head to head · open source
Netbird vs WireGuard
Netbird has 29,318 GitHub stars, 1,684 forks, 1,512 open issues and last shipped yesterday. WireGuard has 717 stars, 312 forks, 20 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. Netbird leads on adoption by 3,989% (29,318 vs 717 stars). Netbird is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence; WireGuard is written in C under GPL-2.0. Netbird has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, WireGuard 44%. Netbird was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Netbird | WireGuard | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 717 |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-05-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 312 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Netbird if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick WireGuard if
- You want the WireGuard feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and WireGuard fits your workflow better
About Netbird
NetBird is an open source, Go based platform that combines a configuration free peer to peer WireGuard overlay network with a centralized access control system, built for organizations and home users who need secure private networking without opening ports, writing complex firewall rules, or deploying VPN gateways.
read the full Netbird overview →
About WireGuard
WireGuard's userspace tooling, packaged as wireguard tools, is the command line layer that configures WireGuard VPN tunnels, aimed at system administrators, distribution packagers and anyone who needs to bring a WireGuard interface up and down from a shell or an init system.
read the full WireGuard overview →
More in Security & Privacy
Related comparisons
More Network Security projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Network Security field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Netbird or WireGuard more popular?
Netbird has 29,318 GitHub stars and WireGuard has 717. Netbird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Netbird and WireGuard free?
Both are open source. Netbird has no licence declared in this registry, and WireGuard is licensed under GPL-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Netbird and WireGuard?
Netbird is written in Go and WireGuard in C. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Netbird or WireGuard?
Choose Netbird if you want the larger community (29,318 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose WireGuard if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.