Best Open-Source VPN in 2026 for Privacy and Trust
Verify your privacy for yourself with the best open-source VPN – PIA
- Review our fully open-source VPN app code on GitHub
- Read Deloitte’s independent audits of our security claims
- Protect your privacy with a court-proven no-logs policy
- 30-day money-back guarantee for new users
What Does Open Source Mean?
Open-source VPN apps are publicly available for anyone to inspect how they work under the hood. PIA is one of the few VPN providers with 100% reviewable app source code. It’s our way of saying that we have nothing to hide from our users.
Why Transparency Matters in Open-Source VPNs
VPNs have the potential for deep visibility into online activity, including traffic flow, connection metadata, and IP addresses. With closed-source VPN clients, privacy and security claims largely come down to trust and independent reviews by reputable experts. Open-source VPNs add an extra layer of transparency by making the code publicly verifiable.
You can inspect the PIA VPN app code for all supported platforms on GitHub. This allows you to:
- Verify how our apps handle your traffic
- Confirm there are no hidden vulnerabilities or trackers
- Review updates as we publish them
- See whether our court-proven no-logs policy holds up
Open-Source VPN Protocols
Along with our open-source VPN apps, PIA uses open-source OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols to give you complete transparency. Both protocols use industry-leading VPN encryption to make your online activities virtually unreadable by third parties, including your ISP.
Open code at both the app and protocol level means more opportunities for independent review.
Trusted By Millions Of Satisfied Customers
Here's a small sample of our most positive user reviews. All Trustpilot reviews are available here.
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Support For WireGuard
WireGuard delivers great performance by establishing connections faster through its lightweight codebase, which uses modern cryptographic algorithms. This makes it well suited for bandwidth-heavy tasks like streaming, video calling, torrenting, and gaming.
What makes it stand out:
- A compact codebase (around 4,000 lines of code rather than 100,000+) that’s easier to review and audit
- ChaCha20 encryption and Curve25519 key exchange that protect against IP, DNS, and data leaks
- Fast handshakes that keep you connected even when switching between networks
Why PIA Is the Best Open-Source VPN
High-Performance Servers Worldwide
Get the most out of your internet connection with PIA’s high-speed 10-Gbps servers across 90 countries.
Industry-Leading Encryption
Safeguard your location and online traffic while preventing ISP speed throttling with open-source VPN encryption.
Strict No-Logs Policy
Keep your digital life private with our audited no-logs policy and RAM-only network. We don’t store logs of sensitive information.
Advanced Privacy Features
Stay secure 24/7 with an advanced kill switch or choose which apps or websites you want to protect with split tunneling.
No Device or Bandwidth Limits
Sign in on as many devices as you want without getting kicked off another one, all while enjoying unlimited bandwidth.
Customizable Security
Adjust the VPN settings to get the best protection for your needs. PIA offers a variety of security options, all packed in a user-friendly interface.
Try The Best VPN At The Best Price
All Plans Are Covered By Our 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
1 Month
$11.95/mo3 Years + 3 Months
$2.03/mo1 Year
$3.33/mo
Covered By Our 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee*All amounts are shown in USD, and any discounts reflect a reduction based on the current monthly service pricing at $11.95 per month.
*The 30-day money-back guarantee is available to new subscribers only; for subscriptions purchased via third-party app stores (e.g., Apple App Store), refunds are subject to their respective terms and conditions.
Open-Source VPN: Frequently Asked Questions
Open-source means the software’s source code is publicly available for anyone to analyze. All of PIA’s apps and clients are open source and available for inspection on our GitHub page, so you can review how they work and see whether our privacy claims align with the underlying code.
Open-source software can be independently reviewed, which helps build trust. For a VPN, open source means you can check whether privacy claims match how the apps actually function, something that isn’t possible with proprietary, closed-source software.
You can verify our apps directly by reviewing the source code on GitHub. Alongside this transparency, we use widely adopted open-source protocols and maintain a strict no-logs policy that has undergone special reviews by an independent “Big Four” firm. If you’re a first-time user, our 30-day money-back guarantee also gives you time to test PIA VPN before committing.
Open-source VPN apps allow independent verification of how encryption, network connections, permissions, and updates are implemented. This public scrutiny reduces reliance on blind trust and helps expose weaknesses that might otherwise go unnoticed. Ongoing review and feedback from the security community contribute to well-tested implementations over time.
Anyone can inspect our source code, and Deloitte has independently reviewed our privacy policy multiple times. We also publish quarterly transparency reports that show exactly which legal requests we receive.
You can check our verified open-source VPN apps on GitHub repositories. We publish and regularly update the source code across all supported platforms, making it easy to review the apps yourself in addition to relying on external audits.
Yes, a few open-source VPNs offer free tiers. However, free VPNs typically come with trade-offs like data caps or limited server locations. Some also rely on alternative revenue models like advertising or strict usage limits, which can affect privacy or performance. As a new user, you can try PIA’s premium open-source VPN risk-free for 30 days.
Open-source VPNs typically cost anywhere from a few dollars to around $10–$15 per month, depending on the provider and purchase length. You can get PIA’s open-source apps for per month with the long-term offer. A 30-day money-back guarantee backing all purchases for first-time customers also gives you time to try our VPN risk-free first.
In-app purchases made through the App Store or iTunes aren’t covered by the money-back guarantee.
Still Not Convinced? Download PIA VPN Risk-Free
You're covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee*. If you're not satisfied, request a refund.
Per our Terms of Service, using PIA VPN for illegal purposes is prohibited.