Top Open Source Tailscale Alternatives in 2025

Tailscale is a popular mesh VPN service that makes it easy to connect devices securely across networks. Built on WireGuard, it provides zero-configuration networking with features like automatic NAT traversal, device authentication, and centralized management. While Tailscale offers excellent user experience and robust features, many developers and organizations prefer open source alternatives for greater control, privacy, and cost-effectiveness.

In this article, we’ll explore the top open source Tailscale alternatives in 2025, covering their features, installation process, self-hosting capabilities, and use cases to help you choose the best solution for your mesh networking needs.

Overview of Tailscale

Before exploring the alternatives, let’s understand what makes Tailscale popular and why you might want an open source alternative.

Tailscale creates a secure mesh network using WireGuard as the underlying protocol. It handles complex networking tasks like NAT traversal, key distribution, and device discovery automatically. The service includes features like Magic DNS, subnet routing, and exit nodes, making it easy to connect devices across different networks securely.

Pros of Tailscale

Tailscale offers zero-configuration setup with automatic device discovery, making it incredibly easy to get started. Built on the secure and fast WireGuard protocol, it provides excellent NAT traversal capabilities and cross-platform support across Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. The Magic DNS feature makes device naming intuitive, while access control lists (ACLs) provide fine-grained permissions and exit nodes enable internet routing.

Cons of Tailscale

The main concerns with Tailscale include its proprietary control plane which creates potential vendor lock-in, limited customization options, and pricing that can become expensive for larger teams. There’s also dependency on Tailscale’s infrastructure and privacy concerns with the centralized coordination server.

1. Headscale

Headscale is an open source implementation of the Tailscale control server. It’s designed to be a drop-in replacement for Tailscale’s coordination server, allowing you to use the official Tailscale clients while maintaining full control over your infrastructure.

Uses

Headscale is perfect for organizations that want Tailscale’s user experience but need complete control over their coordination server. It’s ideal for privacy-conscious users and those with compliance requirements.

Pros of Headscale

Headscale’s biggest advantage is its compatibility with official Tailscale clients, making migration seamless. The self-hosted control plane provides complete privacy and supports most Tailscale features including Magic DNS. With active development and community support, it offers easy migration from Tailscale without vendor lock-in concerns, and it’s completely free to use and modify.

Cons of Headscale

The main drawbacks include requiring server setup and maintenance, with some advanced Tailscale features potentially unavailable. The web interface is less polished compared to Tailscale, and manual certificate management is required.

Installation Process

Install Headscale on your server:

# Download and install Headscale
wget https://github.com/juanfont/headscale/releases/download/v0.26.1/headscale_0.26.1_linux_amd64
chmod +x headscale_linux_amd64
sudo mv headscale_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/headscale

# Create configuration
sudo mkdir -p /etc/headscale
sudo headscale config generate > /etc/headscale/config.yaml

Pricing

Headscale is completely free and open source.

2. NetBird

NetBird is a modern, open source alternative that focuses on simplicity and security. It provides a complete mesh networking solution with its own clients and management interface, built from the ground up as an open source project.

Uses

NetBird is excellent for teams that want a fully open source mesh VPN with modern features like SSO integration, DNS management, and comprehensive access controls.

Pros of NetBird

NetBird stands out as a fully open source solution including both clients and server components. It features a modern web-based management interface with SSO integration for popular identity providers and built-in DNS management. The platform provides automatic NAT traversal with STUN/TURN servers, cross-platform native clients, and excellent Docker and Kubernetes support, along with comprehensive activity monitoring and logging.

Cons of NetBird

Being a newer project, NetBird has a smaller community compared to established alternatives. It requires more setup compared to hosted solutions and has limited third-party integrations.

Installation Process

Deploy NetBird using Docker Compose:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/netbirdio/netbird.git
cd netbird

# Start with Docker Compose
docker-compose up -d

Pricing

NetBird offers both open source self-hosted version (free) and managed cloud service with paid plans starting at $5 per month.

3. Nebula

Nebula is an open source overlay networking tool created by Slack. It focuses on performance, security, and scalability, making it suitable for large-scale deployments and high-performance requirements.

Uses

Nebula is ideal for organizations that need high-performance mesh networking with fine-grained security controls and can handle more complex configuration.

Pros of Nebula

Nebula delivers excellent performance and low latency with strong security through certificate-based authentication. It’s highly configurable and flexible, proven at scale through Slack’s internal usage. The platform is lightweight and efficient, supporting complex network topologies with built-in firewall capabilities.

Cons of Nebula

Nebula has a steeper learning curve and requires manual certificate management. It lacks a built-in web interface, requires more networking knowledge, and has limited automatic discovery features compared to more user-friendly alternatives.

Installation Process

Install Nebula on your devices:

# Download Nebula
wget https://github.com/slackhq/nebula/releases/latest/download/nebula-linux-amd64.tar.gz
tar -xzf nebula-linux-amd64.tar.gz

# Generate certificates and configure
./nebula-cert ca -name "MyOrg"
./nebula-cert sign -name "node1" -ip "192.168.100.1/24"

Pricing

Nebula is completely free and open source.

4. Innernet

Innernet is a Rust-based mesh VPN that takes advantage of existing networking concepts like CIDRs and routing tables. It provides a more traditional networking approach while maintaining modern security practices.

