head to head · open source
Netbird vs Pangolin
Netbird has 29,318 GitHub stars, 1,684 forks, 1,512 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Pangolin has 22,792 stars, 788 forks, 128 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Netbird leads on adoption by 29% (29,318 vs 22,792 stars). Netbird is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence; Pangolin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. Netbird has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Pangolin 3%. Pangolin was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (nat-traversal), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Netbird | Pangolin | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 23K |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 788 |
| 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 Pangolin if
- You want the Pangolin feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Pangolin 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 Pangolin
Pangolin is an open source SASE platform written in TypeScript and built on WireGuard. It provides secure access and connectivity to applications, infrastructure, and AI workloads by combining a zero trust VPN, a zero trust reverse proxy, privileged access management, and an identity aware AI gateway under one identity and policy model. It belongs to the network security ecosystem, specifically self hosted remote access and SASE tooling.
read the full Pangolin overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Netbird or Pangolin more popular?
Netbird has 29,318 GitHub stars and Pangolin has 22,792. Netbird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Netbird and Pangolin free?
Neither Netbird nor Pangolin declares a licence in this registry, so check each project's own repository before relying on either for a commercial use. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Netbird and Pangolin?
Netbird is written in Go and Pangolin in TypeScript. 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 Pangolin?
Choose Netbird if you want the larger community (29,318 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Pangolin if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.