Netrinos vs Tailscale
Netrinos and Tailscale both connect your devices over a WireGuard mesh network. They differ in how much of that network you configure yourself.
Which mesh VPN is right for you?
Tailscale is built around a policy file. Access rules and groups are written in JSON and can be tied to an identity provider such as Okta or Google Workspace. That model suits organizations where a security team decides who can reach what.
Netrinos is built around the device list. In the dashboard you choose which devices each device can reach, and the defaults work for most home and small-business networks. There is no policy language to learn.
Quick Comparison
| Netrinos | Tailscale | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 3 users, 100 devices | 6 users, unlimited user devices |
| Commercial use (free) | No | Personal use only |
| Paid (e.g. 10 users) | $10/month ($1/user) | $80/month ($8/user) |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android |
| Access control | Per device, in the dashboard | Policy-based ACLs |
| Gateways and exit nodes | Yes (1 on Personal, unlimited on Pro) | Yes |
| Selective routing | By hostname, IP, or subnet | By subnet, or by domain with App Connectors |
| CLI for servers and IoT | Yes | Yes |
| DNS names | Yes (automatic) | Yes (MagicDNS) |
| Setup | Few settings | More options to configure |
Pricing Comparison
Netrinos
| Plan | Cost | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | Free | 3 users, 100 devices, non-commercial |
| Pro | $1/user/month, 10-user minimum | Commercial use, 100 devices included, 10 more per user |
| Edge | Custom | Multi-customer, remote device management, central monitoring |
Tailscale
| Plan | Cost | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | Free | 6 users, unlimited user devices, 3 ACL groups, personal use |
| Standard | $8/user/month | Unlimited users, 10 ACL groups, SCIM, MDM integration |
| Premium | $18/user/month | 300 ACL groups, advanced SSH, flow logs, priority support |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom limits, MSA and SLAs, dedicated support |
Cost Examples
| Team Size | Netrinos | Tailscale Standard | Tailscale Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 users | 10 × $1 = $10 | 10 × $8 = $80 | 10 × $18 = $180 |
| 20 users | 20 × $1 = $20 | 20 × $8 = $160 | 20 × $18 = $360 |
| 50 users | 50 × $1 = $50 | 50 × $8 = $400 | 50 × $18 = $900 |
Netrinos Pro includes 100 devices and adds 10 per user. Tailscale does not limit user devices on any plan. At every team size above, Netrinos costs one-eighth of Tailscale Standard and one-eighteenth of Premium. Tailscale's paid plans include SSO, compliance certifications, and granular ACLs, which Netrinos does not offer. Comparison taken 2026-09-28 from tailscale.com/pricing.
Who Should Choose Netrinos?
| Defaults over policy | Access is set per device with a checkbox. There is no policy language to learn or maintain. |
| Devices that can't run software | Virtual Devices give a NAS, camera, or printer its own Netrinos address and name. Personal includes 3, and Pro has no limit. |
| Servers and IoT | The Netrinos CLI runs on headless Linux, cloud VMs, and Raspberry Pi. |
| Cost | $1 per user per month versus $8 for Tailscale Standard. |
| Good fit for | Home networks, small businesses, and technical users who would rather not maintain an access policy. |
Who Should Choose Tailscale?
| Granular access control | Tailscale ACLs support tags, groups, and conditions. A rule such as "developers can reach staging but not production" takes a few lines of policy. |
| Identity and compliance | SSO with Okta, Google Workspace, or Microsoft Entra ID, audit logging, and SOC 2 certification. |
| NAS packages | Tailscale publishes native packages for Synology and QNAP. Netrinos reaches a NAS through a Virtual Device instead. |
| Good fit for | Organizations with SSO or compliance requirements, and teams that manage access as code. |
Configuration Compared
The same access rule looks different in each product. In Tailscale, letting one user reach one server takes a policy entry.
{
"acls": [
{"action": "accept", "src": ["user@example.com"], "dst": ["server:*"]}
]
}In Netrinos, the same rule is a checkbox in the device's access settings.
Both products encrypt all traffic end to end with WireGuard. The difference is in how you express who may connect.
Platform Support
Both run on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Raspberry Pi, and cloud VMs. Tailscale also has native packages for Synology and QNAP NAS devices.
The Bottom Line
| Choose Netrinos | You want a mesh network with per-device access control and Virtual Devices for hardware that can't run a client, at $1 per user. |
| Choose Tailscale | You need policy-based ACLs, SSO, or compliance certifications, and the per-user price fits your budget. |
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