Open Source Networking & Connectivity Software

Networking & Connectivity tools establish secure tunnels and manage traffic flow between remote devices and private servers. These tools solve the problem of exposing internal services to the internet by using reverse proxies and encrypted overlays. This type of software serves system administrators and privacy-conscious users who need to manage network routing and access controls. Self-hosting these apps ensures that encryption keys and traffic logs remain on local hardware rather than on external servers. This approach prevents external entities from monitoring connection metadata or controlling network access.

This page lists 21 open source tools in the Networking & Connectivity category. The most popular are Clash Verge, Tailscale and Netbird. Most use the Apache-2.0 or GPL-3.0 license, and 15 offer an official Docker image.

Clash Verge

VPN & Secure Access

A cross platform GUI client for managing rule based network tunnels and proxy configurations via Tauri.

134k StarsDesktop App

Tailscale

VPN & Secure Access

Creates private WireGuard networks to connect devices across clouds, VPCs, and on-premises networks without modifying firewall rules.

34k StarsWeb App / Server

Netbird

VPN & Secure Access

Creates a WireGuard based overlay network with centralized access control for secure peer to peer connectivity.

28k StarsWeb App / Server

Clash Party

VPN & Secure Access

A graphical user interface for the Mihomo core to manage network proxies and subscription configurations.

26k StarsDesktop App

Pangolin

VPN & Secure Access

Provides identity-based remote access to private networks and web applications using WireGuard and reverse proxy tunnels.

22k StarsWeb App / Server

Gotify

Push Notification

A self-hosted server for sending and receiving real-time messages via a REST API and WebSockets.

15k StarsWeb App / Server

OpenVPN

VPN & Secure Access

Creates secure point to point or site to site connections using a tunneling daemon for encrypted network traffic.

14k StarsWeb App / Server

Clash Nyanpasu

VPN & Secure Access

A desktop graphical user interface for managing rule based network tunnels and proxy configurations.

13k StarsDesktop App

Centrifugo

WebSockets Servers

A scalable real-time messaging server that delivers messages to online users via various supported transports.

11k StarsWeb App / Server

Outline

VPN & Secure Access

Create and manage a private VPN server to provide secure internet access across multiple desktop platforms.

9.2k StarsCross-Platform App

FireZone

VPN & Secure Access

Manage remote access with zero trust policies and peer to peer connections built on the WireGuard protocol.

8.9k StarsWeb App / Server

Warpgate

SSH Access Management

A transparent bastion host for managing secure access to SSH, HTTPS, Kubernetes, MySQL, PostgreSQL, RDP and VNC.

7.4k StarsWeb App / Server

Mullvad VPN

VPN & Secure Access

A privacy preserving VPN client for desktop and mobile that secures internet traffic using WireGuard.

7.4k StarsDesktop App

Outline Server

VPN & Secure Access

A proxy server running a Shadowsocks instance with a REST API for managing access keys.

6.2k StarsWeb App / Server

Cosmos Server

Control Panels

Manage and secure home servers with a built-in reverse proxy, authentication server, and container management system.

6.1k StarsWeb App / Server

Tinyproxy

VPN & Secure Access

A light-weight HTTP and SSL proxy daemon designed for small network settings and POSIX operating systems.

5.9k StarsWeb App / Server

Pomerium

Authentication & SSO

An identity and context-aware reverse proxy for secure, clientless connections to internal web applications and services.

4.9k StarsWeb App / Server

sish

VPN & Secure Tunnels

Create HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, and TCP tunnels to localhost using standard SSH without custom clients.

4.7k StarsWeb App / Server

OpenZiti

VPN & Secure Access

A zero-trust networking platform that makes network services invisible to unauthorized users through cryptographic identity.

4.3k StarsWeb App / Server

Defguard

VPN & Secure Access

A self-hosted remote access platform combining WireGuard VPN with identity management and multi-factor authentication.

2.8k StarsWeb App / Server

AnyCable

WebSockets Servers

Realtime server providing reliable two way communication for backends using WebSockets and Server Sent Events.

2.4k StarsWeb App / Server
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