Our Telegram chat is flooded with questions like “why do I need the AmneziaWG app” and “how does Amnezia VPN differ from AmneziaWG”.
These programs really do solve the same task — they protect your connection and restore access to your favorite resources. However, there are differences, and they determine which app to install: Amnezia VPN or AmneziaWG.
What Is the Difference Between AmneziaWG and Amnezia VPN
Amnezia VPN is our main universal application. It works with Amnezia Free and Amnezia Premium services, and also allows you to manage Amnezia Self-hosted servers.
AmneziaWG is a native client for our modified version of the WireGuard VPN protocol. The application is less demanding on operating systems but reduces the set of available protocols to one.
Important: Both applications support Amnezia Premium
When It Is Better to Use the Amnezia VPN App
We recommend Amnezia VPN as the default option. The latest version of the Amnezia VPN app 4.8.19.0, on which the reliability of the connection depends, is available in the “Downloads” section on our website.
It works on most current versions of Windows, iOS, and macOS, as well as Android — including builds for TV boxes and Smart TVs.
We advise installing the main Amnezia VPN app on TV boxes or Smart TVs running Android TV and Google TV — not AmneziaWG
We are working on an update for Amnezia VPN to bring support for Linux, namely Ubuntu 22.04 and Debian 12 distros. We will announce the release of these versions in due time.
When It Is Better to Use the AmneziaWG App
If you haven't updated your OS in a long time, AmneziaWG will most likely help you out. Below are the platforms for which the AmneziaWG app is available.
In each case, the specified installation method is the only one possible:
- Windows 7 and 8 — by downloading and running the EXE file from our GitHub,
- Android 7 and 8, including Android TV and Google TV — from the Google Play,
- iOS 15 and 16 — from the App Store marketplace,
- macOS 12 (Monterey) and 13 (Ventura) — from the App Store.
Nevertheless, we recommend installing Amnezia VPN if your OS version allows it. If you use Amnezia Free, the AmneziaWG app will not suit you
Three more cases in which AmneziaWG is becoming:
- You cannot connect to Amnezia Premium and Amnezia Self-hosted through the main app. For instance, updates for Amnezia VPN on iOS are unavailable to some of our users. However, even in this case, alternative clients like DefaultVPN will be the best option for iOS 17 and older.
- You need a backup option for Android-based TV boxes that allows downloading third-party applications. In this case, AmneziaWG will help out if Amnezia VPN turns out to be unavailable. Note that WebOS or Tizen in LG and Samsung TVs, respectively, will not suit due to the structure of these operating systems.
- You are sure that the AmneziaWG app, where only the protocol of the same name is available, will meet your needs in connection protection, and additional options — for example, VLESS — will not be needed even as a backup.
How to Connect Through the AmneziaWG App
If you chose the AmneziaWG app, you first have to upload configuration files to it. We described how to do this in detail in the instructions for iOS devices, but it works for other operating systems too, and usually goes like this:
- Install the AmneziaWG app.
- Download the configuration file in
.confformat from the “Personal Dashboard” on another device or in the web version. We have also compiled detailed instructions on how to do this — follow them, and everything will work out. - Send the file to the target device — via Bluetooth, by email, or in another convenient way.
- Open the file in the AmneziaWG app, and select the new connection in the list of available ones.
- Enjoy your favorite resources without restrictions.
A Simple Choice
As you can see, the difference between AmneziaWG and Amnezia VPN comes down to the set of available protocols and the list of operating systems supporting the applications.
Both will protect your data and return access to familiar services. We have a detailed guide in case you’re still on the fence about what Amnezia offer to choose.
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