| PPTP | L2TP/IPsec | OpenVPN | |
| Compatibility | Built-in support for a wide array of desktops, mobile devices, and tablets. | Built-in support for a wide array of desktops, mobile devices, and tablets. | Supported by most desktop computers. |
| Supported Systems |
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| Encryption | 128-bit | 256-bit |
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| Security | Basic encryption | Uses the highest encryption. Data integrity checking, encapsulates data twice. | Highest encryption, no known vulnerabilities, authenticates the data on both ends of the connection through digital certificates. |
| Stability | Very stable, accepted by most Wi-Fi hotspots | Stable if your device supports NAT | Most stable/reliable even on non-reliable networks, behind wireless routers, and on Wi-Fi hotspots |
| Setup | Easy to set up, built-in to most operating systems | Requires custom configuration | Easy to set up with software |
| Speed | Fast because of lower encryption overhead | Requires the most CPU processing | Best performance. Fast, even across great distances and on high latency connections. |
| Conclusion | A good choice if OpenVPN isn't available on your device and if ease-of-use and speed are priorities over security. | More secure than PPTP but not as fast and requires additional configuration. A good choice if OpenVPN isn't available on your device and security is a priority over ease-of-use and speed. | Best choice on desktops, such Windows Mac OS X and Linux. Fast, secure and reliable. OpenVPN is the recommended protocol. |
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PPTP
PPTP (Point to Point Tunneling Protocol) is a good, lightweight VPN protocol offering basic online security with fast speeds. PPTP is built-in to a wide array of desktop and mobile devices and features 128-bit encryption. PPTP is a good choice if OpenVPN isn't available on your device and speed is top priority.
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L2TP/IPsec
L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol) with IPsec (IP Security) is a very secure protocol built-in to a wide array of desktop and mobile devices. L2TP/IPsec features 256-bit encryption, but the extra security overhead requires more CPU usage than PPTP. L2TP/IPsec is an excellent choice if OpenVPN is not available on your device, but you want more security than PPTP.
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OpenVPN
OpenVPN is the premier VPN protocol designed for modern broadband networks, but is not supported by mobile devices and tablets. OpenVPN features 256-bit encryption and is extremely stable and fast over networks with long distances and high latency. It provides greater security than PPTP and requires less CPU usage than L2TP/IPsec. OpenVPN is the recommended protocol for desktops, including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.