VpnHood! SERVER: free, open-source VPN server software

The engine of your VPN. It runs on your own machine, carries your users' traffic, and answers to nobody's infrastructure but yours.

A server rack on a plinth, a shielded tunnel leaving it, and three small device screens connecting back to it

What you get

Why run VpnHood! SERVER

Runs anywhere you can rent

Linux (x64 or ARM64), Windows, or Docker: any VPS or dedicated machine from any provider, installed with a single pasted command. It listens on port 443 out of the box, with no network configuration.

Hard to spot, harder to block

With Cloak Mode, the tunnel is shaped to look like ordinary web traffic, and an unauthenticated probe gets a plain web-server response instead of anything worth testing. No network is guaranteed to let it through, but there is little to match against.

How Cloak Mode works

Steadfast by design

VpnHood! ENGINE keeps the connection encrypted and stable across hostile networks, over TCP, UDP and QUIC, with IPv4 and IPv6 support.

Compare the protocols

Open-source and audited

Every line is public on GitHub under the LGPL, and the project has been audited by Include Security for the Open Technology Fund's Red Team Lab. Nothing to take on faith.

Read about the audit

One command

This is the whole installation

Paste one line on a fresh Linux box. It installs the service, configures it, and starts it. Then ask it for your first access key.

Install on Linux (x64 or ARM64)

sudo su -c "bash <( wget -qO- https://github.com/vpnhood/VpnHood.App.Server/releases/latest/download/VpnHoodServer-linux.sh)"

Generate an access key

sudo /opt/VpnHoodServer/vhserver gen

Full setup guide for Linux and Docker

Day to day

Built to run unattended

The details that decide whether a VPN server is something you set up once or something you babysit.

Hot restart

Restart or update the server and open sessions carry on.

No root needed

It does not need administrator rights, and on Linux it can run without root at all.

Network-scan protection

Users who try to scan networks through your server are stopped, which keeps your IP out of abuse reports.

Behind a reverse proxy

Works behind Cloudflare and the like, and still sees each client's real IP.

Speed and traffic limits

With MANAGER, each plan sets how much traffic its keys get and how fast it moves.

Your server, your call

Two ways to run it

Managed by VpnHood! MANAGER

The free panel installs the server for you, watches it live, and issues your access keys. Add more servers and it balances users across them. The easiest path for most people.

Learn more

Standalone

No panel required: a built-in file-based access manager lets a single server issue its own keys, configured from a simple settings file. On Linux, vhserver gen prints a new one.

Setup guide: install on Linux or in Docker

Either way, your users connect with VpnHood! CLIENT, free on Android, iOS, Windows and Linux. Your own white-labelled app can connect to the same servers. See white-label apps

Free, open-source, and ready for your server.

Source on GitHub Start a self-hosted VPN

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Let's find the answers to your questions.

Yes, and open source under the LGPL. The only cost is the machine you run it on, rented from any provider you like.

A VPS or a dedicated machine running Linux (x64 or ARM64) or Windows, or any host that runs Docker. It uses port 443 by default and needs no other network configuration.

No. VpnHood! SERVER ships with a small built-in file-based access manager, so one server can run and issue its own keys with no panel at all. MANAGER is what you add when you want a dashboard, live monitoring, your own plans, and several servers sharing the load.

Yes. Cloak Mode leaves little in the traffic to fingerprint, so what usually gets a server blocked is its IP address. Keep it private and share it with few people. With MANAGER, point your server farm at a token URL, and when you move the server to a fresh IP, your users' apps pick up the new address on their own. Keep your server's IP address from being blocked shows what else helps, starting with a second IP for the server's outgoing traffic.

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