NymVPN – Private VPN vs strongSwan VPN Client
Side-by-side comparison of two open source alternatives
NymVPN – Private VPN
7 day free trial: All features, no ads, cancel anytime. The only VPN that can't spy on you. Made in Switzerland. Built by privacy-advocates. The world’s first mixnet for online anonymity. - NO NAME SIGNUP: No email required. Zero-knowledge accounts. The most crypto accepted by any VPN. Cash payments accepted for full anonymity. - DECENTRALIZED VPN technology - 65+ COUNTRIES with hundreds of independent servers - UP TO 10 DEVICES with one anonymous code BROWSE WITHOUT A TRACE Tired of wondering who's watching you? Corporations collecting your personal data? Not being able to access information because of where you are? While other VPNs promise not to keep logs, the NymVPN network is designed so centralized logs are not possible. No point on the decentralized network can connect your IP address with what you do online. Your privacy is guaranteed by default. When you connect with NymVPN, your online activity cannot be tied back to you by advertisers, network operators, or centralized infrastructure. You can browse, research, and communicate without creating a behavioral fingerprint that follows you across the internet. CHOOSE YOUR PRIVACY LEVEL Fast Mode - High-speed browsing and streaming - 2-hop decentralized VPN - Choose entry and exit servers in 65+ countries Anonymous Mode - Maximum anonymity for messaging, email, and financial transactions - 5-hop Noise Generating Mixnet - Designed to resist advanced traffic analysis ESSENTIAL FEATURES - High-speed connections with 65+ country selection - Multi-layer encryption - dVPN AmneziaWG (WireGuard) support - Kill switch prevents data leaks - Advanced anti-censorship technology - Split tunneling - Custom DNS - dApp & wallet mode for private & secure Ethereum crypto transactions - Key rotation for cryptographic security - Completely ad-free experience - Fully open source WHY NYMVPN IS DIFFERENT Most VPNs rely on centralized servers and ask you to trust their “no-logs” promises. NymVPN is built differently. - Decentralized VPN (dVPN) architecture: Traffic is routed through independently operated nodes. There is no single server that can see both who you are and what you do online. - Metadata protection, not just encryption: NymVPN protects traffic patterns, timing, and routing information. Even encrypted data can leak metadata. Nym is designed to prevent that. - Noise Generating Mixnet technology: In Anonymous Mode, your traffic is mixed with cover traffic across multiple hops, making correlation and AI-driven traffic analysis extremely difficult. - Two privacy modes, one app: Fast Mode uses a high-performance 2-hop decentralized VPN. Anonymous Mode uses a 5-hop mixnet for maximum anonymity. - Zero-knowledge accounts by design: No email signup. No personal data. Accounts are unlinkable from usage. Supports crypto and cash payments for full anonymity. - Censorship-resistant networking: Built with AmneziaWG, QUIC, and stealth transport options to work in restrictive environments. - Open-source and independently audited: Fully open source, with multiple third-party security audits by Cure53, Cryspen, Oak Security, and JP Aumasson. - Built by academic cryptographers: Designed by researchers from KU Leuven and EPFL with 20+ peer-reviewed publications in privacy and cryptography. INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED - Audited by Cure53, Cryspen, Oak Security, JP Aumasson - Featured in PCMag, TechRadar, Forbes, Bloomberg - Trusted by 10,000+ privacy-focused users NYMVPN IS PERFECT FOR: - Streaming and browsing without being tracked by advertisers - Secure public WiFi connections at cafes, airports, hotels - Anyone in restrictive countries needing reliable access - People who want true anonymity, not just hidden IP addresses - Journalists and activists needing untraceable communication Download now. Signup anonymously. Go dark with NymVPN.
strongSwan VPN Client
Official Android port of the popular strongSwan VPN solution. # FEATURES AND LIMITATIONS # Uses the VpnService API featured by Android 4+. Devices by some manufacturers seem to lack support for this - strongSwan VPN Client won't work on these devices! Uses the IKEv2 key exchange protocol Uses IPsec for data traffic Full support for changed connectivity and mobility through MOBIKE (or reauthentication) Supports username/password EAP authentication (namely EAP-MSCHAPv2, EAP-MD5 and EAP-GTC) as well as RSA/ECDSA private key/certificate authentication to authenticate users, EAP-TLS with client certificates is also supported Combined RSA/ECDSA and EAP authentication is supported by using two authentication rounds as defined in RFC 4739 VPN server certificates are verified against the CA certificates pre-installed or installed by the user on the system. The CA or server certificates used to authenticate the server can also be imported directly into the app. IKEv2 fragmentation is supported if the VPN server supports it (strongSwan does so since 5.2.1) Split-tunneling allows sending only certain traffic through the VPN and/or excluding specific traffic from it Per-app VPN allows limiting the VPN connection to specific apps, or exclude them from using it The IPsec implementation currently supports the AES-CBC, AES-GCM, ChaCha20/Poly1305 and SHA1/SHA2 algorithms Passwords are currently stored as cleartext in the database (only if stored with a profile) VPN profiles may be imported from files Supports managed configurations via enterprise mobility management (EMM) Details and a changelog can be found in our documentation: https://docs.strongswan.org/docs/latest/os/androidVpnClient.html # PERMISSIONS # READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: Allows importing VPN profiles and CA certificates from external storage on some Android versions QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES: Required on Android 11+ to select apps to ex-/include in VPN profiles and the optional EAP-TNC use case # EXAMPLE SERVER CONFIGURATION # Example server configurations may be found in our documentation: https://docs.strongswan.org/docs/latest/os/androidVpnClient.html#_server_configuration Please note that the host name (or IP address) configured with a VPN profile in the app *must be* contained in the server certificate as subjectAltName extension. # FEEDBACK # Please post bug reports and feature requests via GitHub: https://github.com/strongswan/strongswan/issues/new/choose If you do so, please include information about your device (manufacturer, model, OS version etc.). The log file written by the key exchange service can be sent directly from within the application.
| Feature | NymVPN – Private VPN | strongSwan VPN Client |
|---|---|---|
| License | GPL-3.0-only | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Install sources | F-DroidGitHub | F-DroidGitHub |
| Categories | Password ManagerVPNProductivityMessagingBrowser | Password ManagerVPNMessagingBrowser |
| Features | Ad-FreeOpen SourceNo Tracking | Ad-FreeOpen SourceNo Tracking |
| Platforms | Android | Android |
| Website | ||
| Source code |