Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

Teleport vs Yarn

Teleport logo

Teleport

Cybersecurity

Certificate-based access to servers, Kubernetes, databases and apps, replacing shared credentials and VPNs

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Yarn logo

Yarn

Developer Tools

Fast, reliable, and secure dependency management

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Yarn has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Teleport pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.; Yarn yarn 2+ (Berry) has limited ESM support which can be a constraint for some projects
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Teleport and Yarn actually diverge.

Attributes where Teleport and Yarn differ
AttributeTeleportYarn
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, CloudWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
FoundedUnknown2016

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

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 Teleport

  • Short-lived certificates
  • Protocol coverage
  • Session recording and replay
  • Access Requests
  • Device Trust
  • Identity provider integration
  • Machine identity
  • FIPS and FedRAMP builds

Only in Yarn

Nothing recorded that Teleport does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Teleport

  • Removing long-lived SSH keys and shared database passwords so that offboarding an engineer takes one action in the identity providernot Yarn
  • Producing session recordings and per-user database audit trails as direct evidence for SOC 2 or FedRAMPnot Yarn
  • Giving contractors or on-call engineers time-boxed, approved access to production instead of standing admin rightsnot Yarn
  • Replacing a flat VPN with per-resource authorisation across servers, Kubernetes and internal web appsnot Yarn

Yarn

  • Monorepo teams managing dependencies across 50+ interdependent packagesnot Teleport
  • Enterprise JavaScript projects ensuring reproducible builds across CI/CDnot Teleport
  • Open-source projects with plugin ecosystems coordinating versionsnot Teleport
  • Teams requiring consistent package installs regardless of network conditionsnot Teleport

Where each one falls short

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

Teleport

  • Pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • The proxy is a hard dependency on reaching production, so it needs its own high availability deployment and a tested break-glass path or an outage in Teleport becomes an outage in your ability to respond to outages.
  • The open source Community Edition omits Access Requests, Device Trust and the FIPS builds, which are exactly the controls an auditor asks about, so the free tier rarely survives a compliance review.
  • Self-hosting means running and upgrading a certificate authority and its backing store, and Teleport releases frequently enough that upgrade work becomes a standing operational commitment.
  • Coverage across protocols is uneven in depth, so teams with legacy systems, unusual databases or bespoke network appliances find gaps that still require the old VPN to remain in place alongside it.

Yarn

  • Yarn 2+ (Berry) has limited ESM support which can be a constraint for some projects
  • Smaller ecosystem and community compared to npm, though still substantial

Pricing, plan by plan

Teleport

On request
  • Teleport Community Edition$undefined/year
    • Open source, self-hosted
    • SSH, Kubernetes, database and app access
    • Session recording
  • Teleport Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Cloud-hosted or self-hosted
    • Access Requests and approval workflow
    • Device Trust and hardware key enforcement

Yarn

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Yarn review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Teleport if

  • You need short-lived certificates.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want protocol coverage.
Teleport review

Choose Yarn if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
Yarn review

Questions people ask

Is Teleport or Yarn better?
Neither clearly leads. Teleport starts at On request and Yarn at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Teleport or Yarn?
Yarn has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Teleport and Free for Yarn.
Does Teleport or Yarn run on more platforms?
Teleport runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud. Yarn runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Yarn for free?
Yes. Yarn has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teleport starts at On request.
What is Teleport best used for?
Teleport is most often used for removing long-lived ssh keys and shared database passwords so that offboarding an engineer takes one action in the identity provider, producing session recordings and per-user database audit trails as direct evidence for soc 2 or fedramp, giving contractors or on-call engineers time-boxed, approved access to production instead of standing admin rights, replacing a flat vpn with per-resource authorisation across servers, kubernetes and internal web apps. Of those, removing long-lived ssh keys and shared database passwords so that offboarding an engineer takes one action in the identity provider and producing session recordings and per-user database audit trails as direct evidence for soc 2 or fedramp are not what Yarn is typically brought in for.
What can Teleport do that Yarn cannot?
Teleport covers Short-lived certificates, Protocol coverage, Session recording and replay, Access Requests.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Teleport: Is the open source edition usable in production?

Yes, but it lacks Access Requests, Device Trust and FIPS builds, which most compliance programmes end up requiring.

Yarn: What is Yarn's main advantage over npm?

Yarn downloads packages in parallel, significantly reducing installation time. It uses a yarn.lock file for deterministic installs, ensuring identical package versions across machines and preventing version conflicts common with npm.

Source
Teleport: How is it priced?

Not publicly. The vendor prices on active users and protected resources and provides a quote after a sales conversation.

Yarn: Can I use Yarn in offline environments?

Yes, Yarn supports secure offline environments. The yarn.lock file enables reproducible installs without requiring new downloads.

Source
Teleport: What happens if Teleport goes down?

Nobody reaches the resources behind it, so you need a highly available deployment and a documented break-glass procedure.

Teleport: Does it replace our VPN?

For anything you put behind it, yes. Legacy systems and appliances it does not support will keep the VPN alive.

Share

Related pages

More on Teleport

More on Yarn

Keep looking

Other head to heads