Guides ·
Two VPNs at once on Android, one app at a time
Android lets one VPN app run at a time. Connect NordVPN and your Tailscale or Proton VPN connection drops, and every app that uses the VPN leaves through the same country. That’s fine until one app needs the United States, another needs Italy, and your banking app refuses to work over a VPN at all.
One VPN app, several exits
un/braid is the one VPN app Android runs, and it keeps several VPN connections open inside it. Each connection is an exit: a country, a city or one server from a provider you use, or your own server. Each app gets its own exit:
- A default for everything. Pick the exit most apps should use, for example the Netherlands.
- Exceptions where you want them. Send a streaming app through the United States and your maps through Italy, at the same time.
- Direct for the rest. Banking apps and other apps that dislike VPNs can leave without a VPN exit.
Different providers at the same time
Exits don’t have to come from the same company. One can be NordVPN, another Mullvad or Proton VPN, a third your own WireGuard server or a Tailscale exit node at home. Routes that no app uses stay off, so you only open the connections you need. Your provider’s device limit still applies to each one.
This is parallel, not chained: each app’s traffic goes through one exit. un/braid doesn’t send one VPN through another.
Tailscale next to your VPN
Because Android can’t run the Tailscale app next to a VPN app, un/braid has Tailscale built in. Apps routed through un/braid can reach your NAS, printer or router while their internet traffic uses a VPN exit. The Tailscale guide shows how.
What you need
un/braid is free and open source, but it isn’t a VPN service. Bring a subscription from a provider you trust, or your own server. You need Android 13 or newer on a 64-bit ARM phone.
The split tunneling guide walks through the setup, DNS and what happens when an exit fails. Or check the providers and which ones we’ve tested live.