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Why does every VPN need to rewrite their own client? (programming.dev)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/programming@programming.dev
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I've been testing VPN services and somehow every one with a client has written their own. Proton, Windscribe, IVPN, Mullvad, AirVPN, NordVPN, and the list goes on.

Don't these services all do the same thing? Connect to a server to get a list of servers, then use WireGuard or OpenVPN to make a connection, and have some fancy stuff like split tunneling or a killswitch. It should just take configuration by adding profiles per service and it should be possible to use the same client.

What am I missing?

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[–] 58 points 1 month ago (2 children)

You're not missing anything. Mullvad and probably some of the others lets you download a client config and use it in whatever app you want.

The ones that don't allow that are probably shady or just don't care about your freedoms, behind a guise of "our app is more convenient/safe/etc".

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  • [–] 32 points 1 month ago* (1 child)

    Proton offers downloading config files as well, at least for paid customers. I do agree that providers that do not provide these are at least somewhat shady in their business practices.

    At best, having a separate VPN client can offer some extra features over the standard openvpn/wireguard config files. They can allow quickly changing settings and detect the fastest server.

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