getlantern/lantern

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

★ 15,520DartAudience · generalComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((lantern))
    Inputs
      Blocked site request
      User device
    Outputs
      Tunneled internet traffic
      Unblocked sites
    Use Cases
      Bypass national firewalls
      Reach blocked news sites
      Communicate from restricted regions
    Tech Stack
      Dart
      Flutter
      Go

mindmap root((lantern)) Inputs Blocked site request User device Outputs Tunneled internet traffic Unblocked sites Use Cases Bypass national firewalls Reach blocked news sites Communicate from restricted regions Tech Stack Dart Flutter Go

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Install Lantern on an Android phone to reach blocked news and social sites

USE CASE 2

Run Lantern on a desktop in a restricted region to access research papers and email

USE CASE 3

Distribute Lantern via mirror downloads when official app stores are blocked

What is it built with?

DartFlutterGo

How does it compare?

	getlantern/lantern	carguo/gsy_github_app_flutter	xiaoyaocz/dart_simple_live
Stars	15,520	15,445	15,632
Language	Dart	Dart	Dart
Setup difficulty	easy	moderate	moderate
Complexity	2/5	3/5	3/5
Audience	general	developer	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

App store availability varies by region, users may need a mirror download or sideload.

In plain English

Lantern is a free, open-source VPN and censorship circumvention tool, meaning it helps you access websites and services that may be blocked in your country by routing your internet traffic through servers elsewhere. It is available for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux, and is built with the GFW (Great Firewall) in mind as a target use case based on its topics. You can download it directly from the GitHub releases page, from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, or from several mirror hosting locations for redundancy if any link is blocked in your region. The download table provides options for stable builds, beta releases for early testing, and separate installers for different chip types on Linux. If the App Store is not available in your region, the FAQ page on the Lantern website describes alternative download steps. Lantern also maintains community forums in multiple languages, including Arabic, Farsi, Russian, Chinese, Ukrainian, and English, through GitHub Discussions and Telegram channels, so users in various regions can get support and contribute feedback.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Walk me through installing Lantern on a stock Windows laptop and testing that it reaches blocked sites

Prompt 2

Explain how Lantern differs from a normal commercial VPN like Mullvad in threat model and reliability

Prompt 3

Show me how to verify a Lantern release download against its checksum on Linux

Prompt 4

Write a beginner safety checklist for someone using Lantern from a high-censorship country

Frequently asked questions

What is lantern?

Lantern is a free open-source VPN and censorship-circumvention client for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux, aimed at users behind national firewalls.

What language is lantern written in?

Mainly Dart. The stack also includes Dart, Flutter, Go.

How hard is lantern to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is lantern for?

Mainly general.

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