actively monitors your Internet connection to protect you from accidental IP leaks when your WiFi is unstable.
Stealth VPN is a technology that TorGuard uses to bypass Deep Packet Inspection firewalls, such as those typically used at the hotels, airports, restaurants and other public WiFi hotspots to restrict online access. Consequently, TorGuard is a highly recommended VPN service for users who live in the regions with particularly restrictive governments, and would like to unblock censored websites or services.
Besides a great number of security features and ability to unblock VPN on restrictive WiFi, TorGuard is also an ultra fast VPN service with gigabit servers (actually, 10 Gbps). This infrastructure allows the fastest VPN speeds with a reliable streaming and browsing experience.
Unlike most VPN providers, TorGuard VPN can bypass Netflix proxy error with their Netflix streaming IPs. TorGuard can unblock a number of Netflix regions (USA, UK, Canada, Italy, Germany, Finland, France, Italy, Spain, Japan and Singapore), Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Spotify and virtually any streaming or social media service.
TorGuard is not only one of the best VPN services, it also offers OpenPGP encrypted email service with 2 factor authentication and up to 10Mb free storage.
To read a full TorGuard review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 2.45 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 12.99 USD
Romania based CyberGhost is a secure no logs VPN provider with over 6,500 ultra high speed VPN servers in 90 countries. The provider has a number of advanced security and privacy features that are not offered by competitors, including a secure WireGuard implementation on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS
CyberGhost desktop apps have DNS and IP leaks protection, as well as an automatic kill switch that guards your connection if VPN disconnects.
Anti-fingerprinting and tracking protection blocks websites from storing personally identifiable data. A built-in ad-blocker and anti-malware blocks annoying ads along with malicious websites. Automated HTTPS redirect forces unsecured websites to go to HTTPS, ensuring that you browse the most secure version of it.
Data compression is another interesting feature that compresses data to reduce your Internet usage.
CyberGhost, additionally, offers dedicated high-speed streaming servers to unblock Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer and other multimedia services. You can also choose to connect to dedicated VPN servers optimized for torrenting.
Split tunneling is a feature that excludes specific websites from passing through the VPN tunnel. CyberGhost split tunneling only works to bypass predetermined websites, like Netflix.com, and cannot be used for other apps, like torrenting.
For faster streaming and torrenting, CyberGhost VPN allows switching between TCP/UDP protocols (UDP may be faster comparing to TCP).
If you are on a restrictive WiFi network that block VPN connection altogether by closing common VPN ports, typically found at hotels, restaurants and the like, desktop VPN apps can automatically test a wide range of ports and connect to the random VPN port that works. For this reason, the provider is a great choice to unblock VPN, bypass online censorship and unblock restricted content.
To read a full CyberGhost review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 2.19 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 11.95 USD
PIA is a leading no logs VPN service with over 3,000 VPN servers that deliver great speeds and a reliable performance.
PIA offers an easy to install VPN app for all devices with security and privacy features that protect VPN connection from unexpected data leaks. PIA was once subpoenaed by the FBI and the only information they could provide is that the cluster of IP addresses being used was from the east coast of the United States. The FBI case confirms that PIA indeed does not log any user activity.
Private Internet Access’s implementation of WireGuard is available on all desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux) and mobile apps (Android, iOS). Additionally, PIA has modified default WireGuard to offer an outstanding privacy protection that is aligned with their no logging privacy policy.
Their NAT firewall does a great job protecting from cyber attacks, built-in kill switch secures from unprotected data leaks. In addition, PIA apps have a DNS and IPv4/IPv6 leak protection.
PIA VPN service provider gives unrestricted and uncensored access to blocked or censored websites. Aside from unblocking various restricted sites, PIA also works with Netflix USA and Netflix UK libraries, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Amazon Prime.
For faster streaming and torrenting PIA software offers switching between different connection types and ports. The settings have UDP (faster) and TCP connections types that, depending on network, can speed up traffic. UDP is also greatly preferred for torrenting and streaming. Additionally, PIA allows port forwarding to 443, 80, 110, 53, 8080, 9201. Port 443 is the most widespread option because it is used to bypass strict firewalls when all the other ports are blocked. For instance, forwarding traffic through port 443 will likely bypass VPN block on most WiFi networks.
