Tailscale Alternative for Enterprises: When Does Switching Make Sense?
When your VPN costs grow with every new employee or device, switching typically makes sense from about 14 seats (at $18/seat) toward a flatrate model. Especially when you also want to properly implement SSO/policies, reduce operational overhead, and ensure EU/DE hosting.
Tailscale is built on WireGuard – but the questions in enterprises are usually less about "protocol" and more about: cost model, control, operations, compliance, scaling.
Enterprise VPN Flatrate: We offer Managed NetBird at a fixed price – unlimited users & devices, hosted in Germany. Try free for 14 days →
More resources:
- → VPN Hub: All Business VPN Comparisons
- → NetBird vs. Tailscale: Detailed Comparison
- → VPN Costs per User/Device: Break-even Calculator
- → Enterprise VPN Flatrate (no per-seat fees)
Table of Contents
- Why Look for a Tailscale Alternative?
- What Does an Alternative Really Need?
- NetBird as Alternative: Why It Makes Technical Sense
- Break-even: Per-Seat vs. Flatrate
- When Does Switching Make Sense?
- Migration Without Risk
- Managed NetBird Flatrate
- Conclusion
Why Look for a Tailscale Alternative?
Tailscale is a strong product: WireGuard-based, modern, flexible. In practice, however, companies often reach a point where three issues dominate.
A) Costs Grow Automatically
Many enterprise setups quickly end up with "per seat" models. Tailscale's Premium plan is $18 per user/month. Twingate's Business plan is listed at $10 per user/month.
This feels like a "tax" on growth – especially for teams with many endpoints.
| Provider | Pricing Model | Example 50 Users |
|---|---|---|
| Tailscale Premium | $18/user/month | $900/month |
| Twingate Business | $10/user/month | $500/month |
| Flatrate | Fixed price | €249.90/month |
B) Operations & Ownership
In smaller IT teams, the reality is: network/VPN operations always competes with business priorities. That's why many look for a solution that works but doesn't become a permanent construction site.
C) EU/DE Hosting & Governance
Many companies want – for compliance, customer, or risk reasons – clear answers about data sovereignty, logs, operations, and location. Even if a tool is technically excellent, the governance question often remains the bottleneck.
What Does an Alternative Really Need?
Before comparing tools, a brief requirements catalog is worthwhile. For most B2B use cases, these are the "must-haves":
| Requirement | Why Important |
|---|---|
| SSO/MFA & Roles | Azure AD, Okta, Google, Keycloak – centralized identity management |
| Granular Policies | Who can access which resources (Least Privilege) |
| Subnet Routing / Site-to-Site | Connect locations, cloud, on-prem |
| Clean Rollout | MDM, scripts, gradual migration without big-bang |
| Predictable Costs | No surprises with growth |
| Clear Operational Responsibility | Who patches, monitors, responds to incidents? |
NetBird as Alternative
NetBird is an open-source approach to a mesh VPN built on WireGuard. The architecture includes:
- Management/UI (Control Plane): Central management of peers, groups, policies
- Signal Service: Coordination of peer connections
- STUN/TURN (Coturn): Relay for connections behind NAT/firewalls
Key for business decision-makers: Management and policies (control plane) run centrally – actual data traffic (data plane) flows peer-to-peer where possible. Relay servers are only used when direct connections aren't possible.
Why It Makes Technical Sense
| Aspect | Benefit |
|---|---|
| WireGuard Base | Fast, modern tunnel technology with strong cryptography |
| Mesh + P2P | Reduces "gateway bottleneck" problems |
| Central Policies | Makes it B2B-ready (instead of DIY VPN) |
| Open Source | Full transparency, self-hosting possible |
Detailed Comparison: NetBird vs. Tailscale →
Break-even: Per-Seat vs. Flatrate
Let's take a flatrate of €249.90/month as reference and compare it with typical "per seat" values.
The Formula
Break-even Seats = Flatrate / Price per Seat
Concrete Calculation
| Comparison | Calculation | Break-even |
|---|---|---|
| vs. Tailscale ($18/seat) | 249.90 / 18 = 13.88 | ~14 seats |
| vs. Twingate ($10/seat) | 249.90 / 10 = 24.99 | ~25 seats |
Example Table by Team Size
| Team Size | Tailscale ($18/seat) | Twingate ($10/seat) | Flatrate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $180/mo | $100/mo | €249.90/mo |
| 25 | $450/mo | $250/mo | €249.90/mo |
| 50 | $900/mo | $500/mo | €249.90/mo |
| 100 | $1,800/mo | $1,000/mo | €249.90/mo |
| 200 | $3,600/mo | $2,000/mo | €249.90/mo |
Note: Prices as of December 2025 (Sources: Tailscale Pricing, Twingate Pricing). Prices in different currencies – still helpful as a rule of thumb for magnitude.
When Does Switching Make Sense?
Switching usually makes sense when at least 2–3 of the following points apply.
Switching Often Makes Sense When...
- ✅ You have > 25 users (or are growing there) and pay per seat
- ✅ You have many devices per user (engineering/support/field)
- ✅ You want central policies, audit logs, and management features without complexity overhead
- ✅ You want EU/DE hosting as standard option (compliance)
- ✅ Your team doesn't want "VPN ops" as a permanent task
Switching Often Doesn't Make Sense (Yet) When...
