WireGuard is a VPN protocol that focuses on security first. WireGuard uses the most advanced and tested cryptography algorithms and protocols to secure user data. WireGuard is also easy to use and set up.
Unlike some of the protocols mentioned on this list, Wireguard was originally native to the Linux platform. Now with help from various developers, WireGuard is easily implementable on platforms such as Android, iOS, BSD, macOS, and Windows.
WireGuard is different from other VPN protocols in the sense that WireGuard does not offer options related to hashing algorithms, key exchanges, and/or encryption. This has harmed the WireGuard adoption rate since sometimes it is deployed insecurely. WireGuard uses cryptographic primitives that the user cannot change and hence result in strong cryptographic option selection.
Although there are a lot of bugs that need to be fixed to make WireGuard adoption widespread, generally it is used with supercomputers along with embedded interfaces. WireGuard can work in many other situations (industrial and residential) as well.
The main advantage of using WireGuard is the performance that does not sacrifice speed. Compared to OpenVPN and IPSec, WireGuard is faster because WireGuard uses the latest cryptography algorithms which give WireGuard a speed boost. WireGuard can also include ChaCHa20, Curve25519,HKDF, SipHash24 and BLAKE2. Other modern optimizations make WireGuard one of the best VPN protocols for devices that don’t have access to a lot of power.
The number of lines of code that WireGuard needs to implement its security features is also less than other protocols which reduces the chance for errors and makes it easier for security researchers to audit.
Another advantage is WireGuard’s cross-platform support. WireGuard also has low configuration requirements. For both encryption and identification, WireGuard uses public keys and hence doesn’t need a complex certification infrastructure. In terms of platforms, WireGuard works well with Windows, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, macOS, and Android.