Which mesh VPN is right for you?
Tailscale offers granular control with advanced ACLs, SSO integration, and extensive integrations with identity providers and DevOps tools. If you need fine-grained policies and enterprise compliance, Tailscale provides the knobs to turn.
Netrinos follows the KISS principle: Keep It Simple. Sensible defaults, point-and-click access control, and less to configure. Some users prefer more control. Some prefer simplicity. Netrinos is for the latter.
Quick Comparison
| Netrinos | Tailscale | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 1 user, 100 devices | 3 users, 100 devices |
| Commercial use (free) | No | No |
| Paid (e.g. 10 users) | $10/month | $60/month ($6/user) |
| Mobile apps | Coming soon | iOS, Android |
| Access control | Point-and-click, device-level | Policy-based ACLs |
| Gateway/exit nodes | Yes (Pro) | Yes |
| Selective routing | By hostname, IP, or subnet (Pro) | All-or-nothing |
| CLI for servers/IoT | Yes | Yes |
| DNS names | Yes (automatic) | Yes (MagicDNS) |
| Setup complexity | Minimal | More options to configure |
Pricing Comparison
Netrinos
| Plan | Cost | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | Free | 1 user, 100 devices, non-commercial |
| Pro | $10/month | 10 users, 100 devices, commercial use, Gateway mode, ACLs |
| Pro (scaled) | +$1/additional user | adds 10 devices |
Tailscale
| Plan | Cost | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | Free | 3 users, 100 devices, non-commercial |
| Personal Plus | $5/month | 6 users, 100 devices, non-commercial |
| Starter | $6/user/month | Unlimited users, commercial, basic ACLs |
| Premium | $18/user/month | Full ACLs, SSH, Funnel, priority support |
| Enterprise | Custom | Everything + compliance, dedicated support |
Cost Examples
| Team Size | Netrinos | Tailscale Starter | Tailscale Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 users | Free | Free | Free |
| 10 users | $10/month | $60/month | $180/month |
| 20 users | $20/month | $120/month | $360/month |
| 50 users | $50/month | $300/month | $900/month |
Both include 100 devices in base pricing. Netrinos is 6x cheaper than Tailscale Starter and 18x cheaper than Tailscale Premium. Tailscale's pricing includes enterprise features (SSO, compliance, granular ACLs) that Netrinos doesn't offer.
Who Should Choose Netrinos?
You want simplicity. Netrinos ships with sensible defaults. Access control works at the device level in a point-and-click GUI: which devices can see which other devices. No policy languages to learn.
You're technical but want to keep it simple. You understand networking. You just don't want to spend time configuring it. Netrinos gets out of your way.
You need to connect non-Netrinos devices. Pro's Gateway mode lets you route traffic to devices that can't run the Netrinos client, like a NAS, printer, or legacy hardware.
You're running cloud servers or IoT devices. The Netrinos CLI works on headless Linux, cloud VMs, and IoT devices. Easy to deploy and manage.
You're a budget-conscious business. At $10/month for 10 users versus $60/month for Tailscale Starter, the math is straightforward.
Good fit for:
- Home users connecting a NAS, Raspberry Pi, and laptop
- Small businesses that just need remote access to office resources
- Families sharing access to home servers
- Technical users who want to keep it simple
- Cloud servers and IoT deployments
Who Should Choose Tailscale?
You need granular access control. Policy-based ACLs with tag-based rules, groups, and conditions. If you need to say "developers can access staging but not production," Tailscale's ACL system handles that.
You need enterprise features. SSO integration with Okta, Google Workspace, or Azure AD. Audit logging. Compliance certifications (SOC 2).
You need mobile apps now. Tailscale has iOS and Android apps. Netrinos mobile is on the roadmap but not available yet.
You want native NAS support. Tailscale runs on Synology, QNAP, and other NAS devices directly. Netrinos supports NAS access via Gateway mode.
Good fit for:
- Companies with compliance requirements (SOC 2, GDPR)
- Organizations using SSO for everything
- Teams that need fine-grained, policy-based access control
The Simplicity Difference
Tailscale is powerful if you need granular control: JSON-based ACL policies, SSO integration, compliance certifications, and extensive DevOps integrations. The right choice when security policies drive your architecture decisions.
Netrinos is simpler if you prefer that approach. Sign up, install, your devices connect. Two pricing tiers, point-and-click access control, sensible defaults. The right choice when you'd rather spend time on your actual work than configuring your VPN.
Example: Access Control
Tailscale ACL to let a user access a server:
{
"acls": [
{"action": "accept", "src": ["user@example.com"], "dst": ["server:*"]}
]
}Netrinos: Click the checkbox in the dashboard.
Both are secure. Both use WireGuard. Both encrypt traffic end-to-end. The question is how much configuration you want between you and a working network.
Platform Support
| Platform | Netrinos | Tailscale |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | ||
| macOS | ||
| Linux | ||
| Raspberry Pi | ||
| Cloud VMs | ||
| iOS | Coming soon | |
| Android | Coming soon | |
| NAS (Synology/QNAP) | Via Gateway (Pro) | Native app |
Tailscale has broader platform support today, especially for mobile.
The Bottom Line
Choose Netrinos if you want a simpler mesh VPN with sensible defaults. Point-and-click access control, Gateway mode for non-client devices, and a lower price point. Good for home users, small businesses, and technical users who want to keep it simple.
Choose Tailscale if you need granular policy-based ACLs, SSO, or compliance certifications. More configuration options, more integrations, higher price.
Neither is objectively better. They serve different preferences.