Thus, PIA can bypass strict censorship and firewalls, effectively giving you anonymous browsing experience by hiding your real IP address.
SOCKS5 proxy is another excellent feature that can re-route only certain traffic through VPN tunnel eliminating the need for split tunneling. SOCKS5 is widely used with torrenting software due to its convenience. Once installed on uTorrent, for instance, it works for p2p traffic only.
To read a full PIA review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 3.33 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 10.95 USD
PureVPN, based in the British Virgin Islands offshore zone, is a no logs certified VPN service that was independently audited by KPMG – a big 4 auditor. Always-On Audit feature allows KPMG to conduct a thorough surprise audit of PureVPN’s processes and servers at any time without prior notice.
PureVPN offers hypersonic VPN speeds with 20 Gbps servers in the US and the UK, adding more locations in the future.
Secure high-speed PureVPN infrastructure offers advanced security features for anonymous Internet use, including WireGuard VPN protocol that comes with ChaCha20 stream cipher, making it an excellent choice for efficient data encryption.. PureVPN custom apps have a built-in WebRTC, IP and DNS leak protection. Kill switch is feature that guards the users from unencrypted data leaks when the internet connection drops. PureVPN even has a DDoS protection add-on.
Additionally, the provider considered the importance of uninterrupted streaming by introducing Dedicated Streaming add-on that will boost streaming speed and enhance performance. PureVPN optimized streaming servers are best to get a buffer-free streaming experience.
PureVPN is also one of the few VPN providers that can effectively work with Netflix. For this purpose PureVPN setup dedicated Netflix servers. At the moment the provider can unblock Netflix USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Japan.
In case you want to limit your VPN use to specific websites/services only, Split Tunneling feature lets you decide which applications to send through unencrypted channel and which one to secure with an encrypted VPN service.
Split tunneling is commonly used in case you need a VPN for torrenting only. More so, PureVPN offers 2,000 high-speed VPN servers in 140 countries with over 60 dedicated torrenting servers and a port forwarding feature to maximize your upload and download speeds.
Overall, PureVPN is a great no logs VPN service for privacy and security, to access geo-restricted streaming content, unblock websites and bypass censorship.
To read a full PureVPN review click HERE.
ANNUAL PRICE: 2.59 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 9.95 USD
Based in Malaysia, Hide.me is one the most secure and fastest VPN providers offering ultra fast gigabit VPN servers that deliver the fastest VPN speeds for users on gigabit Internet connection.
Hide.Me is a no logs VPN service with custom VPN apps that include a number of advanced features for maximum security. Hide.Me offers WireGuard on Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices with apps generating a fresh private and public encryption key pair on each connection attempt.
Hide.Me VPN has a built-in protection against IP and DNS leaks. Kill switch is an excellent tool to shut down Internet access when the connection to a VPN server is dropped.
Stealth Guard takes this even further by blocking access to predetermined apps even when the VPN is OFF. Essentially, you can configure Hide.Me in a way that makes it impossible to use Chrome browser, for instance, when the VPN is not running. This feature is an excellent addition to protect yourself from accidental mistakes.
Hide.Me supports perfect forward secrecy, an advanced security feature that tells OpenVPN to regularly renegotiate private keys. In case the private key of the server is compromised, past session keys will not be compromised. Forward secrecy protects past sessions against future compromises of secret keys, and future sessions against current attacks.
The provider also offers advanced VPN masking tools to bypass strict firewalls, censorship and hide VPN use. Hide.Me masks (obfuscates) OpenVPN traffic with TLS-Crypt so, if your WiFi network blocks VPN by analyzing traffic patterns, this methods can bypass the most advanced firewalls. This setup also encrypts every OpenVPN packet twice, sort of like double VPN encryption.
Additionally, the provider offers a dynamic TCP/UDP port-forwarding (UPnP) with up to 10 TCP/UDP ports, a useful feature on WiFi networks that block VPN ports, or for torrenting. Port forwarding feature is a great addition as it can speed up torrenting or streaming when your ISP throttles select traffic.
More so, you can selectively tunnel only specific traffic via secure servers. Split tunneling feature allows this or, alternatively, SOCKS5 proxy can be setup on your browser/torrenting client and re-route only that traffic.
