Alternatives to ZeroTier
Virtual LAN across any network
ZeroTier ranks #1 of 11 in Mesh VPNs, with an Alt Score of 93. It is licensed under MPL-2.0, freemium from Free and available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Teams and individuals who need to connect devices across different networks, clouds, or locations as if they were on one LAN, without deploying VPN hardware or reconfiguring firewalls. Common users include remote/distributed teams, IoT and edge device fleets, and home lab or self-hosting enthusiasts.
A virtual, software-defined Ethernet network that any of your devices can join with a network ID, regardless of physical location. Devices communicate directly over encrypted peer-to-peer links whenever possible, falling back to relays only when direct connections aren't possible. Network membership, routing rules, and access control are managed centrally, either through ZeroTier's hosted controller or a self-hosted controller you run yourself.
Each device runs the ZeroTier client, which creates a virtual network interface and joins a network by ID; a controller (ZeroTier's cloud service or a self-hosted instance) authorizes members and pushes network configuration and routing rules. A global set of root servers helps peers discover each other and establish direct encrypted connections, using NAT traversal so traffic flows peer-to-peer instead of through a central chokepoint whenever possible.
Why people leave ZeroTier
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
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.
Headscale is an open-source coordination/control server that is API-compatible with the official Tailscale client apps, letting teams self-host their own control plane while keeping the same mobile an.
OpenZiti is an open-source, programmable zero-trust networking platform stewarded by NetFoundry that builds an overlay fabric of routers and identities instead of exposing listening ports on hosts.
Defguard is an open-source, Rust-built WireGuard VPN manager that adds multi-factor authentication, an identity/SSO gateway, and a web UI for managing peers, gateways, and access policies.
Nebula is an open-source peer-to-peer mesh networking tool originally built and battle-tested internally at Slack before being open-sourced.
innernet is an open-source tool built by Tonari that wraps raw WireGuard to automate peer key exchange and IP address allocation for private mesh networks, similar in goal to Nebula and early Tailscal.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Mesh VPNs checklist (16 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Mesh VPNs checklist | ZeroTier | NetBird | Firezone | Headscale | Netmaker | OpenZiti |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| WireGuard-based | ||||||
| Self-hostable control plane | ||||||
| NAT traversal | ||||||
| Exit nodes | ||||||
| ACLs / access rules | ||||||
| SSO integration | ||||||
| Device limit (free tier) | ||||||
| MagicDNS-style naming | ||||||
| Subnet routing | ||||||
| Open source clients | ||||||
| Audit published | ||||||
| Mobile support |
Every fact and feature listed for ZeroTier is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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Pricing model Freemium verified 2026-07-08
Free Forever
https://www.zerotier.com/pricing/ -
Starts at Free verified 2026-07-08
Personal — Free Forever
https://www.zerotier.com/pricing/ -
License MPL-2.0 verified 2026-07-08
Agent MPL-2.0; controller + nonfree components under a Source-Available (non-commercial) license.
The 'ZeroTier Agent' component is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL-2.0).
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zerotier/ZeroTierOne/master/nonfree/LICENSE.md -
Status active verified 2026-07-08
Active PRs/issues.
Repository shows 16.9k stars, 2k forks, 371 open issues
https://github.com/zerotier/ZeroTierOne/blob/master/README.md -
Platforms Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android verified 2026-07-08
Windows: Installation guides ... macOS: App management ... iOS: Mobile app information ... Linux: Platform-specific questions ... Android: Mobile app setup
https://docs.zerotier.com/faq/ -
WireGuard-based No verified 2026-07-08
ZeroTier uses its own protocol, not WireGuard.
The ZeroTier protocol is original, though aspects of it are similar to VXLAN and IPSec.
https://docs.zerotier.com/zerotier/manual/ -
Self-hostable control plane Yes verified 2026-07-08
you can use the local ZeroTierOne service API to provision and manage networks.
https://docs.zerotier.com/self-hosting/network-controllers/ -
NAT traversal Yes verified 2026-07-08
port prediction for traversal of symmetric IPv4 NATs, and explicit port mapping using uPnP and/or NAT-PMP
https://docs.zerotier.com/zerotier/manual/ -
Exit nodes Yes verified 2026-07-08
Route all your Internet traffic through a ZeroTier node.
https://docs.zerotier.com/exitnode/ -
ACLs / access rules Yes verified 2026-07-08
Traffic on ZeroTier networks can be observed and controlled with a system of globally applied network rules.
https://docs.zerotier.com/rules/ -
SSO integration Yes verified 2026-07-08
Device SSO is a paid feature available to Essential and Commercial subscribers
https://docs.zerotier.com/sso/ -
Device limit (free tier) Yes verified 2026-07-08
Personal — Free Forever — Devices: 10 included
https://www.zerotier.com/pricing/ -
MagicDNS-style naming Yes verified 2026-07-08
DNS-based naming for members.
ping laptop.beyond.corp
https://docs.zerotier.com/dns/ -
Subnet routing Yes verified 2026-07-08
Configure the destination route as slightly larger than the actual physical subnet, here /23 instead of /24
https://docs.zerotier.com/route-between-phys-and-virt/ -
Open source clients Yes verified 2026-07-08
The 'ZeroTier Agent' component is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL-2.0).
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zerotier/ZeroTierOne/master/nonfree/LICENSE.md -
Audit published Yes verified 2026-07-08
Trail of Bits audit made public.
In March 2020 we worked with @trailofbits to audit our protocol and cryptographic designs for ZeroTier 2.0.
https://docs.zerotier.com/security/ -
Mobile support Yes verified 2026-07-08
Apps for Android and iOS are available for free in the Google Play and Apple app stores.
https://docs.zerotier.com/zerotier/manual/
FAQ
Yes. Firezone, Headscale and Tailscale have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
NetBird, Firezone and Headscale — every license claim links its source.