10 alternatives to Tailscale: NetBird and ZeroTier

Side by side

10 alternatives to Tailscale
Tool	Fit	Stars	Licence	Terms	Self-hosted	Language	Latest	Last push
NetBird	Full replacement	30k	Other	Open source	Yes	Go	v0.80.0	2026-10-06
ZeroTier	Full replacement	17k	Other	Open core	Yes	C++	1.16.2	2026-09-03
EasyTier	Full replacement	14k	LGPL-3.0	Open source	Yes	Rust	v2.6.4	2026-10-06
Netmaker	Full replacement	12k	Other	Open core	Yes	Go	v1.7.0	2026-10-06
Headscale	Partial	44k	BSD-3-Clause	Open source	Yes	Go	v0.29.4	2026-10-06
Nebula	Partial	18k	MIT	Open source	Yes	Go	v1.11.2	2026-10-05
Firezone	Partial	9.1k	Apache-2.0	Open source	Yes	Elixir	android-client-1.5.15	2026-10-06
innernet	Partial	5.6k	MIT	Open source	Yes	Rust	v2.0.0	2026-07-28
Defguard	Partial	2.9k	Other	Open core	Yes	Rust	v2.1.1	2026-10-06
tinc	Partial	2.3k	Other	Open source	Yes	C	release-1.0.37	2026-06-27

10 alternatives

Connect your devices, users, and agents into a secure WireGuard®-based overlay network with SSO, MFA and granular access controls.

WireGuard mesh with its own clients, management server, SSO and access policies.

A Smart Ethernet Switch for Earth

Virtual network managed through a hosted or self-run controller.

A simple, decentralized mesh VPN with WireGuard support.

Decentralised mesh VPN with NAT traversal and an optional self-hosted web console.

Netmaker makes networks with WireGuard. Netmaker automates fast, secure, and distributed virtual networks.

WireGuard mesh with its own clients, a management server and access controls.

An open source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server

A self-hosted Tailscale control server, used with the official Tailscale clients, for a single tailnet.

A scalable overlay networking tool with a focus on performance, simplicity and security

Certificate-based overlay network with lighthouses you run, configured by files rather than an admin console.

Blazing-fast remote access

WireGuard-based access to resources with its own clients and gateways.

A private network system that uses WireGuard under the hood.

WireGuard mesh organised in CIDR groups, run from a command line, with no web UI or SSO.

Zero-Trust access management with true WireGuard® 2FA/MFA

WireGuard VPN with MFA and a built-in OpenID provider; clients connect through gateways rather than a mesh.

a VPN daemon

Mesh VPN daemon configured by files, without a coordination server or SSO.