Hide.Me VPN is extremely reliable and very fast which makes it a perfect choice for security oriented users who would like to enjoy uninterrupted streaming and browsing experience.
To read a full Hide.me review click HERE.
What is WireGuard?
WireGuard® is the newest, most groundbreaking VPN protocol originally developed by Jason A. Donenfeld, currently by Edge Security LLC. WireGuard VPN is the next-generation open-source VPN protocol that not only offers high level of security and privacy, it’s also lightweight and very fast. WireGuard is highly regarded by security experts and VPN industry, which is also backed by scientific research. It’s expected that in the coming years WireGuard will replace OpenVPN altogether as it’s a much more effective option.
Why is WireGuard better than OpenVPN?
WireGuard works directly on Linux kernel which results in quicker processing times and better security overall. WireGuard results in a more reliable performance, less leaks and better battery life which is especially good for mobile devices. IPsec is considered the gold standard for mobile devices because it’s lighter than OpenVPN, but WireGuard beats IPsec in this respect by a huge marging.
WireGuard’s source code is also about 100 times smaller that OpenVPN which makes it much easier to audit for security vulnerabilities, manage and find potential loopholes. WireGuard can be implemented for Linux with less than 4,000 lines of code (making it easily audited and verified) vs about 400,000 lines of code in OpenVPN.
Is WireGuard secure vs OpenVPN?
“WireGuard is currently under heavy development, but already it might be regarded as the most secure, easiest to use, and simplest VPN solution in the industry.”
WireGuard was designed with simplicity in mind which is why it’s easy to audit for potential vulnerabilities. OpenVPN is based on OpenSSL which is known to suffer from vulnerabilities on a regular basis. WireGuard mimics the model of SSH and Mosh in its simplicity. Additionally, because WireGuard runs directly on Linux kernel level, it’s less susceptible to application level leaks.
WireGuard uses state-of-the-art cryptography, like the Noise protocol framework, Curve25519, ChaCha20, Poly1305, BLAKE2, SipHash24, HKDF, and secure trusted constructions.
The protocol provides strong perfect forward secrecy in addition to a high degree of identity hiding. Additionally, it has advanced methods for mitigating DDoS attacks, improving greatly on IPsec/IKEv2 and DTLS’s (OpenVPN) mechanisms to add encryption and authentication.
Safe WireGuard implementation practices
WireGuard is a modern and secure VPN protocol that aims to provide fast, simple and easy-to-use encryption for network communications. WireGuard is based on the concept of a virtual network interface that can be configured with public keys and IP addresses. WireGuard uses state-of-the-art cryptography, such as the Noise protocol framework, Curve25519, ChaCha20, Poly1305, BLAKE2 and SipHash24. WireGuard also has a minimal and auditable codebase, which makes it easier to review and verify its security.
However, WireGuard also has some limitations and challenges that need to be addressed by VPN services that want to implement it securely. In this article, we will discuss some of the best practices and recommendations for VPN services that use WireGuard as their VPN protocol.
One of the main benefits of WireGuard is its simplicity and ease of configuration. WireGuard uses a single UDP port for all connections, and does not require complex firewall rules or NAT traversal techniques. WireGuard also uses public-key cryptography to authenticate peers and encrypt traffic, eliminating the need for certificates or shared secrets. However, this also means that WireGuard does not support dynamic IP addresses or roaming clients, as each peer needs to know the other’s public key and IP address beforehand. To solve this problem, VPN services can use a central server or a distributed database to store and distribute the public keys and IP addresses of all peers, and update them whenever they change. This way, clients can connect to any server in the VPN network without having to reconfigure their WireGuard settings.
Another challenge of WireGuard is its lack of perfect forward secrecy (PFS), which is a security feature that prevents past sessions from being compromised even if the current session key is leaked. WireGuard uses a static key pair for each peer, which means that if an attacker obtains the private key of a peer, they can decrypt all past and future traffic between that peer and any other peer. To mitigate this risk, VPN services can implement ephemeral keys or session tickets, which are temporary keys that are generated for each session and discarded after a certain time or event. This way, even if the static key is compromised, the attacker can only decrypt the traffic of the current session, and not any previous or future sessions.