- ❌ You're a very small team (5–10 seats) and costs don't matter currently
- ❌ You have no governance requirements
- ❌ The current solution has been running smoothly for years
Quick Check
| Criterion | Per-Seat | Flatrate |
|---|---|---|
| < 15 users | ✅ Often cheaper | ⚠️ Oversized |
| 15–50 users | ⚠️ Gets expensive | ✅ Break-even reached |
| > 50 users | ❌ Very expensive | ✅ Significantly cheaper |
| Growth planned | ❌ Costs rise | ✅ Costs fixed |
| EU/DE hosting needed | ⚠️ Check | ✅ Standard option |
Migration Without Risk
Good news: You almost never have to do a "big bang" switch. The typical B2B rollout looks like this:
5-Phase Model
Phase 1: Pilot group (10–20 users) + test policies
↓
Phase 2: Connect SSO/Identity (Azure AD/Okta/Google/Keycloak)
↓
Phase 3: Add subnet routes / site-to-site
↓
Phase 4: Parallel operation (old VPN stays until everything works)
↓
Phase 5: Cutover + documentation + monitoring
Why This Works
NetBird is built to be centrally managed (UI/policies), rather than purely manually configured like "classic WireGuard". This enables:
- Gradual migration without downtime
- Parallel operation with existing VPN
- Clear rollback option if problems occur
Managed NetBird Flatrate
When Managed Instead of Self-Hosted?
A managed approach is often the pragmatic choice when:
- No dedicated ops team for VPN infrastructure is available
- Fast rollout is more important than maximum control over every server
- Predictable costs and a dedicated contact person are desired
What's Included in the Managed Service?
- Operations & Monitoring: 24/7 monitoring, alerting, incident response
- Updates & Security Patches: Regular updates without you having to worry
- SSO Integration: OIDC setup with your identity provider (Okta, Keycloak, Azure AD, etc.)
- EU/DE Hosting: Standard option – no US cloud lock-in
Pricing (Flatrate)
- Monthly: €249.90/month (cancel monthly)
- Annual: €2,249.10/year – effectively €187.43/month (3 months free)
Recommended for up to 500 active clients. Unlimited users & devices included.
→ Try free for 14 days – no subscription, no credit card
Conclusion
Tailscale is a good product – but not the best choice for every company. Switching to an alternative like NetBird makes particular sense when:
- Costs grow with the team (per-seat becomes expensive from ~14 seats)
- Governance/compliance are important (EU/DE hosting, data sovereignty)
- Operational overhead should be reduced (managed instead of self-ops)
The good news: A migration doesn't have to be risky. With parallel operation and gradual rollout, you can test the new solution before shutting down the old VPN.
Our Services
As an experienced IT service provider, we support you with evaluation and switching:
Consulting
- Cost analysis: Your current setup vs. alternatives
- Requirements check: SSO, routing, compliance
Migration
- Gradual rollout without downtime
- SSO integration (Azure AD, Okta, Google, Keycloak)
- Subnet routing and site-to-site configuration
Managed Service
- 24/7 monitoring and alerting
- Updates and security patches
- Direct contact person (no call center)
More Articles
- NetBird vs. Tailscale – Detailed comparison self-hosted vs. cloud
- NetBird vs. Twingate – Zero Trust approaches
- VPN Costs per User/Device – Break-even calculator
- NetBird vs. ZeroTier – WireGuard vs. proprietary
Sources
- Tailscale: What is Tailscale?
- Tailscale Pricing
- Twingate Pricing
- NetBird: How NetBird Works
- NetBird Self-Hosted Guide
- WireGuard
Tailscale, Twingate, and NetBird are trademarks of their respective owners. This article serves as technical and economic orientation for companies. Prices and features may change; official provider information is authoritative.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to important questions about this topic
Once per-user/device costs become noticeable (from about 14 seats at $18/seat) or when governance requirements like EU hosting, data sovereignty, or central policies become important. Also when your internal team doesn't want VPN ops as a permanent task.
Both use WireGuard as their foundation. The main differences are in the pricing model (per-seat vs. flatrate), hosting options (US cloud vs. EU/DE self-hosted), and operational responsibility (self-service vs. managed). NetBird is also fully open source.
For small teams, yes. But at $18/seat/month, a 50-person team already pays $900/month – trending upward with every new employee or device. A flatrate of €249.90/month becomes cheaper from about 14 seats.
Both Tailscale and NetBird are built on WireGuard, which is considered modern and cryptographically strong. Security also depends on identity management, policies, update processes, and logging – managed solutions score points here through professional operations.
No. Both Tailscale and NetBird primarily establish peer-to-peer connections. Central servers (coordination/STUN/TURN) are only used for connection setup and relay during NAT issues – actual data traffic flows directly between peers.
The most common reasons: 1) Costs grow with the team, 2) EU/DE hosting needed for compliance, 3) Desire for central management without operational overhead, 4) More control over policies and logging, 5) Avoiding vendor lock-in through open source.
Yes, that's actually the standard approach: Test pilot group → connect SSO → add subnet routes → parallel operation → cutover. The old VPN stays active until everything works. Clear rollback option if problems occur.
SSO in NetBird is handled via OIDC – this integrates virtually any common identity provider (e.g., Okta, Keycloak, or Authentik) and lets you enforce MFA/policies centrally.
Usually not. NetBird uses STUN/TURN/relay mechanisms for connections behind NAT and firewalls. This means significantly less 'firewall Tetris' than with classic VPN gateways.
Beyond license costs, there's often: Multiple devices per user (count extra), admin seats, premium support packages, compliance features only in higher tiers, and internal effort for operations, updates, and troubleshooting.
Teams with 15+ users and growth plans, companies with many devices per employee (engineering, support, field), firms with EU compliance requirements, and IT departments that don't want to tie up VPN ops resources.
Simple calculation: Current costs (seats × price) vs. flatrate (€249.90/month). Break-even with Tailscale ($18): ~14 seats. Plus: Do you have governance requirements? Is the team growing? Does VPN operations tie up internal resources? With 2+ yes answers, it's worth a closer look.
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CEOs of WZ-IT