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SPECIFICTION
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Headscale vs NetBird

Headscale

headscale.net

NetBird

netbird.io

Side by side

FigureHeadscaleNetBird
Price fromFree€6/mo
Free planYesYes
Free trial——
Open source——
WindowsYesYes
macOSYesYes
LinuxYesYes
iOSYesYes
AndroidYesYes
APIYes—
Self-hostedYesYes
Plans published14
Spec score · Virtual Private Network Software8.6 (#16)9.1 (#6)
Spec score · Business VPN Software8.2 (#38)9.5 (#3)
Access modelvpnhybrid
Admin control levelstandardCentralized controls include grouping, DNS, private nameservers, and API-based configuration.
Device postureNoYes
Site-to-site networkingYesYes
SSO / SCIMYesYes
Supported platformsLinux,OpenBSD,FreeBSD,Windows,Android,macOS,iOS,tvOSLinux, Windows, macOS, mobile devices, Docker containers, and routers.

Plans

Headscale

  • HeadscaleFree

Headscale pricing →

NetBird

  • FreeFree
  • Team€6 a month
  • Business€12 a month
  • EnterprisePriced on request

NetBird pricing →

In their own words

Headscale

Headscale has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.

Visit headscale.net

NetBird

NetBird connects users and machines through encrypted peer-to-peer networking based on WireGuard. It is offered as NetBird Cloud or can be self-hosted on an organization’s infrastructure. Its hybrid access model includes centralized controls for grouping, DNS, private nameservers and API-based configuration. Identity features include SSO, MFA, periodic re-authentication and identity-provider MFA settings. Teams can provision users and groups through an identity provider and organize them around teams and infrastructure. Device posture policies can check firewall, antivirus, geography and network location. Integrations include Okta, Microsoft, Google, MDM, EDR and SIEM platforms; logging covers network configuration changes and connection events, with SIEM streaming. NetBird supports Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Android TV, tvOS, Docker and routers. Its BSD-3 license permits self-hosting. The free tier covers up to 5 users and 100 machines. Team costs €6/user/mo and Business costs €12/user/mo; billing counts users and machines that connect or log in at least once during the billing period. Team and Business plans offer a free trial.

Visit netbird.io