Tailscale vs Firezone: privacy compared
Tailscale and Firezone are both rated in mesh VPNs and private networks against the same 7 public criteria. Tailscale is based in Canada (Five Eyes); Firezone is based in the United States (Five Eyes).
| Criterion | Tailscale Our pick | Firezone |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Grade D D (50/100) | Grade D D (59/100) |
| Jurisdiction | Canada Five Eyes | United States Five Eyes |
| Open source Is all the source code needed to run the product public? | Partial source | Yes source |
| No trackers or telemetry Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default? | No source | No source |
| No ads or data sales Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data? | Partial source | Yes source |
| Independent audit Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years? | Partial source | No |
| Keys stay on devices Is traffic encrypted between devices with private keys created on each device, so the coordination server and relays cannot read it? | Yes source | Yes source |
| Self-hosted coordination server Can the coordination or control server be self-hosted with open-source software? | Partial source | Partial source |
| No connection logs by default Are connection logs and client diagnostic logs kept off the vendor's servers unless a user or admin turns them on? | Partial source | Partial source |
Which is more private, Tailscale or Firezone?
Firezone scores higher on the public criteria: 59 out of 100, against 50 for Tailscale. Tailscale does better on independent audit. Firezone does better on open source and no ads or data sales. How scoring works
Summaries
Tailscale. Tailscale scores 50 out of 100 (grade D) on the mesh VPNs and private networks criteria. It meets 1 of 7 criteria: keys stay on devices. It partly meets open source, no ads or data sales, independent audit, self-hosted coordination server and no connection logs by default. It does not meet no trackers or telemetry. It is based in Canada: Five Eyes member.
Firezone. 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. It partly meets self-hosted coordination server and no connection logs by default. It does not meet no trackers or telemetry and independent audit. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act.
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