A third issue of WireGuard is its transparency of connection status, which can leak information about the user’s activity and location. WireGuard does not use any keep-alive mechanism or heartbeat signal to maintain the connection between peers, which means that the connection is only active when there is actual data being transmitted. This can reveal when the user is online or offline, or when they switch between different networks or locations. To prevent this leakage, VPN services can use obfuscation techniques or dummy packets, which are random or meaningless data that are sent periodically to keep the connection alive and mask the real traffic patterns. This way, the user’s connection status and behavior are hidden from any observer.
In conclusion, WireGuard is a promising VPN protocol that offers speed, simplicity and security, but it also has some drawbacks and challenges that need to be addressed by VPN services that want to implement it securely.
By following the best practices and recommendations discussed in this article, VPN services that we listed above can enhance the privacy and protection of their users who use WireGuard as their VPN protocol.
Benefits of using WireGuard
WireGuard and OpenVPN are two popular VPN protocols that offer different advantages and disadvantages. WireGuard is a newer and simpler protocol that aims to provide faster and more secure VPN connections. OpenVPN is an older and more complex protocol that has more features and customization options. In this paragraph, we will compare WireGuard and OpenVPN on four aspects: speed, security, compatibility and ease of use.
Speed: WireGuard is designed to be lightweight and efficient, using less CPU and memory resources than OpenVPN. WireGuard also uses a more modern encryption algorithm called ChaCha20, which is faster than the AES algorithm used by OpenVPN. WireGuard also has a better performance on high-latency and unstable networks, as it can quickly re-establish connections without handshake delays. Therefore, WireGuard is generally faster than OpenVPN in most scenarios.
Security: WireGuard claims to offer state-of-the-art security, as it uses the latest cryptographic techniques and has a minimal code base that is easier to audit and maintain. WireGuard also has a simpler authentication mechanism, using public keys instead of certificates or usernames and passwords. It also supports perfect forward secrecy, which means that each session has a unique encryption key that is not derived from previous ones. However, WireGuard is still a relatively new protocol that has not been extensively tested and reviewed by the security community. OpenVPN, on the other hand, has been around for a long time and has proven its reliability and security in various settings. OpenVPN also offers more configuration options to fine-tune the security parameters according to the user’s needs.
Compatibility: WireGuard is natively supported by Linux kernel versions 5.6 and above, which means that it can run on most Linux-based devices without additional software. There are official clients releases for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS, as well as third-party clients for other platforms. However, WireGuard may not work well on some firewalls or routers that block or modify UDP traffic, which is the protocol used by WireGuard. OpenVPN, on the other hand, uses TCP or UDP as the underlying protocol, which makes it more compatible with different network environments. OpenVPN also has a wider range of clients for various operating systems and devices.
Ease of use: WireGuard is designed to be easy to set up and use, as it requires minimal configuration and has a simple user interface. WireGuard also has a feature called roaming, which allows the user to switch between different network interfaces or IP addresses without losing the VPN connection. OpenVPN, on the other hand, is more complicated to set up and use, as it requires more steps and parameters to configure the server and client. OpenVPN also does not support roaming by default, which means that the user has to manually reconnect the VPN when changing networks.
In conclusion, WireGuard and OpenVPN are both viable VPN protocols that have their own strengths and weaknesses. WireGuard is better than OpenVPN in terms of speed, efficiency and simplicity, but it may not be as mature and compatible as OpenVPN in some cases. The user should choose the protocol that suits their needs and preferences best.
Is VPN speed faster with WireGuard vs OpenVPN
One of the factors that affects VPN speed is the encryption algorithm used by the protocol. WireGuard uses a modern and lightweight algorithm called ChaCha20, which is designed to perform well on mobile devices and low-power hardware. OpenVPN uses a variety of algorithms, such as AES, Blowfish, or Camellia, which may require more CPU resources and cause slower speeds.
Another factor that influences VPN speed is the handshake process, which is how the VPN client and server establish a secure connection. WireGuard uses a simple and fast handshake that lasts only a few milliseconds, and does not need to be repeated unless the connection changes. OpenVPN uses a more complex and slower handshake that can take several seconds, and needs to be repeated periodically or when the connection drops.
Therefore, WireGuard may provide faster VPN speeds than OpenVPN in some scenarios, especially on mobile devices or low-end hardware. However, this does not mean that WireGuard is always better than OpenVPN, as there are other aspects to consider, such as security, reliability, compatibility, and user preference.