IBM Cloud VPN for VPC vs Tailscale
IBM Cloud VPN for VPC
ibm.com
Tailscale
tailscale.comSide by side
| Figure | IBM Cloud VPN for VPC | Tailscale |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $1/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 8 |
| Spec score · Business VPN Software | 7.9 (#47) | 9.4 (#5) |
| Founded | 1911 | 2019 |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Integrations | The product page describes compatibility with IBM Cloud IAM and Secrets Manager; dynamic route-based connections require Transit Gateway. | Official integration documentation covers cloud servers, containers and virtual machines, serverless apps, databases, code environments, firewalls, web servers, NAS devices and MDM. |
| Monitoring | A dashboard displays tunnel and connection status, and individual VPN connections can be suspended or restarted. | Features include configuration audit logs, network flow logs, webhooks, and log streaming to SIEM integration partners. |
| What it does | Provides encrypted IPsec tunnels between IBM Cloud VPC and private networks such as on-premises environments. | 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
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
IBM Cloud VPN for VPC
IBM Cloud VPN for VPC has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
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.