Speed · Plain-English answer
In most real world tests, yes. WireGuard uses a small modern codebase, efficient cryptography and, on Linux, runs inside the kernel, so it moves packets with less overhead than OpenVPN. It also reconnects faster after sleep or network changes. OpenVPN remains reliable, but WireGuard is now the usual choice for speed.
WireGuard was designed decades after OpenVPN with the benefit of hindsight. Its codebase is a few thousand lines rather than hundreds of thousands, it uses modern ciphers such as ChaCha20 that run quickly on ordinary processors, and on Linux it lives in the kernel, avoiding the constant copying between kernel and user space that slows OpenVPN.
The result on the same server and line is typically higher sustained throughput and lower CPU use, which matters most on routers, older laptops and streaming sticks where the processor is the bottleneck.
WireGuard also connects in a fraction of the time and survives network changes gracefully, so a phone moving from Wi-Fi to mobile data resumes almost instantly instead of renegotiating. For everyday use that responsiveness is as noticeable as raw speed.
OpenVPN keeps one practical advantage: it can run over TCP port 443 and blend in with ordinary HTTPS, which helps on networks that block VPN protocols. ROOT is built on WireGuard throughout, and you can compare protocols on your own line at /tools/speed-test/.
ROOT VPN is free to start with unlimited data, no card needed, and no activity logs.
Get ROOT VPN, free