# Tailscale vs Twingate

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/tailscale-vs-twingate/

Every value below is read from Tailscale's and Twingate's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | Tailscale | Twingate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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, with peer-to-peer connections, split tunnelling and conditional access controls — but limited to non-commercial use, which the other two do not restrict. |
| Entry paid plan | $8 per user per month for Standard, which lifts the user cap entirely and adds SCIM provisioning. | $5 per user per month for Teams, capped at 100 users; Business is $10 to 500 users. A separate $15 a month Home plan covers up to 7 users for a homelab. |
| 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 user per month AND capped by user count at every tier: Starter is free to 5 users, Teams is $5 to 100, Business is $10 to 500. You pay per head and the plan still runs out of heads, which is a different shape from a per-seat price with no ceiling. |

## 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. ([source](https://tailscale.com/pricing))
- Twingate: Up to 5 users, with peer-to-peer connections, split tunnelling and conditional access controls — but limited to non-commercial use, which the other two do not restrict. ([source](https://www.twingate.com/pricing))

### Entry paid plan

- Tailscale: $8 per user per month for Standard, which lifts the user cap entirely and adds SCIM provisioning. ([source](https://tailscale.com/pricing))
- Twingate: $5 per user per month for Teams, capped at 100 users; Business is $10 to 500 users. A separate $15 a month Home plan covers up to 7 users for a homelab. ([source](https://www.twingate.com/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. ([source](https://tailscale.com/pricing))
- Twingate: Per user per month AND capped by user count at every tier: Starter is free to 5 users, Teams is $5 to 100, Business is $10 to 500. You pay per head and the plan still runs out of heads, which is a different shape from a per-seat price with no ceiling. ([source](https://www.twingate.com/pricing))

## Which should you choose?

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 Twingate if Retiring a legacy VPN on a budget, at a known headcount. $5 a user to 100 people is the cheapest commercial seat of the three, and device posture checks and least-privilege policies arrive at that tier rather than above it.

Consider something else: 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.

Consider something else: Twingate — You are relying on the free plan for work, or you do not know your headcount. Starter is limited to NON-COMMERCIAL use, which neither of the others restricts, and every paid tier caps users as well as charging per user — so growth changes the plan and not just the invoice.

## Documented by only one

- When the free offer ends: Twingate: Paid tiers carry a 14-day trial; the free Starter plan does not expire but is licensed for non-commercial use.
- Rate limits: Tailscale: Up to 10 ACL groups on Standard, and 1,000 minutes a month for ephemeral resources.
- SCIM provisioning: Tailscale: Supported
- Multi-factor authentication: Twingate: Limited

## Questions this comparison answers

**Entry paid plan: Tailscale or Twingate?**

Tailscale: $8 per user per month for Standard, which lifts the user cap entirely and adds SCIM provisioning.
Twingate: $5 per user per month for Teams, capped at 100 users; Business is $10 to 500 users. A separate $15 a month Home plan covers up to 7 users for a homelab.

**Should I choose Tailscale or Twingate?**

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 Twingate if Retiring a legacy VPN on a budget, at a known headcount. $5 a user to 100 people is the cheapest commercial seat of the three, and device posture checks and least-privilege policies arrive at that tier rather than above it.