Lightway vs WireGuard vs OpenVPN 2024 (key differences)

With the introduction of ExpressVPN’s new Lightway connection protocol, there are a lot of people – including me – who are wondering exactly how Lightway vs WireGuard vs OpenVPN compare. I’ve been testing each protocol for the past year, and here’s what I’ve learned.

So what is the difference between Lightway and Wireguard?

When first released, the code base for ExpressVPN’s Lightway custom security protocol was closed-sourced, but as promised ExpressVPN has now published the code as open source on GitHub. Anybody can check the security of the Lightway code and many security experts have done so.

It’s now easier to compare Lightway vs Wireguard and OpenVPN protocol.

Practically speaking, what does all this mean as you’re using one of these VPN connection protocols to access the internet?

For the average user, you won’t feel much of a difference at all.

But a difference does exist, and there are good reasons why you might want to choose Lightway vs Wireguard or even stick with the standard OpenVPN protocol.

Note: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you, I may be compensated if you choose to use one of the services listed.

Benefits of WireGuard and Lightway

Let’s get one thing straight: Lightway and Wireguard have more in common than they do differences.

This is one reason why ExpressVPN has had to work hard to market Lightway as a completely separate (and, in their opinion, better) protocol.

Most people, including me, are getting confused by the two.

One reason for this is that other commercial virtual private networks have integrated WireGuard into their software and simply renamed it. An example of this is how NordVPN now offers NordLynx, which is their version of the WireGuard protocol.

Another reason is that both WireGuard and Lightway boast the same benefits, which include:

• Modern Encryption Architectures: Although Lightway uses wolfSSL and the WireGuard interface uses ChaCha20 (among others), both VPN protocols use modern encryption algorithms that increase the level of privacy and leave no room for security vulnerabilities. OpenVPN TCP is still secure, but it’s getting dated.
• Lightweight Code Base: Compared to older VPN protocols, both Lightway and Wireguard feature significantly cleaner code. I’ve already covered this in my overview of Wireguard, but these protocols offer a 90% reduction in lines of code over other VPN protocols, such as OpenVPN. Additionally, the low-level component of WireGuard operates within the Linux kernel. This translates into faster loading, easier server configuration, rapid deployment, and, most importantly…
• Faster Speeds: The simpler code and better design allow for more efficient speeds. I’ve seen this personally when using WireGuard, especially in the near-instantaneous connection to the server and seamless transitions between different IP addresses.
• Stable Connection: One of the most welcome benefits of these new protocols is the stability of the connection. They can jump between networks (i.e. from your home WiFi to the cellular network) without the same difficulty that OpenVPN and other protocols have historically had.

That’s a bit of what makes them the same, and before we move into the differences, take a few minutes to watch this video explanation.

WireGuard vs Lightway | Primary Differences

During my tests, I noticed very little difference in how WireGuard and Lightway performed. They’re both an improvement over the older protocols, but the similarities are easier to see.

Differences do exist, though.

Differences in Encryption Libraries

As I mentioned above, Lightway uses the wolfSSL encryption library while WireGuard uses the Noise protocol framework with the ChaCha20 cipher. Both of these are modern, high-quality encryption frameworks that emphasize speed, efficiency, and portability.

But as far as the average person is concerned, it feels the same. As long as ExpressVPN’s Lightway stands up to independent, third-party audits (which it has), I don’t believe that one encryption library should be considered better than another.

Differences in the Development Process

The biggest and most important difference between Lightway and Wireguard is how it was developed.

WireGuard was developed on an open-source platform over the past few years, similar to OpenVPN, and has been subject to public scrutiny. Because it is open source, it can be updated, improved, and implemented across many different VPN software.

Lightway, by contrast, has been developed as a proprietary tunneling protocol for ExpressVPN. It has been coded in private and tested in beta. The code has now been released as open-source on Github, but it took them a couple of years before they made good on this promise to release the code.

I’m not here to say that one method is better than the other – there has been a lot of good software that has been developed privately and plenty of crappy software that has open source code.

This does mean that, at least for the time being, Lightway will only be available through ExpressVPN.

In other words, you’ll need to have a subscription to ExpressVPN to take advantage of Lightway.

On the other side, there are a growing number of other VPN providers that offer WireGuard as an option.

Which is Better? Lightway or WireGuard?

Which is better…Lightway or Wireguard?

Or should you stick with OpenVPN?

The truth is that they feel the same, but we won’t know the answer to that question until ExpressVPN opens up the source code for scrutiny.

Anybody who tells you differently at this point is either working for ExpressVPN or they’re blowing smoke.

The good news for you, as a VPN user, is whether you go with ExpressVPN, you choose a WireGuard VPN provider like NordVPN or even if you stick with your current OpenVPN service, security and speed are being improved.

And that’s a very good thing.

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