Private and open-source alternatives to Tailscale
15 mesh VPNs and private networks rated against the same public privacy criteria as Tailscale, with our picks first.
Why look for an alternative?
- Open source: partial. The client daemon is BSD-3-Clause, but the Windows, macOS and iOS GUIs and the hosted coordination server are closed source.
- No trackers or telemetry: no. The website uses third-party analytics and advertising cookies, and client logging is on by default with an opt-out.
- No ads or data sales: partial. Funded by paid plans with no ads in the product, though the website shares cookie data with ad partners for Tailscale's own marketing.
- Independent audit: partial. Latacora conducts regular security audits, but the reports are only available on request.
- Self-hosted coordination server: partial. Tailscale's coordination server is closed source. The clients can use the open-source, community-maintained Headscale server instead.
- No connection logs by default: partial. Clients send logs to Tailscale by default, including connection open and close events. The --no-logs-no-support flag or TS_NO_LOGS_NO_SUPPORT turns this off.
See the full Tailscale rating.
The alternatives
Headscale Grade B Our pick
Self-hosted, open-source implementation of the Tailscale coordination server, letting official Tailscale clients join a private network without using Tailscale's hosted service.
Why it is our pick: The open-source, self-hosted replacement for Tailscale's coordination server. The official Tailscale clients connect to it unchanged, so the whole network runs on your own server with no account at Tailscale.
Headscale scores 82 out of 100 (grade B) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 5 of 7 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, keys stay on devices and self-hosted coordination server.
innernet Grade B
Open-source private network system built on WireGuard, with a self-hosted server that manages peers, CIDR-based groups and access rules.
Based in Japan. innernet scores 88 out of 100 (grade B) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 6 of 7 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, keys stay on devices, self-hosted coordination server and no connection logs by default.
tinc Grade B
Long-running open-source VPN daemon that builds an encrypted mesh between nodes, sending traffic directly to its destination where possible, with no central server.
tinc scores 88 out of 100 (grade B) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 6 of 7 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, keys stay on devices, self-hosted coordination server and no connection logs by default.
Defguard Grade B
Self-hosted WireGuard VPN platform with multi-factor authentication on every connection, identity management and access rules, from a company in Poland.
Based in Poland. Defguard scores 82 out of 100 (grade B) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 6 of 7 criteria: open source, no ads or data sales, independent audit, keys stay on devices, self-hosted coordination server and no connection logs by default.
ionscale Grade B
Open-source, self-hosted Tailscale control server with support for multiple tailnets, OIDC login, ACLs and DNS, used with the official Tailscale clients.
ionscale scores 76 out of 100 (grade B) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 5 of 7 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, keys stay on devices and self-hosted coordination server.
Nebula Grade C
Overlay networking tool originally built at Slack that connects hosts over mutually authenticated, encrypted tunnels using its own certificate authority and firewall rules, with self-hosted lighthouse nodes for discovery.
Nebula scores 71 out of 100 (grade C) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 5 of 7 criteria: open source, no ads or data sales, keys stay on devices, self-hosted coordination server and no connection logs by default.
NetBird Grade C
WireGuard-based mesh VPN and zero-trust access platform with open-source clients and a management server that can be self-hosted or used as NetBird's hosted service.
Based in Germany (Fourteen Eyes). NetBird scores 71 out of 100 (grade C) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 5 of 7 criteria: open source, no ads or data sales, keys stay on devices, self-hosted coordination server and no connection logs by default.
Firezone Grade D
Zero-trust remote access platform built on WireGuard, with clients, gateways and a control plane for group-based access policies. Mostly offered as a hosted service; self-hosting the control plane is not officially supported.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Firezone scores 59 out of 100 (grade D) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 3 of 7 criteria: open source, no ads or data sales and keys stay on devices.
OpenZiti Grade D
Open-source zero-trust networking platform from NetFoundry that connects apps and devices through an overlay of self-hosted routers and a controller, with tunneler apps and SDKs.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). OpenZiti scores 59 out of 100 (grade D) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 4 of 7 criteria: open source, no ads or data sales, keys stay on devices and self-hosted coordination server.
Netmaker Grade D
WireGuard-based platform for building mesh and site-to-site networks, with an open-source server that can be self-hosted and a hosted cloud version.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Netmaker scores 50 out of 100 (grade D) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 3 of 7 criteria: open source, no ads or data sales and self-hosted coordination server.
Husarnet Grade D
Peer-to-peer VPN from a company in Poland, built for robotics and IoT, that gives each device an IPv6 address derived from its public key, with a hosted dashboard and relay servers.
Based in Poland. Husarnet scores 44 out of 100 (grade D) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 2 of 7 criteria: no ads or data sales and keys stay on devices.
ZeroTier Grade F
Peer-to-peer virtual network platform that joins devices into encrypted virtual Ethernet networks, managed through ZeroTier's hosted controller or a self-hosted one.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). ZeroTier scores 38 out of 100 (grade F) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 1 of 7 criteria: keys stay on devices.
NordVPN Meshnet Grade F
Free mesh networking feature of the NordVPN apps that links devices directly over NordLynx, a WireGuard-based protocol. Meshnet is free to use.
Based in Panama. NordVPN Meshnet scores 29 out of 100 (grade F) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 1 of 7 criteria: no ads or data sales.
Twingate Grade F
Hosted zero-trust remote access service that connects devices to private resources through connectors on the customer's network, managed from Twingate's cloud controller.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Twingate scores 24 out of 100 (grade F) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 1 of 7 criteria: keys stay on devices.
Cloudflare Mesh Grade F
Private networking in Cloudflare One that gives devices and servers running the WARP client or connector private addresses, with all traffic passing through Cloudflare's network.
Based in the United States (Five Eyes). Cloudflare Mesh scores 18 out of 100 (grade F) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It partly meets no ads or data sales, independent audit and no connection logs by default.