Azure VPN Gateway vs Tailscale
Azure VPN Gateway
azure.microsoft.comTailscale
tailscale.comSide by side
| Figure | Azure VPN Gateway | Tailscale |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $1/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 12 | 8 |
| Spec score · Business VPN Software | 9.3 (#6) | 9.4 (#5) |
| Company facts | Microsoft is a public company founded in 1975 with headquarters in Redmond, Washington and more than 10,000 employees listed by Gartner. | LinkedIn lists Tailscale as a privately held software-development company founded in 2019, headquartered in Toronto, with 201–500 employees. |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Rating on Apple App Store | The Azure VPN Client listing says it has not received enough ratings or reviews to show an overview. | 4.4 out of 5 from 739 ratings |
| Rating on G2 | 3.9 out of 5 from 15 reviews | 4.6 out of 5 from 31 reviews |
| Rating on Gartner Peer Insights | 4.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings | 5.0 out of 5 from 1 review |
| What it does | Azure VPN Gateway encrypts traffic between Azure virtual networks, on-premises networks and remote devices. | Tailscale is an identity-based secure-connectivity platform built on WireGuard that links teams, clouds, CI/CD, IoT, Kubernetes, AI workloads and personal devices. |
Plans
Azure VPN Gateway
- BasicPrice not published
- BasicPriced on request
- VpnGw1–VpnGw5Price not published
- VpnGw1–VpnGw5Priced on request
- VpnGw1AZ–VpnGw5AZPrice not published
- VpnGw1AZ–VpnGw5AZPriced on request
- Basic$26.28 a month
- VpnGw1$138.70 a month
- VpnGw2$357.70 a month
- VpnGw3$912.50 a month
Tailscale
- PersonalFree
- Standard$8 a month
- Premium$18 a month
- Additional tagged resources$1 a month
- Add more tagged resources$1 a month
- Mullvad$5 a month
- Mullvad add-on$5 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Azure VPN Gateway
Azure VPN Gateway provides VPN access and site-to-site networking with advanced administrative controls. Listed capabilities include SSO and SCIM, device posture checks, and audit logs. Supported platforms and access routes include Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, a web portal, Azure CLI, and REST API. The service has no free plan, and the listed plan groups specify different bandwidth and tunnel limits. Basic lists 100 Mbps, 10 site-to-site tunnels, and 128 point-to-site tunnels. VpnGw1–VpnGw5 lists bandwidth from 650 Mbps to 10 Gbps, up to 100 site-to-site tunnels, and up to 10,000 point-to-site tunnels. VpnGw1AZ–VpnGw5AZ lists the same bandwidth range and tunnel ceilings. No plan prices are listed here.
Tailscale
Tailscale is a zero-config VPN for connecting users and devices across a network. It uses WireGuard to form low-latency peer-to-peer connections, which Tailscale says are end-to-end encrypted so it cannot read users’ traffic. Administrators can use access control lists to specify which users may connect to which devices. Supported identity providers handle authentication, and SCIM supports user and group provisioning. Monitoring features include configuration audit logs, network flow logs, webhooks, and log streaming to SIEM partners. Device posture information can be used in connectivity rules. Taildrop transfers files between devices, while node sharing lets users share a node without exposing it to the public internet. The service runs on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows. Personal is free forever for non-commercial use and supports up to six users; Standard costs $8 per user per month. Premium costs $18 per user per month and includes priority support.