Networking · alternatives
Alternatives to ZeroTier
20 networking tools sit alongside ZeroTier in this directory. Below is what separates each from ZeroTier on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 12
- Cheaper to start
- -
- ZeroTier starts at
- Free
Why people look past ZeroTier
Nothing on the record flags a reason to move. ZeroTier has a free tier. People still switch over fit and workflow, and those are not things a catalogue entry can measure, which is what the comparisons below are for.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Zero-trust mesh VPN built on WireGuard with identity-based access
- Publishes an entry price of Free, where ZeroTier does not.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than Free up to 10 devices and 1 network, then per additional device per month.
- 4 tiers to ZeroTier's 3.
Open source WireGuard mesh VPN with identity based access policies and a hosted control plane
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than Free up to 10 devices and 1 network, then per additional device per month.
Open source VPN protocol with a commercial Access Server product priced per simultaneous connection
- Sold on a Open source core is free; Access Server billed per simultaneous connection model rather than Free up to 10 devices and 1 network, then per additional device per month.
Open source infrastructure monitoring, free at its core, with paid support and modules sold separately by Icinga GmbH
- Sold on a Open source core, with paid repository, module and support subscriptions sold separately model rather than Free up to 10 devices and 1 network, then per additional device per month.
- 2 tiers to ZeroTier's 3.
Free, community-driven network monitoring with commercial support sold by a third-party partner, not the project itself
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee; commercial support sold by a third-party partner model rather than Free up to 10 devices and 1 network, then per additional device per month.
- 1 tier to ZeroTier's 3.
Open source firewall software with a free Community Edition and a separate commercial Plus edition sold by Netgate
- Sold on a Open source Community Edition, free; commercial Plus edition sold separately by Netgate model rather than Free up to 10 devices and 1 network, then per additional device per month.
- 2 tiers to ZeroTier's 3.
Every ZeroTier alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZeroTier (this page) | Free | Free up to 10 devices and 1 network, then per additional device per month | 3 | |
| TailscaleFor a comparable mesh VPN with a different pricing structure and device inclusion model | Free | Freemium | 4 | vs ZeroTier |
| NetBirdFor an open source mesh networking alternative with self-hosting options | Free | Per user per month | 3 | vs ZeroTier |
| OpenVPNFor a traditional hub-and-spoke VPN priced by simultaneous connections rather than total device count | Free | Open source core is free; Access Server billed per simultaneous connection | 3 | vs ZeroTier |
| Icinga | Free | Open source core, with paid repository, module and support subscriptions sold separately | 2 | vs ZeroTier |
| LibreNMS | Free | Open source, no licence fee; commercial support sold by a third-party partner | 1 | vs ZeroTier |
| pfSense | Free | Open source Community Edition, free; commercial Plus edition sold separately by Netgate | 2 | vs ZeroTier |
| Catchpoint | Free | Free tier plus published entry tiers, enterprise quote-only | 4 | vs ZeroTier |
| Nebula | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs ZeroTier |
| Headscale | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs ZeroTier |
| Twingate | Free | Per user per month | 3 | vs ZeroTier |
| Zabbix | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs ZeroTier |
| Netdata | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs ZeroTier |
| Domotz | On request | Per collector or per managed device per month | 2 | vs ZeroTier |
| Juniper Mist | On request | Quote, hardware plus required Wi-Fi Assurance subscription | 2 | vs ZeroTier |
| Auvik | On request | Quote, per managed device | 1 | vs ZeroTier |
| Kentik | On request | Annual contract only, per tier | 2 | vs ZeroTier |
| Cisco Meraki | On request | Quote, hardware plus mandatory recurring licence | 1 | vs ZeroTier |
| PRTG Network Monitor | On request | Per sensor tier, billed monthly on an annual contract | 5 | vs ZeroTier |
| ThousandEyes | On request | Quote, unit-based consumption on annual or prepaid contracts | 1 | vs ZeroTier |
| MikroTik RouterOS | On request | One-time purchase, per licence level | 2 | vs ZeroTier |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the ZeroTier badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
What you would be giving up
ZeroTier is most often brought in for a hobbyist or small home lab wanting free virtual lan connectivity across devices without a business tier, a small business connecting a handful of remote offices or remote workers into one virtual network on the essential plan, a growing company scaling past the free device limit that needs multiple networks and predictable per-device overage pricing, a service provider or large iot deployer needing custom enterprise or quantum packaging for very large device counts. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If ZeroTier is broadly right and the question is cost, the ZeroTier pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Networking category lists everything the directory holds, and best networking tools ranks them.
ZeroTier runs on windows, macos, linux, ios, android. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about ZeroTier alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to ZeroTier?
- 20 other networking tools are listed in this directory, led by Tailscale, NetBird, OpenVPN, Icinga. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to ZeroTier?
- 12 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Tailscale, NetBird, OpenVPN, Icinga, LibreNMS.
- Is there a reason to switch away from ZeroTier?
- Nothing in the data flags one. ZeroTier has a free tier. Fit and workflow are the usual reasons to move, and those are not things this record can measure.
- What would I give up by switching from ZeroTier?
- ZeroTier is most often brought in for a hobbyist or small home lab wanting free virtual lan connectivity across devices without a business tier, a small business connecting a handful of remote offices or remote workers into one virtual network on the essential plan, a growing company scaling past the free device limit that needs multiple networks and predictable per-device overage pricing, a service provider or large iot deployer needing custom enterprise or quantum packaging for very large device counts. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to ZeroTier?
- None of the networking tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these ZeroTier alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Networking, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare ZeroTier against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against ZeroTier covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every networking tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Networking category, 20 tools beside ZeroTier. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.