Tailscale vs NetBird
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Tailscale and NetBird built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose Tailscale if…
A small team with a lot of machines. The meter is people, not devices, so one engineer connecting twenty servers pays for one seat — and the free Personal tier is, in Tailscale's own words, nearly all of the product rather than a stripped one.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose NetBird if…
Running it yourself, or wanting idle machines not to cost anything. It is open source with a self-hosted path, and both users and machines are counted only if they actually connected during the billing period.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Tailscale: You need commercial use by more than one person without paying, or fine-grained group policy. Standard is $8 a user — the dearest here — and caps ACL groups at ten.
- NetBird: Your fleet is large relative to your team. Machines are metered separately at EUR 0.50 a month beyond 100 plus ten per user, so a handful of engineers managing hundreds of devices pays for the devices — the opposite of how Tailscale counts. Prices are in euros.
3 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Tailscale 0
NetBird 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Tailscale | NetBird |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Kind of free offer | Free tier | Free tier |
| What the free plan includes | Nearly all of the product, for individuals — Tailscale's own wording — rather than a feature-stripped tier. The limit is that it is one person, not which features they get. | Up to 5 users and 100 machines, with peer-to-peer encryption, social SSO and MFA, access controls, private DNS and network routes — no commercial-use restriction stated. |
| Entry paid plan | $8 per user per month for Standard, which lifts the user cap entirely and adds SCIM provisioning. | €6 per active user per month for Team, which lifts the user cap and includes 100 machines plus 10 per user. Business is €12. Converted for comparison at the ECB reference rate of 1 EUR = 1.1539 USD (2026-09-15, api.frankfurter.dev), which puts Team at about $6.92/month and Business at about $13.85. NetBird publishes no USD price; the conversion is ours and moves with the rate. |
| Pricing model | Per user per month, $8 on Standard, with machines not counted separately — the meter is people, and a user connecting twenty devices pays the same as one connecting two. | Per active user per month in euros, with MACHINES METERED SEPARATELY — 100 included plus 10 per user, then €0.50 a month each. Both are counted only if they connected or logged in during the billing period, so an idle device is not billed. Self-hosting is offered as the alternative to any of it. |
| Auth | ||
| SCIM provisioning | Supported | Supported |
Where they differ.
What the free plan includes
- Tailscale
- Nearly all of the product, for individuals — Tailscale's own wording — rather than a feature-stripped tier. The limit is that it is one person, not which features they get.
- NetBird
- Up to 5 users and 100 machines, with peer-to-peer encryption, social SSO and MFA, access controls, private DNS and network routes — no commercial-use restriction stated.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Tailscale Pricing ↗
“access nearly all of tailscale's offerings and products for free”
Read 2026-09-16 · official pricing
- NetBird Pricing ↗
“€0 user / month up to 5 users 100 machines Get started P2P connections & encryption NetBird Networks Social SSO & MFA Access controls Private DNS Network Routes”
Read 2026-09-16 · official pricing
Entry paid plan
- Tailscale
- $8 per user per month for Standard, which lifts the user cap entirely and adds SCIM provisioning.
- NetBird
- €6 per active user per month for Team, which lifts the user cap and includes 100 machines plus 10 per user. Business is €12. Converted for comparison at the ECB reference rate of 1 EUR = 1.1539 USD (2026-09-15, api.frankfurter.dev), which puts Team at about $6.92/month and Business at about $13.85. NetBird publishes no USD price; the conversion is ours and moves with the rate.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Tailscale Pricing ↗
“$8 per user, per month get started everything in personal, plus unlimited users deploy users and groups with scim up to 10 acl groups”
Read 2026-09-16 · official pricing
- NetBird Pricing ↗
“€6 user / month unlimited users 100 machines + 10 per user Try for free Everything in Free, plus: Unlimited admin & regu”
Read 2026-09-16 · official pricing
Pricing model
- Tailscale
- Per user per month, $8 on Standard, with machines not counted separately — the meter is people, and a user connecting twenty devices pays the same as one connecting two.
- NetBird
- Per active user per month in euros, with MACHINES METERED SEPARATELY — 100 included plus 10 per user, then €0.50 a month each. Both are counted only if they connected or logged in during the billing period, so an idle device is not billed. Self-hosting is offered as the alternative to any of it.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Tailscale Pricing ↗
“standard for teams adopting the tailscale platform as a secure connectivity solution and more. $8 per user, per month get started everything in personal, plus unlimited users”
Read 2026-09-16 · official pricing
- NetBird Pricing ↗
“€6 user / month unlimited users 100 machines + 10 per user [...] Additional Machine: €0.50 / month”
Read 2026-09-16 · official pricing
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: Tailscale or NetBird?
Tailscale: $8 per user per month for Standard, which lifts the user cap entirely and adds SCIM provisioning.
NetBird: €6 per active user per month for Team, which lifts the user cap and includes 100 machines plus 10 per user. Business is €12. Converted for comparison at the ECB reference rate of 1 EUR = 1.1539 USD (2026-09-15, api.frankfurter.dev), which puts Team at about $6.92/month and Business at about $13.85. NetBird publishes no USD price; the conversion is ours and moves with the rate.
Should I choose Tailscale or NetBird?
Pick Tailscale if A small team with a lot of machines. The meter is people, not devices, so one engineer connecting twenty servers pays for one seat — and the free Personal tier is, in Tailscale's own words, nearly all of the product rather than a stripped one.
Pick NetBird if Running it yourself, or wanting idle machines not to cost anything. It is open source with a self-hosted path, and both users and machines are counted only if they actually connected during the billing period.