head to head · open source
Tailscale vs Netbird
Tailscale has 36,587 GitHub stars, 3,218 forks, 4,569 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Netbird has 29,318 stars, 1,684 forks, 1,512 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Tailscale leads on adoption by 25% (36,587 vs 29,318 stars). Tailscale is written in Go under BSD-3-Clause; Netbird is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence. Tailscale has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Netbird 6%. Tailscale was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (vpn, wireguard), 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Tailscale | Netbird | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 29K |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Tailscale if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Netbird if
- You want the Netbird feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Netbird fits your workflow better
About Tailscale
Tailscale is an open source implementation of a zero configuration VPN built on WireGuard, designed to simplify secure network connectivity across devices. It lives in the network security ecosystem and provides private, encrypted networks without manual firewall or IP management. The project delivers both a daemon ( tailscaled ) and CLI tool ( tailscale ) that enable peer to peer connectivity using WireGuard, augmented with identity based access controls and optional cloud managed features.
read the full Tailscale overview →
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 →
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 Tailscale or Netbird more popular?
Tailscale has 36,587 GitHub stars and Netbird has 29,318. Tailscale has the larger community by that measure.
Are Tailscale and Netbird free?
Both are open source. Tailscale is licensed under BSD-3-Clause, and Netbird has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Tailscale and Netbird?
Tailscale is written in Go and Netbird in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Tailscale or Netbird?
Choose Tailscale if you want the larger community (36,587 stars) or its BSD-3-Clause licence terms. Choose Netbird if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.