
OpenVPN Access Server / Self-Hosted VPN (BYOL)
Fast, Easy VPN with Smart Shortcuts for Secure Browsing and Unblocking
Expanded secure access for education but purchasing and licensing have created ongoing obstacles
What is our primary use case?
I use the solution for higher education resources.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution does its job and it is easy to customize.
What is most valuable?
The core VPN functionality is reliable and relatively easy to administer once it is deployed.
What needs improvement?
The licensing and purchasing workflow needs serious improvement. OpenVPN should provide clear documentation for customers who need multiple Access Server instances, different connection counts, AWS Marketplace subscriptions, PAYG licensing, and BYOL licensing under the same organization. Support and sales also need a clearer internal escalation path. We received guidance that pointed us back to AWS, then AWS clarified that OpenVPN needed to amend or handle the agreement, then OpenVPN proposed BYOL, then the BYOL setup ran into another account conflict. This was embarrassing for a paid enterprise product.
The product should include clearer in-app and portal-level guidance explaining what account types, billing models, and subscription models are compatible. Customers should not have to discover these limitations through a long email chain.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for 7 months.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have used OpenVPN Access Server previously and were trying to expand our existing deployment. The issue was not that we were switching from another vendor. The issue was that expanding an existing OpenVPN setup became unexpectedly difficult.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Do not assume the pricing or purchasing path will be straightforward, especially through AWS Marketplace. Confirm in writing whether your intended setup requires PAYG, BYOL, a Marketplace amendment, a separate AWS account, or a separate OpenVPN account. Also, budget staff time for the licensing process itself. The sticker price may look clear, but the real cost includes the time spent untangling subscription limitations, account conflicts, sales handoffs, and unclear guidance.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We considered continuing with OpenVPN because we already had operational familiarity with it and expected the expansion path to be simple.
What other advice do I have?
The technical product is usable. The purchasing and licensing experience was the problem. Our organization needed a simple answer to a simple question: how do we run one 10-connection server and one 50-connection server? Instead of a clear path, we got days of back-and-forth, repeated explanations, conflicting assumptions, AWS/OpenVPN finger-pointing, delayed responses, and a final BYOL path that still ran into account conflicts. For an infrastructure product, that is not acceptable.
Customers should not need to coordinate between vendor sales, vendor support, AWS Marketplace, AWS account teams, and internal billing just to buy more capacity. OpenVPN should make this process dramatically clearer, faster, and more accountable.