Uses

Innernet is perfect for network administrators who prefer traditional networking concepts and want fine-grained control over IP allocation and routing.

Pros of Innernet

Innernet uses familiar networking concepts like CIDRs and subnets, making it intuitive for network administrators. Written in Rust for performance and safety, it offers hierarchical network organization with a built-in invitation system. The platform provides cross-platform support while remaining lightweight and fast.

Cons of Innernet

Innernet has a smaller community and ecosystem with less documentation compared to alternatives. It requires understanding of networking concepts and lacks a web interface, making it less accessible to non-technical users.

Installation Process

Install Innernet server and client:

# Install from source
cargo install innernet
cargo install innernet-server

# Initialize server
sudo innernet-server new mynetwork

Pricing

Innernet is completely free and open source.

5. Netmaker

Netmaker is a comprehensive mesh networking platform that combines WireGuard with advanced networking features. It provides both open source and enterprise versions with extensive management capabilities.

Uses

Netmaker is suitable for organizations that need enterprise-grade mesh networking with advanced features like site-to-site connectivity, load balancing, and comprehensive monitoring.

Pros of Netmaker

Netmaker provides advanced networking features including load balancing and failover capabilities. It offers a comprehensive web-based management interface with site-to-site VPN capabilities and excellent Kubernetes integration. The platform supports multi-cloud deployments with professional support available, OAuth integration, and detailed network monitoring and analytics.

Cons of Netmaker

Netmaker involves more complex setup and configuration, being resource intensive compared to simpler alternatives. Some features require an enterprise license, and it has a steeper learning curve for users new to advanced networking concepts.

Installation Process

Deploy Netmaker using the quick install script:

# Quick install script
curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gravitl/netmaker/master/scripts/nm-quick.sh | sudo bash

Pricing

Netmaker offers open source version (free) and pro plans starting at $5 per connection per month.

6. OpenZiti

OpenZiti is a zero-trust networking platform that provides secure connectivity without traditional VPN limitations. It focuses on application-level security and zero-trust principles.

Uses

OpenZiti is ideal for organizations implementing zero-trust architecture and need application-level security controls rather than traditional network-level VPN.

Pros of OpenZiti

OpenZiti implements a true zero-trust networking model with application-level security controls. It eliminates the need for open ports or exposed services while providing fine-grained access policies. The platform includes an SDK for application integration, delivers high performance and scalability, and uses identity-based authentication.

Cons of OpenZiti

OpenZiti has a complex architecture and setup process. It requires application integration for full benefits, has a steeper learning curve, and represents a different paradigm from traditional VPNs, which can be challenging for teams used to conventional networking approaches.

Installation Process

Install OpenZiti using the quickstart:

# Download and run quickstart
bash <(curl -s https://get.openziti.io/quick/ziti-cli-functions.sh)
expressInstall

Pricing

OpenZiti is open source and free to use.

7. ZeroTier

ZeroTier offers both hosted and open source self-hosted options. While primarily a commercial service, ZeroTier One (the client) is open source, and you can self-host the network controller.

Uses

ZeroTier is perfect for users who want the simplicity of a hosted service with the option to self-host the controller for privacy and control.

Pros of ZeroTier

ZeroTier offers easy setup and configuration on a mature and stable platform. It provides a self-hosted controller option with excellent cross-platform support and good documentation backed by an active community. The platform includes network virtualization features with bridge and routing capabilities.

Cons of ZeroTier

The controller software is not fully open source, and the self-hosted version has limited customization options. Performance may vary compared to WireGuard-based solutions, particularly in high-throughput scenarios.

Installation Process

For self-hosted controller:

# Install ZeroTier controller
git clone https://github.com/zerotier/ZeroTierOne.git
cd ZeroTierOne
make

Pricing

ZeroTier offers free tier for up to 10 devices, with paid plans for larger networks.

8. WireGuard

WireGuard is the underlying protocol used by many mesh VPN solutions. While not a mesh VPN itself, it can be configured manually or with tools to create mesh networks.

Uses

WireGuard is ideal for users who want maximum control and are comfortable with manual configuration, or as a building block for custom mesh solutions.

Pros of WireGuard

WireGuard is extremely fast and lightweight with a simple and auditable codebase. Built into the Linux kernel, it provides maximum flexibility and control without vendor dependencies and has an excellent security track record.

Cons of WireGuard

WireGuard requires manual configuration and lacks automatic peer discovery. It involves complex key management, has no built-in management interface, and requires significant networking expertise to implement effectively.

Installation Process

Install WireGuard and configure manually:

# Install WireGuard
sudo apt install wireguard

# Generate keys
wg genkey | tee privatekey | wg pubkey > publickey

# Configure interface
sudo wg-quick up wg0

Pricing

WireGuard is completely free and open source.

Conclusion

The choice of open source Tailscale alternative depends on your specific needs, technical expertise, and infrastructure requirements. Headscale offers the easiest migration path for existing Tailscale users, while NetBird provides a modern, full-featured alternative built from the ground up as open source.

For high-performance requirements, Nebula is an excellent choice, proven at scale by Slack. Netmaker suits organizations needing enterprise features, while OpenZiti is ideal for implementing zero-trust architecture.

Consider factors like ease of setup, maintenance requirements, feature set, and community support when making your decision. Most of these solutions offer significant advantages over proprietary alternatives, including better privacy, no vendor lock-in, and the ability to customize the solution to your specific needs.