# dswd/vpncloud

Peer-to-peer VPN

Repository: https://github.com/dswd/vpncloud
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/vpncloud
Homepage: https://vpncloud.ddswd.de
Language: Rust
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: vpn, rust, p2p, mesh
Last push: 2024-03-21T13:16:02+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3936, "days_push": 895, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1978, forks 168 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:01.428273+00:00)

## What it is
VpnCloud is a high-performance peer-to-peer mesh VPN written in Rust that runs over UDP with strong end-to-end encryption (Curve25519 and AES-256/ChaCha20). It creates virtual TUN/TAP network interfaces and builds a fully-meshed, self-healing overlay network without central servers, supporting NAT traversal via hole punching.

## Use cases
- create a secure mesh VPN between servers at different hosting providers
- connect computers behind NAT gateways into one virtual network
- play LAN-only games over the internet with friends
- build a high-availability setup on the network layer
- share files securely between multiple desktop machines
- set up an encrypted overlay network without a central VPN server

## When to choose
- you need a serverless, fully-meshed VPN on Linux with automatic peer discovery
- nodes are behind NAT gateways and need hole punching
- you want high throughput and very low added latency compared to OpenVPN
- you prefer a single dependency-free binary with simple YAML configuration

## When to avoid
- you need Windows, macOS, BSD, or mobile support - VpnCloud is Linux-only
- you need multi-hop routing or a centralized certificate authority model like Nebula
- you require mature distro packaging or long-term audited security guarantees

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: stable
- function: vpn, networking, security, cryptography, p2p
- domain: networking, security, privacy, self-hosted, microservices
- platform: cli, rust
- tags: mesh-vpn, tun-tap, nat-traversal, hole-punching, udp, overlay-network, self-healing, linux

## Member repositories
- dswd/vpncloud (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:01.428273+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:04:44.488283+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/dswd/vpncloud (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:01.428273+00:00, sha 0d203c94d122)
  - homepage: https://vpncloud.ddswd.de (fetched 2026-08-29T10:43:49.871746+00:00, sha 43240a24b4ca)
  - site_page: https://vpncloud.ddswd.de/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T10:43:49.876352+00:00, sha bd0d4283a99f)
  - site_page: https://vpncloud.ddswd.de/install (fetched 2026-08-29T10:43:49.878024+00:00, sha d10b57101363)
  - site_page: https://vpncloud.ddswd.de/features/performance (fetched 2026-08-29T10:43:49.881376+00:00, sha 44430b84afb4)
  - site_page: https://vpncloud.ddswd.de/features/comparison (fetched 2026-08-29T10:43:49.883003+00:00, sha 0f5a5062cc46)
  - site_page: https://vpncloud.ddswd.de/features/wizard (fetched 2026-08-29T10:43:49.884736+00:00, sha 8ea653131696)
  - site_page: https://vpncloud.ddswd.de/docs/tutorials/basic (fetched 2026-08-29T10:43:49.886234+00:00, sha f710c7e4850c)
  - site_page: https://vpncloud.ddswd.de/features (fetched 2026-08-29T10:43:49.874264+00:00, sha 9b734b6f3d7c)
  - registry_crates: https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/vpncloud (fetched 2026-08-29T10:43:49.887921+00:00, sha 935ca74ad53d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.