Open Source Tailscale AlternativesTop VPN Services & Virtual LAN Software like Tailscale

The best open source alternative to Tailscale is OpenVPN Connect. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to Tailscale and many of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Tailscale are WireGuard, Headscale, Fossorial Pangolin and SoftEther VPN.

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Alternatives list

  1. OpenVPN Connect icon

    OpenVPN Connect

     763 likes

    OpenVPN Connect provides flexible VPN solutions to secure your data communications, whether it's for Internet privacy, remote access for employees, securing IoT, or for networking Cloud data centers.

    55 OpenVPN Connect alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron
    OpenVPN Connect screenshot 1
     
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    3
    Comments about OpenVPN Connect as an Alternative to Tailscale
    dess
    Negative
    5

    Tailscale is a VPN-based mes SDN, while OpenVPN is just VPN and nothing more.

    mzs_47
    1

    This uses the hub-spoke or centralized setup, now with decentralized VPNs using wireguard,there is no reason to continue with this.

    Persons
    Positive
    0

    Openvpn has a very different use case than tailscale. Tailscale is for multiple services and openvpn is used for 3 different services at ounce. Well tailscale is for multiple services at ounce.

    OpenVPN Connect icon
    OpenVPN Connect icon
    • OpenVPN Connect is Freemium and Open SourceTailscale is Freemium and Proprietary
    • OpenVPN Connect is Security-focused and LightweightTailscale is not according to our users
  2. WireGuard icon

    WireGuard

     257 likes

    Implements modern cryptographic standards, maintains a small codebase for security auditing, ensures fast cross-platform VPN performance, supports embedded and enterprise environments, offers easy deployment, IPv4/IPv6, secure key exchange, and mobile app support.

    55 WireGuard alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • BSD
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • FreeBSD
    • OpenWrt
    • Termux
    WireGuard screenshot 1
     
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    2
    Comments about WireGuard as an Alternative to Tailscale
    ikaz
    2

    Tailscale is built on top of WireGuard.

    dess
    Negative
    4

    Tailscale is a VPN-based mesh SDN (which relies on Wireguard as VPN tech), while Wireguard is just VPN and nothing more.

    WireGuard icon
    WireGuard icon

    • Some users think WireGuard is a great Tailscale alternative, some don't.

    • WireGuard is Free and Open SourceTailscale is Freemium and Proprietary
    • WireGuard is LightweightTailscale is not according to our users
  4. Headscale icon

    Headscale

     21 likes

    An open source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server. HeadScale-ui is a complementary project to have a Web UI for this.

    20 Headscale alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • Docker
    • Docker Hub
    • OpenBSD
    • BSD
    • Nix Package Manager
    • Fedora
     
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    1
    9
    Comments about Headscale as an Alternative to Tailscale
    Guest
    Positive
    3

    Headscale is basically open source server implementation of Tailscale

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Headscale icon
    Headscale icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Headscale is a great Tailscale alternative.

    • Headscale is Free and Open SourceTailscale is Freemium and Proprietary
    • Headscale is Security-focusedTailscale is not according to our users
  5. Ad
    Screenshot
    OpenVPN Connect icon
    OpenVPN Connect

    OpenVPN Connect provides flexible VPN solutions to secure your data communications, whether it's for Internet privacy, remote access for employees, securing IoT, or for networking Cloud data centers.

    https://openvpn.net
    Learn More
  7. SoftEther VPN icon

    SoftEther VPN

     121 likes

    SoftEther VPN ("SoftEther" means "Software Ethernet") is one of the world's most powerful and easy-to-use multi-protocol VPN software. It runs on Windows, Linux, Mac, FreeBSD and Solaris.

    52 SoftEther VPN alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    SoftEther VPN screenshot 1
     
  8. NetBird icon

    NetBird

     27 likes

    NetBird is an open-source Zero Trust networking platform that makes it easy for engineers to create fast, secure, and private networks with simple, decentralized management.

    30 NetBird alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Docker
    • Homebrew
    • Docker Hub
    List of connected machines (peers)
     
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    1
    Comments about NetBird as an Alternative to Tailscale
    mzs_47
    Positive
    0

    Completely FLOSS project, and has the whole shebang - server, UI and clients. Mobile clients are on the roadmap.

    NetBird icon
    NetBird icon
    • NetBird is Freemium and Open SourceTailscale is Freemium and Proprietary
    • NetBird is LightweightTailscale is not according to our users
  10. WG Tunnel icon

    WG Tunnel

     13 likes

    This is an alternative Android Application for WireGuard and Amnezia VPN with added features. Built using the wireguard-android library and Jetpack Compose, this application was inspired by the...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • F-Droid
    Home
     
  11. Outline VPN icon

    Outline VPN

     29 likes

    Journalists need safe access to information to research issues, communicate with sources, and report the news. Outline lets news organizations easily provide their network safer access to the open internet.

    190 Outline VPN alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • AppImageHub
    • Homebrew
    • F-Droid
    Outline VPN screenshot 1
     
  13. Tinc VPN icon

    Tinc VPN

     26 likes

    tinc is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) daemon that uses tunnelling and encryption to create a secure private network between hosts on the Internet.

    44 Tinc VPN alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
     
  14. Netmaker icon

    Netmaker

     9 likes

    Netmaker is a tool for creating and managing virtual networks. Netmaker consists of a server, an agent, and a UI. You spin up the Netmaker server and then install netclient (the agent) on your computers. Netmaker will do the rest.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    Netmaker screenshot 1
     
  15. wireport icon

    wireport

     2 likes

    Self-hosted ingress proxy & VPN tunnel. Securely exposes private local & Docker-based services to the Internet, with free, automatically renewable SSL certificates and docker container hostname resolution.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    Hostname resolution (hostname = docker container name)
     
12 of 26 Tailscale alternatives