Obscura VPN Ships Native Linux App and Switches to GPLv3 License
Obscura VPN has released a native Linux desktop app with both a graphical interface and an experimental command-line tool, and has relicensed its code under GPLv3. Official packages cover Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora and Arch, with a limited-time 25% discount offered at launch.
The app ships with a full graphical interface and an experimental command-line interface for users who prefer working in a terminal. Until now, Linux users had to follow a manual WireGuard setup guide to connect, managing configuration files themselves. Obscura provides official packages for Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, including Atomic Desktops such as Silverblue, and Arch, as well as derivatives including Linux Mint, RHEL, CachyOS and Omarchy. Minimum requirements are Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 13, Fedora 44 and RHEL 10, and the client is installed through Obscura's own package repository.
The Linux client supports Obscura's QUIC-based stealth protocol, which disguises VPN traffic as ordinary HTTP/3 web browsing and is intended to help users get past networks that block VPN connections. To mark the launch, the provider is offering 25% off for a limited time with the promotional code LINUX26. The service normally costs about $8 per month and has no free tier.
Alongside the release, Obscura moved from the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0 to the GNU General Public License v3.0, a change the company says furthers its commitment to open-source software. Obscura's code has been public since day one, but GPLv3 is a true open-source license that gives the community more freedom to inspect, modify and share the code. It is the same license Mullvad uses for its own applications.
Obscura was founded by Carl Dong, a former Bitcoin Core contributor, and first launched on macOS in February 2025. It has since expanded to iOS, Android and Windows, and with the Linux release now supports macOS, iOS, Android, Windows and Linux. Its main selling point is a two-party relay: Obscura acts as the entry node and sees a user's real IP address, while Mullvad VPN operates the exit node and sees the websites visited, so no single provider knows both who the user is and what they browse. Security firm Cure53 audited Obscura and found no major security vulnerabilities, as reported last December.