Software Alternatives & Reviews

OpenWrt VS Ubuntu

Compare OpenWrt VS Ubuntu and see what are their differences

OpenWrt logo OpenWrt

OpenWrt is an open-source firmware based on Linux for wireless routers

Ubuntu logo Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a Debian Linux-based open source operating system for desktop computers.
  • OpenWrt Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-14
  • Ubuntu Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

OpenWrt videos

Upgrading Your Home Router to OpenWRT and Why It Is Worth It

More videos:

  • Review - Playing with OpenWrt Wireless Settings
  • Review - Make Your TP-LINK Router into a High Power Router with OpenWrt

Ubuntu videos

Ubuntu 19.10 Review | The Best GNOME Desktop, Yet?

More videos:

  • Review - Review: Ubuntu 19.10 "Eoan Ermine"
  • Review - Ubuntu 19.04, My Review (And Why Most Users Should Avoid It)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to OpenWrt and Ubuntu)
Operating Systems
19 19%
81% 81
Linux
12 12%
88% 88
Routers
100 100%
0% 0
Linux Distribution
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using OpenWrt and Ubuntu. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare OpenWrt and Ubuntu

OpenWrt Reviews

Best pfSense Software Alternatives and Competitors
Both pfSense and OpenWRT are formidable and versatile alternatives for network administration software. While OpenWRT is designed for embedded devices such as routers, Pfsense focuses on firewalls and routing functions that are more complex. Pfsense is more user-friendly, while OpenWRT provides more configuration options. Both are supported by thriving online communities...
The Best Open Source Router OS Software for Large or Small Networks
OpenWrt also offers a range of advanced networking configurations, including support for Quality of Service (QoS), network address translation (NAT), and virtual LAN (VLAN) tagging. These features make OpenWrt an attractive option for businesses and organizations that require more advanced networking capabilities. The open-source nature of OpenWrt means that users can...
Best free Linux router and firewall distributions of 2023
Unlike IPFire, OpenWRT has a large number of optional packages in its repository. As a result, you can configure this OS in countless different ways. Most importantly, OpenWRT has drivers for all hardware supported by Linux. This means that almost all Wireless hardware is supported, making it the most versatile OS for creating Access Points.
Source: teklager.se
Top 7 pfSense Alternatives
OpenWRT is made primarily to replace the software on existing routers, but it can also run on x86 (PCs, server hardware, VMs) machines. It is a very mature OS and has some of the best Wi-Fi support around, unlike a lot of other router software options. It has a pretty good GUI and a ton of add-on packages.
7 Best Router Firmware | Open Source | 2022
OpenWrt Project is a Linux based alternative open source firmware for routers in 2022 and embedded systems. And it is one of the best Open Source Firmware that offers you an utterly writable filesystem along with package management. It allows for full customization and lets you customize the device for any application.
Source: viralhax.com

Ubuntu Reviews

Top 9 Fastest Linux Distros in 2024
Ubuntu and Mint are both based on Debian and share many similarities. However, some differences may impact performances in certain use cases. For example, Ubuntu tends to be more resource-heavy than Mint, especially the GNOME desktop environment, on the other hand, is known for its lightweight Cinnamon desktop environment, which can be more responsive & faster.
Source: linuxsimply.com
10 Most Popular Linux Distros of the Year 2023
Ubuntu also has some lightweight games like chess and Sudoku. GNOME Files, formerly known as Nautilus, is the default file manager. It is recognized for its strong community support, regular releases, and focus on user experience. There are several Ubuntu flavors available as well per the demand of users such as Ubuntu Studio for users who need the best multimedia-supported...
12 Best Linux Distros You Should Use
Ubuntu uses Snaps for package management, and the latter is the reason the Linux community has started repelling it. They completely dropped out-of-the-box support for Flatpaks, as we mentioned in our Ubuntu 23.04 features list. Although it’s a good starting point for a complete beginner, we would argue there are better Linux distros to try than Ubuntu.
Source: beebom.com
Finding the Best Linux Distro for Your Organization
Based on the open source Ubuntu community, Canonical provides commercial support and services for Ubuntu Enterprise deployments. Ubuntu Enterprise is known for its ease of use, regular updates, and compatibility with cloud environments. Commercial versions include Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu for IoT, and Ubuntu Cloud -- all optimized versions for their...
The best Linux distributions (operating systems)
Around since 2004, Ubuntu is a classic Linux distribution. The operating system is aimed at different user groups and simplifies the first steps for beginners. On the one hand, Ubuntu is customizable, but also offers numerous technical tools to simplify installation and configuration. Many programs are pre-installed, and additional packages can be conveniently added. Ubuntu...
Source: www.ionos.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ubuntu should be more popular than OpenWrt. It has been mentiond 229 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

