# Alternatives to Firezone Firezone is an open-source, self-hostable remote access platform built on WireGuard that creates direct, encrypted peer connections between users and internal resources through lightweight gateways. It supports SSO (Google, Okta, Entra ID), granular access policies, and internet-egress gateways that function like exit nodes. Firezone positions itself as a modern replacement for legacy corporate VPN gateways. Firezone ranks #3 of 11 in Mesh VPNs, with an Alt Score of 85. It is licensed under Apache-2.0 + Elastic License 2.0, freemium from $5/user/mo and available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/firezone/ Category: Mesh VPNs ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Firezone is aimed at organizations that need to manage secure remote access to internal infrastructure and services for a distributed workforce, from individuals and small teams (free Starter plan) up to enterprises with SSO/directory-sync and compliance requirements (Enterprise plan). - **What you get**: Firezone provides zero trust network access built on the WireGuard protocol: an admin portal for defining Resources (DNS names, IPs, or CIDR subnets) and Policies that control which user groups can reach them, OIDC/SSO authentication, NAT traversal and Split DNS, audit logging, and native Clients for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. - **How it works**: Firezone-managed components (the admin portal and a WebSocket-based control plane API) run as Firezone's hosted SaaS and coordinate configuration and WireGuard key distribution; you deploy lightweight Gateway binaries on your own infrastructure (Docker, systemd, or standalone) to broker connections, and Clients connect through Gateways to reach only the specific Resources a Policy allows. ## Profile - **License**: Apache-2.0 + Elastic License 2.0 (verified 2026-07-30) - **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-07-30) - **Starts at**: $5/user/mo (verified 2026-07-30) - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-30) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [NetBird](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/netbird.md) | 93 | BSD-3-Clause | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 2 | [ZeroTier](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zerotier.md) | 93 | MPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 3 | [Headscale](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/headscale.md) | 81 | BSD-3-Clause | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 4 | [Netmaker](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/netmaker.md) | 78 | Apache-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 5 | [OpenZiti](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/openziti.md) | 78 | Apache-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 6 | [Tailscale](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/tailscale.md) | 78 | BSD-3-Clause | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 7 | [Defguard](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/defguard.md) | 70 | AGPL-3.0 (core), Proprietary (enterprise module) | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 8 | [Nebula](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/nebula.md) | 70 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 9 | [innernet](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/innernet.md) | 62 | MIT | Linux, macOS | | 10 | [WireGuard](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/wireguard.md) | 40 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | Mesh VPNs checklist | Firezone | NetBird | ZeroTier | Headscale | Netmaker | OpenZiti | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Free | OSS + paid hosting | OSS + paid hosting | | Starts at | $5/user/mo | Free | Free | Free | $2/connection/month | Free | | License | Apache-2.0 + Elastic License 2.0 | BSD-3-Clause | MPL-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 | | Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | | WireGuard-based | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | | Self-hostable control plane | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | NAT traversal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Exit nodes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | ACLs / access rules | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | | SSO integration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Device limit (free tier) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | | MagicDNS-style naming | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | | Subnet routing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Open source clients | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | Yes | | Audit published | Partial | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | | Mobile support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ## Sources Sources for Firezone. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **Pricing model**: Freemium — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Starter is free; Team ($/user/mo) and Enterprise (custom) are paid tiers. - Quote: “The Starter plan is free to use without limitation. No credit card is required to get started.” - **Starts at**: $5/user/mo — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Team plan pricing card shows $5/user/month (list, shown struck through) next to $4.16/user/month (discounted annual-billing rate), both labeled 'per user/month'. Enterprise is custom/contact sales. - Quote: “$5” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Actively releasing; security-advisories page also shows advisories dated as recently as June 2026. - Quote: “Latest Gateway version Version: 1.5.2 Released: April 27, 2026” - **License**: Apache-2.0 + Elastic License 2.0 — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Split license: clients/gateway (rust/, kotlin/, swift/, root) are Apache-2.0. The portal/control-plane code in elixir/LICENSE is Elastic License 2.0, which states: 'You may not provide the software to - Quote: “Apache License Version 2.0, January 2004” - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Confirmed individually via kb/install/ios, kb/install/android, kb/install/windows, kb/install/macos, kb/install/linux. No web client or browser extension found; the admin portal is a management consol - Quote: “The official Firezone Client applications are hosted from the following locations” - **WireGuard-based**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Firezone is built on WireGuard ®, a fast, provably-secure VPN protocol.” - **Self-hostable control plane**: No — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Current architecture (v1.x) splits components: only Gateways and Clients are user-managed/self-hosted; the admin portal and Control plane API ('Firezone-managed components') are Firezone's hosted SaaS - Quote: “The admin portal is delivered as a managed SaaS application that's load-balanced globally for high availability.” - **NAT traversal**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Firezone Gateways perform secure NAT traversal for you.” - **Exit nodes**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Firezone doesn't use the term 'exit node' but documents this exact pattern as a 'NAT Gateway configuration' for routing all outbound traffic through one Gateway's public IP. - Quote: “your team's traffic will be routed to a Firezone Gateway and then out to the internet using its public IP address.” - **ACLs / access rules**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Listed as 'Resource-level access policies', available on every plan including the free Starter tier. - Quote: “Control access to Resources based on user identity and group” - **SSO integration**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: OpenID Connect authentication is available on all plans (including free Starter). Directory sync with Google Workspace/Entra/Okta is gated to Team/Enterprise. - Quote: “Authenticate users with any OIDC-compatible provider” - **Device limit (free tier)**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Starter (free) is capped at 3 connected clients per user. Pricing table 'Connected Clients' row: Starter (free) allows 3 per user, Team allows 5 per user, Enterprise is unlimited. - Quote: “Any device or machine that the Firezone Client connects from” - **MagicDNS-style naming**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Firezone lets admins define DNS-name Resources (with wildcard matching) that clients resolve/route through Firezone, i.e. Split DNS. It does not auto-assign a short hostname to every connected device - Quote: “Firezone includes a sophisticated DNS routing system available on all plans that provides Split DNS and fallback resolver configuration for each Firezone Client.” - **Subnet routing**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “we'll be using Firezone to secure access to a private subnet behind a firewall” - **Open source clients**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Confirmed in the GitHub repo: root LICENSE (covering rust/, kotlin/, swift/ client and gateway code) is Apache-2.0; only elixir/ (the hosted portal) carries the separate Elastic License 2.0. - Quote: “Open source : All source code is available for anyone to audit on GitHub .” - **Audit published**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Resolved vulnerabilities are publicly listed on the security-advisories page, but the formal pentest and SOC 2 compliance reports themselves are gated to the Enterprise plan per the pricing page ('Fir - Quote: “an independent third party performs penetration testing at least annually” - **Mobile support**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Firezone supports iOS with a native client available in the iOS App Store.” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/