Tailscale
Builds a private network between your own devices using WireGuard, without opening ports or running a server.
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2 more ways to get Tailscale
Package managers
- Chocolatey
choco install tailscale - Homebrew
brew install tailscale
About Tailscale
Tailscale takes WireGuard and removes the setup. Install it on each device, sign in, and they can reach each other by name from anywhere: your laptop can reach the machine at home, the server in a datacentre and your phone, through NAT and firewalls, without port forwarding.
Coordination runs through Tailscale’s control plane while traffic goes directly between devices where possible. The client is open source, and a self-hosted control server exists as a separate project for people who do not want the hosted one.
Strengths
- Devices reach each other through NAT and firewalls without port forwarding or a public IP
- Free Personal plan with unlimited user devices for up to 6 users
- Client code is open source and the daemon runs on Linux, Windows, macOS and, to a degree, BSD
- Access rules, MagicDNS and exit nodes are configured centrally rather than per device
Limitations
- Sign-in goes through an identity provider, so an account is required
- The coordination server is a hosted service; running your own means using a separate project such as Headscale
- Some advanced policy features are reserved for paid plans
Details
- Pricing
- Freemium · The Personal plan is free forever with unlimited devices for up to 6 users. Paid plans start at $8 per user per month for teams that need unlimited users and more policy features.
- License
- BSD-3-Clause
- Developer
- Tailscale Inc.
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Command line
- How it runs
- Downloadable app, Hosted service
- Account
- Required
- Works offline
- No
- Best suited for
- Reaching your own machines from anywhere without configuring a VPN server
- Categories
- VPN and private networking
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Selected from the TechWalrus downloads catalog (VPN); facts checked against the developer's own pages, 4 sources on file.
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