OpenWrt mentions (103)

  • Recommendation for a wifi router with L2TP or other VPN server support?
    If your current router supports a custom firmware like openWRT then you could do this without having to buy a new one. Source: 5 months ago
  • OpenWrt Site Account Creation
    Unfortunately, I can't create an account via Github on the openwrt site. Source: 7 months ago
  • openwrt.org not loading
    Anyone else having trouble reaching openwrt.org right now? I can't get the forums, main page or downloads. I've done plenty of troubleshooting and there isn't anything else on my network having trouble reaching anything else on the internet. Source: 8 months ago
  • Things just got a little weird, my current network is down, I'm a newb trying to start from the ground up and I found out I actually have another (newer) wifi router.... what to do?
    On the router. openwrt.org has lots of great documentation that lays out exactly what you're looking for and then some. Source: 10 months ago
  • As of June 2023, what is the best router that I could buy specifically for ease of use with all things pi-hole related
    Is the Verizon one a combined modem/router? If you want to add your own router, you might have to call them and ask them to put it into bridged mode. I like OpenWRT because it gives you a lot of customization options. I've just been running it on an old TP-Link Archer C7 for the past 5 years or so and I haven't had any issues, but that's ancient hardware now. Source: 11 months ago
View more

Ubuntu mentions (229)

  • `Nano`sphere
    So, yeah, no .deb file, no curl/wget, no apt repository that they maintain. OK, cool 😎 no problem. I'll keep looking on Ubuntu side to see if Ubuntu has something 😁 you know. I could see that GNU Aspel's appendix does seem to have a recipe for how to make it myself if I wanted to go that route, as I pointed out earlier, however, since I have Ubuntu, I kept stomping the pavement and then it happened, I was able to... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Microsoft Edge ignores user wishes, slurps tabs from Chrome without permission
    * As always, Ubuntu(https://ubuntu.com/) All solid, functional, and not treating you like cattle. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Any ideas on how to fix
    Yes, visit this website and install: https://ubuntu.com/. Source: 4 months ago
  • Multipass: Ubuntu Virtual Machines Made Easy
    $ multipass shell server Welcome to Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.15.0-87-generic x86_64) * Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com * Management: https://landscape.canonical.com * Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage System information as of Fri Nov 10 01:32:53 CST 2023 System load: 0.0 Processes: 90 Usage of /: 30.9% of 4.67GB Users logged in: 0 ... - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • How to rescue an encrypted LUKS partition that was partially modified by a Windows tool?
    The Linux installation is/was Ubuntu with an encrypted LUKS partition and before applying a week-old backup I thought that there might be a change of rescuing some data. Source: 6 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing OpenWrt and Ubuntu, you can also consider the following products

MikroTik RouterOS - The main product of MikroTik is a Linux-based operating system known as MikroTik RouterOS.

Linux Mint - Linux Mint is one of the most popular desktop Linux distributions and used by millions of people.

pfSense - pfSense is a free and open source firewall and router that also features unified threat management, load balancing, multi WAN, and more

Arch Linux - You've reached the website for Arch Linux, a lightweight and flexible Linux® distribution that tries to Keep It Simple. Currently we have official packages optimized for the x86-64 architecture.

OPNsense - OPNsense® you next open source firewall. Free Download. High-end Security Made Easy™. Offers Intrusion Prevention, Captive Portal, Traffic Shaping and more.

Fedora - Fedora creates an innovative, free, and open source platform for hardware, clouds, and containers that enables software developers and community members to build tailored solutions for their users.