Nebula vs Tailscale
Nebula
github.com
Tailscale
tailscale.comSide by side
| Figure | Nebula | Tailscale |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $1/mo | $1/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 8 |
| Spec score · Business VPN Software | 8.3 (#36) | 9.4 (#5) |
| Identity | Nebula uses a PKI model and host certificates to identify and authorize peers, with mutual certificate validation and security-group firewall rules. | Users can authenticate with supported identity providers, and Tailscale supports user and group provisioning through SCIM. |
| Integrations | The official documentation describes SSO integration for Managed Nebula, and the pricing page lists feature and integration requests as an Enterprise offering. | Official integration documentation covers cloud servers, containers and virtual machines, serverless apps, databases, code environments, firewalls, web servers, NAS devices and MDM. |
| Support | The repository security policy directs vulnerability reports to HackerOne and says the security team will investigate and respond. | Tailscale provides documentation, a support request form, community channels, and plan-dependent support levels; Premium lists priority support. |
Plans
Nebula
- Managed Nebula FreeFree
- Nebula (self-hosted open source)Free
- Managed Nebula Pro$1 a month
- Managed Nebula EnterprisePriced on request
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
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.