compare

Compare Zero Trust and VPN Solutions

Tailscale, NetBird, Netmaker, OpenVPN,
Fortinet (FortiClient), ZeroTier, and Twingate

As infrastructure becomes increasingly distributed across on-premises data centers, multi-cloud environments, and edge devices, organizations are evaluating the best ways to connect and secure their networks. Businesses have been migrating towards a "remote first" and "cloud first" posture for many years. In this world, traditional corporate firewalls with physical routers and switches are going away. Simultaneously, the rise of IoT and Edge Computing have produced new networking challenges, with corporate devices deployed in untrusted or public networks.

The landscape of secure networking has evolved significantly, offering several distinct approaches, which we break down here.

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Community

Free
Learn more about how Netmaker will work for you!
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Overview
1 Netmaker Server
3 users
10 nodes
10 external clients
2 Networks
Mesh Networks
Egress Gateways
Relay Servers
Basic OAuth Providers
Basic User Management
ACLs
Private DNSHA Configuration
HA Configuration
Kubernetes Integration

Enterprise

Custom
Learn more about how Netmaker will work for you!
Get started
Overview
1 Netmaker Server
10 users
100 nodes
100 external clients
Unlimited Networks
Mesh Networks
Egress Gateways
Relay Servers
Basic OAuth Providers
Basic User Management
ACLs
Private DNSHA Configuration
HA Configuration
Kubernetes Integration
Additional OAuth Providers
Built-in 2fa
User Groups and Roles
Metrics
Monitoring
Automated Network Failover
Netmaker Server

Community

Free
Learn more about how Netmaker will work for you!

Enterprise

Custom
Learn more about how Netmaker will work for you!
Overview
Netmaker Server
1 Netmaker Server
1 Netmaker Server
Users
3 users
10 users
Nodes
10 nodes
100 nodes
External clients
10 external clients
100 external clients
Networks
2 Networks
Unlimited networks
Features
Mesh Networks
Egress Gateways
Relay Servers
Basic OAuth Providers
Basic User Management
ACLs
Private DNSHA Configuration
Kubernetes Integration
Additional OAuth Providers
Built-in 2fa
User Groups and Roles
Metrics
available
Monitoring
Automated Network Failover
Netmaker Server
available
available
HA Configuration
available
available
available
available
available
available
available
available
available
available
available
not available
available
not available
not available
available
not available
not available
available
not available
not available
available
available
available
available
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available

Feature Comparison Summary

Solution

Core Tech

Networking

Hosting

Strengths

Netmaker

Kernel WireGuard

Peer-to-Peer,
Hub-And-Spoke

SaaS,
On-Prem

High Throughput, Data Sovereignty, Device Integration

Tailscale

Userspace WireGuard

Peer-to-Peer

SaaS

Low Friction Setup, Remote Employee UX

NetBird

WireGuard

Peer-to-Peer

SaaS,
On Prem

Identity-driven user access, open-source manageability

OpenVPN

TLS/SSL

Hub and Spoke

SaaS,
On Prem

Broad compatibility, deep compliance tracking, centralized routing

Fortinet

IPsec / Proprietary

Hub and Spoke

Hardware / Virtual Appliance

Deep packet inspection, hardware-based firewalling, unified threat management

ZeroTier

Custom Protocol (L2)

Emulated Switch Mesh

SaaS,
On Prem

Layer 2 networking, non-IP protocol support, complex topology bridging

Twingate

Proprietary Proxy (L7)

ZTNA Overlay

SaaS

Application-level micro-segmentation, user-friendly remote access

Modern WireGuard: Tailscale, NetBird, Netmaker

WireGuard® has become the industry standard for modern VPNs and Zero Trust solutions due to its lean codebase, security and high performance. While Tailscale, NetBird, and Netmaker all utilize WireGuard, they optimize for different primary use cases.

End-User Focus

Tailscale
Highly regarded for its exceptional ease of use and zero-configuration setup for end-users. It utilizes a SaaS-based control plane and a userspace implementation of WireGuard.

This makes it ideal for remote teams, though the userspace implementation can introduce CPU overhead in high-throughput server-to-server environments.

Open Source Appeal

NetBird
An open-source alternative to Tailscale that offers a polished user interface and strong integration with identity providers.

It bridges the gap between self-hosted mesh networks and user-centric zero-trust access.

Traditional Approaches: OpenVPN, Fortinet

Many enterprises rely on established gateway and hardware appliance models. These solutions are battle-tested but offer a different architectural approach compared to modern software-defined solutions.

Hub-And-Spoke

OpenVPN
A widely deployed, highly compatible protocol with decades of proven reliability. Because it typically relies on a hub-and-spoke architecture, traffic is routed through a central server.

This provides a single point of inspection but can create bottlenecks compared to peer-to-peer mesh networks.

Hardware Appliance

Fortinet
Offers a robust, hardware-centric security ecosystem encompassing deep packet inspection and unified threat management.

While excellent for corporate headquarters and strict perimeter defense, it requires hardware investments and can be less flexible when extending networks dynamically into multi-cloud environments.

Other Approaches: ZeroTier and Twingate

Some solutions focus on specific network layers or application-level access rather than broad Layer 3 routing.

L2 Switch

ZeroTier
Functions as a highly capable Layer 2 emulated switch over a custom cryptographic protocol. It is exceptional for bridging non-IP protocols, multicast traffic, and complex homelab or industrial topologies.

However, Layer 2 emulation over a Layer 3 underlay can introduce header overhead that impacts maximum throughput.

L7 Proxy

Twingate
An open-source alternative to Tailscale that offers a polished user interface and strong integration with identity providers.

However, it is not designed to handle complex server-to-server routing or database synchronization.

Got Questions?

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