Best tool for Tailscale alternatives
A Tailscale alternative should let you reach your own machines with clear control over access, coordination and hosting. This page compares mesh and self-hosted tools, prioritizing openness and self-hosting, followed by security, NAT traversal and relays, total cost, project health and platform coverage. Your choice depends on how much of the network you want to operate yourself.
NetBird
NetBird combines an open-source, self-hostable control server with SSO, access rules, NAT traversal and relay support.
ZeroTier
ZeroTier offers broad device support, NAT traversal and relays, but its source-available controller licence restricts use to non-commercial purposes.
Headscale
Headscale lets you host an open-source control server while keeping official Tailscale clients, with SSO, access rules and community support.
Self-hosted WireGuard
Self-hosted WireGuard suits hands-on administration with open-source software and exit-node support, but offers no built-in SSO or relay network.
Providers change prices often, and we regularly verify prices against their own pricing pages, though small differences from current prices are possible. Prices checked 11 Oct 2026.
How we ranked them
Openness and self-hosting carry the most weight, including whether the control server is open source and what its licence permits. Next comes the security model, considering identity, access rules and audit evidence within its stated scope. NAT traversal and relay options follow, because reaching machines behind restrictive networks matters. We then weigh true cost, including subscriptions, hosting and administration, followed by project health and platform coverage. Free software still needs someone to operate it, and broad device support does not remove licence restrictions.
FAQ
Can I use Headscale without replacing my Tailscale clients?
Headscale uses the official Tailscale clients with a control server you host. It supports SSO and access rules, but you take responsibility for running the server and rely on community support.
Is ZeroTier's self-hosted controller open source?
Its network controller is source-available under a licence limited to non-commercial use, rather than open source. The ZeroTier One agent has a separate open-source licence, so check the controller terms before choosing it for a work network.
What does a free self-hosted Tailscale alternative actually cost?
Headscale and self-hosted WireGuard have no paid software plans, but your budget still needs to cover hosting and administration. If you need a server, compare VPS hosts and include maintenance, backups and support needs in your decision.
Can I replace Tailscale with plain WireGuard?
Self-hosted WireGuard can connect your machines and support an exit node, but you handle peer configuration and routing yourself. It has no built-in SSO or relay network, so assess whether that operational work fits your setup.
Does self-hosting make a Tailscale alternative more secure?
Self-hosting gives you control over the infrastructure you run, while making updates, access configuration and server security your responsibility. We found no published audit on the provider's own pages for either Headscale or self-hosted WireGuard, so self-hostability alone should not be treated as security assurance.
Ranked with this job's weights over the mesh & self-hosted formula. How we score VPNs.