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Networking · head to head

MikroTik RouterOS vs Nebula

MikroTik RouterOS logo

MikroTik RouterOS

Networking

Router and network operating system with a one-time perpetual licence rather than a recurring subscription

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Nebula logo

Nebula

Networking

Certificate based overlay network from Slack, with identity and firewall rules carried in the certificate

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Nebula has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: MikroTik RouterOS the management interface and overall polish are less refined than enterprise competitors like Cisco or Juniper, and the learning curve for advanced configuration is real; Nebula the open source project has no user interface, no enrolment workflow and no revocation service, so certificate issuing, distribution and expiry become scripts you write and then have to keep working.
  • They diverge on capability: MikroTik RouterOS covers Full routing and firewall stack, Nebula covers Certificate carried identity.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which MikroTik RouterOS and Nebula actually diverge.

Attributes where MikroTik RouterOS and Nebula differ
AttributeMikroTik RouterOSNebula
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelOne-time purchase, per licence levelOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Networking).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in MikroTik RouterOS

  • Full routing and firewall stack
  • Perpetual licensing
  • Cloud Hosted Router (CHR)
  • Winbox and CLI management
  • Wireless and VLAN support

Only in Nebula

  • Certificate carried identity
  • Group based host firewall
  • Lighthouse discovery
  • Noise protocol encryption
  • Unsafe routes
  • Managed option

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

MikroTik RouterOS

  • A network engineer or small ISP wanting capable BGP and firewall routing hardware at a lower total cost than Cisco or Juniper equivalentsnot Nebula
  • An organisation that specifically wants to avoid ongoing recurring licence dependency for core routing hardwarenot Nebula
  • A team wanting to run RouterOS as a virtual router in the cloud (CHR) with its own separate perpetual licensing tiersnot Nebula
  • A hobbyist or small business self-managing network infrastructure without a vendor support contractnot Nebula

Nebula

  • Flattening a network across several clouds and datacentres without VPC peering or route tablesnot MikroTik RouterOS
  • Very large fleets where a central policy service on the connection path is unacceptablenot MikroTik RouterOS
  • Environments that already run an internal certificate authority and want the network to use itnot MikroTik RouterOS
  • Replacing per host iptables rules with policy written against roles that follow the hostnot MikroTik RouterOS

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

MikroTik RouterOS

  • The management interface and overall polish are less refined than enterprise competitors like Cisco or Juniper, and the learning curve for advanced configuration is real
  • Formal vendor support is thinner than what an enterprise buyer gets from Cisco or Juniper; community forums and documentation are the primary self-support resource
  • Feature and licence-level naming (Level 3 through Level 6, and separately Free/P1/P10/P-Unlimited on CHR) is confusing enough that buyers commonly need to research which level a given deployment actually requires
  • Perpetual licensing on hardware, while avoiding a recurring fee, also means MikroTik has less ongoing incentive to keep pushing free feature updates to a specific licence level indefinitely, and major version jumps sometimes bring new requirements
  • Hardware build quality and long-term reliability at the low end of MikroTik's range is more variable than higher-priced enterprise-grade routing hardware
  • Security patch cadence and past history of vulnerabilities in RouterOS mean patching discipline matters more without vendor-managed cloud updates the way Meraki or Mist provide automatically

Nebula

  • The open source project has no user interface, no enrolment workflow and no revocation service, so certificate issuing, distribution and expiry become scripts you write and then have to keep working.
  • Revoking a compromised host means distributing a blocklist entry to every other host and reloading them, which is a fleet wide operation rather than a click, and easy to get wrong under pressure.
  • Changing a host group membership means reissuing and redeploying its certificate, so policy changes are a deployment rather than a configuration edit.
  • There is no identity provider integration or single sign on in the open source version, so it maps well to servers and badly to a fleet of user laptops.
  • NAT traversal is best effort and hosts behind symmetric NAT need a relay configured deliberately, so connectivity failures show up as intermittent rather than immediate and are awkward to diagnose.

Pricing, plan by plan

MikroTik RouterOS

On request
  • RouterOS (bundled with hardware)$undefined/one-time
    • Licence level included with the router purchase price
    • Perpetual, does not expire
  • Cloud Hosted Router (CHR)$undefined/one-time
    • Free tier available with throughput limits
    • P1, P10 and P-Unlimited perpetual licence levels
    • 60-day trial on paid levels

Nebula

Free
  • NebulaFree
    • Full functionality under the MIT licence
    • No host limit
    • You operate the certificate authority and lighthouses
  • Defined Networking$undefined/month
    • Hosted control plane and enrolment
    • Managed certificate lifecycle and revocation
    • Policy and DNS interface

Which should you pick?

Choose MikroTik RouterOS if

  • You need full routing and firewall stack.
  • You also want perpetual licensing.
MikroTik RouterOS review

Choose Nebula if

  • You need certificate carried identity.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD.
  • You also want group based host firewall.
Nebula review

Questions people ask

Is MikroTik RouterOS or Nebula better?
Neither clearly leads. MikroTik RouterOS starts at On request and Nebula at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, MikroTik RouterOS or Nebula?
Nebula has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for MikroTik RouterOS and Free for Nebula.
Does MikroTik RouterOS or Nebula run on more platforms?
MikroTik RouterOS runs on Web. Nebula runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD.
Can I use Nebula for free?
Yes. Nebula has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. MikroTik RouterOS starts at On request.
What is MikroTik RouterOS best used for?
MikroTik RouterOS is most often used for a network engineer or small isp wanting capable bgp and firewall routing hardware at a lower total cost than cisco or juniper equivalents, an organisation that specifically wants to avoid ongoing recurring licence dependency for core routing hardware, a team wanting to run routeros as a virtual router in the cloud (chr) with its own separate perpetual licensing tiers, a hobbyist or small business self-managing network infrastructure without a vendor support contract. Of those, a network engineer or small isp wanting capable bgp and firewall routing hardware at a lower total cost than cisco or juniper equivalents and an organisation that specifically wants to avoid ongoing recurring licence dependency for core routing hardware are not what Nebula is typically brought in for.
What can MikroTik RouterOS do that Nebula cannot?
MikroTik RouterOS covers Full routing and firewall stack, Perpetual licensing, Cloud Hosted Router (CHR), Winbox and CLI management. Nebula covers Certificate carried identity, Group based host firewall, Lighthouse discovery, Noise protocol encryption.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

MikroTik RouterOS: Does a MikroTik router stop working if I stop paying anything?

No, the RouterOS licence bundled with hardware is a one-time purchase and does not expire or require ongoing payment.

Nebula: Does it use WireGuard?

No. Nebula predates the common WireGuard mesh tools and uses the Noise protocol framework with its own certificate format.

MikroTik RouterOS: Is CHR licensed the same way as physical hardware?

It uses its own separate perpetual licence tiers (Free, P1, P10, P-Unlimited) rather than the Level 3-6 scheme used on physical hardware.

Nebula: Can I run it without Defined Networking?

Yes, entirely. Defined Networking sells the control plane conveniences, not the network itself.

MikroTik RouterOS: Can I upgrade a licence level later?

Yes, upgrading to a higher licence level is possible at the price difference between levels rather than buying a new licence outright.

Nebula: How do I revoke a host?

Add its certificate fingerprint to the blocklist in the configuration of the other hosts and reload them. There is no online revocation check.

Nebula: Is it a good fit for laptops?

Less so than the identity provider based tools. There is no single sign on, so every laptop needs a certificate issued and renewed by whatever process you build.

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