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Why does every VPN need to rewrite their own client? (programming.dev)
submitted 1 day 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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[-] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 12 hours ago

but like, they could just fork those clients and add those features

[-] pelya@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago

Most of the proprietary VPN clients are a fork of OpenVPN or Wireguard client with rebranding and a payment button.

this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2026
111 points (97.4% liked)

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