Why does every VPN need to rewrite their own client? (programming.dev)

submitted 13 hours ago by onlinepersona@programming.dev 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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[-] Dookieman12@piefed.social 55 points 13 hours ago

The client is packaged and sold with the VPN subscription to "add value". People like you and I understand that VPN clients are pretty simple places of software, but most VPN customers, well... you know

this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2026

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