VPN Protocols Explained: WireGuard, OpenVPN and More
The "protocol" setting in a VPN app decides how your device and the server establish and maintain the encrypted tunnel. The choice affects speed, battery use, and whether the connection can get through networks that actively try to block VPN traffic.
WireGuard (and its variants)
WireGuard is a modern protocol with a small codebase, which makes it easier to audit and generally faster than older alternatives. Its main limitation out of the box is that its traffic pattern is relatively easy for network equipment to fingerprint as "a VPN" -- which is why obfuscated variants like AmneziaWG exist, adding traffic-shaping on top of the same core protocol specifically to avoid that fingerprint.
OpenVPN
OpenVPN has been around far longer, runs over either UDP or TCP, and is extremely widely supported. It's generally slower than WireGuard-based protocols on comparable hardware, but its maturity means almost every router and firewall knows how to handle it.
VLESS / Reality-style protocols
Originally developed in the proxy/circumvention space, VLESS with Reality is built to make encrypted traffic look identical to ordinary HTTPS traffic to a website, which makes it particularly effective on networks and in regions that specifically block recognizable VPN protocols. Total Pro VPN offers this alongside AmneziaWG so you have a fallback if one gets blocked on a given network.
IKEv2/IPSec
Common on mobile devices because it reconnects quickly when switching between wifi and cellular. It's a reasonable default on phones but isn't specifically built for obfuscation.
Which one should you pick?
For everyday use, a WireGuard-based protocol is the best balance of speed and security. On a network that actively blocks VPN traffic, switch to an obfuscated option like AmneziaWG or VLESS Reality first before assuming the VPN itself isn't working.