HOPR’s decentralized, incentivized mixnet obscures all metadata, including IP addresses, making it impossible to tell anything about who is communicating and what data they’re sending. Node operators receive HOPR tokens rewards with staking options. No downloads required, several dApps are available.
Reviewed by Marcus Holmberg
HOPR
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Threat level
Targeted
A targeted-tier tool. Built for a real, capable adversary. Overkill for everyone below. Threat levels
Our take
HOPR is the most serious privacy engineering in this group: a mixnet that hides metadata and IP addresses, rather than only the content, which addresses the exact thing ordinary VPNs leak. The honest catch is that it is small, research-grade, and incentivized with tokens, so it is far from a plug-and-play consumer VPN. Watch it as one of the more credible attempts at real metadata protection, but do not expect it to replace your everyday connection yet.
GitHub at a glance
hoprnet/hoprnet
Stars
256
+ 3 this week
Last commit
9d ago
healthy
License
GPL-3.0
Latest release
v3.0.2
4mo ago
Stars, last 32d
Website at a glance
hoprnet.org
B score 75
Solid website security headers
Graded by Mozilla HTTP Observatory, tested 1d ago
Inspect this site yourself
Measures the security configuration of the tool's own website, not the privacy of the product itself. A strong tool can still score low here.
HOPR alternatives
NymVPN Decentralized VPN built on the Nym mixnet, with a 5-hop anonymous mode and a faster 2-hop WireGuard mode in one client.
Safing Privacy Network - SPN SPN enables users to select different identities (IP addresses) for each app. Certain apps and domains can be excluded as well. Volunteers are able to host a community node but…
Mysterium VPN Unlimited devices, affordable price, 135 countries and over 16,000 servers. No email sign up required.
Sentinel Interesting project in an early stage. Instead of wasting server resources, this new protocol is using peer-to-peer user nodes to create a fully functioning bandwith network.
Orchid VPN No Windows client available. The Orchid protocol uses WebRTC. Onion-routed multi-hop connections.
KelVPN No iOS app yet. Node operators get rewarded with $KEL tokens with staking options.
HOPR license, in plain English
GPL-3.0 Strong copyleft
Free to use and modify, but anything you distribute that is built on it must also be open under the same license.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Patent use
- Private use
Requires
- Disclose source
- Same license
- State changes
- License and copyright notice
Does not provide
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: Strong copyleft keeps every distributed version open. A vendor cannot fold this into a closed product and ship it without releasing their changes.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.
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