Application knowledge
NetBird: guides, comparisons and operations
NetBird connects devices, servers, sites and private services through a WireGuard-based zero-trust network. This hub brings together our technical fundamentals, cost and product comparisons, integration guides and practical migration paths for self-hosted NetBird environments.
Fundamentals & operations
What is NetBird?
A clear explanation of architecture, WireGuard tunnels, the control plane, peers, policies and common use cases.
Open resource →LicensingNetBird self-hosting: Community Edition and Commercial Starter
Which features remain free, what the commercial self-hosting licence adds and when it becomes relevant.
Open resource →OperationsNetBird updates: dashboard, SSH and self-hosting
New features and their implications for updates, high availability and production self-hosted environments.
Open resource →Architecture & integration
Connect NetBird to Authentik or Keycloak
OIDC, group sync through JWT claims, MFA responsibilities and common pitfalls with self-hosted identity providers.
Open resource →GuideExpose internal services with the NetBird reverse proxy
Make internal applications available without port forwarding using TLS, SSO and WireGuard tunnels.
Open resource →ArchitectureAccess Kubernetes privately with NetBird
Connect the Kubernetes API and ClusterIP services through an operator, routing peer or sidecar without public endpoints.
Open resource →Comparisons & costs
NetBird vs. Tailscale vs. WireGuard
A decision guide comparing control planes, self-hosting, identity, policies, licensing and operational effort.
Open resource →ComparisonNetBird vs. Tailscale compared directly
A direct comparison of self-hosting, cloud models, costs, control and suitability for business networks.
Open resource →ComparisonNetBird vs. ZeroTier
Architecture, security, self-hosting, costs and use cases for both mesh VPN approaches.
Open resource →ComparisonNetBird vs. Twingate
Self-hosted mesh VPN and cloud ZTNA compared by architecture, costs, control and security model.
Open resource →ComparisonNetBird vs. Enclave
Open-source self-hosting and managed ZTNA compared for control, operations and business requirements.
Open resource →CostsTailscale pricing: when self-hosting NetBird becomes cheaper
Seat pricing, self-hosting costs, sovereignty and the economic limits of a simple price comparison.
Open resource →CostsCalculate VPN costs per user and device
Per-seat models, break-even points and fixed-price alternatives for growing user and device estates.
Open resource →Migration & replacement
Migrate OpenVPN to NetBird
Inventory certificates and access, connect an identity provider, build policies and migrate without a big-bang cutover.
Open resource →MigrationMigrate FortiGate SSL-VPN to NetBird
A traceable migration path covering inventory, IdP, peers, policies, routing peers and a controlled cutover.
Open resource →MigrationTailscale alternative for enterprises
When switching makes sense and how cost, compliance, operations and data sovereignty affect the decision.
Open resource →Planning, integration and operations
Run NetBird in production
WZ-IT designs, installs and operates NetBird on your infrastructure. As an official NetBird reseller, we can supply Commercial Starter or Enterprise directly where required; Community Edition remains an option.
View NetBird services →
