Alternatives / Twingate
Looking for an open source Twingate alternative? We compared 6 open source zero-trust access and VPN tools by license, control plane, self-hosting, and maintenance. NetBird, Pangolin, and Firezone are the closest, while Tailscale has a proprietary control plane and WireGuard is only a protocol.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
| Alternative | Best for | License |
|---|---|---|
| Tailscale | Easy WireGuard mesh (proprietary control plane) | BSD-3-Clause core clients / proprietary control plane |
| NetBird | Self-hostable WireGuard zero-trust network | BSD-3-Clause + AGPL-3.0 components |
| Pangolin | Zero-trust access to apps and infrastructure | AGPL-3.0 + commercial license |
| OpenVPN | Long-established VPN | GPL-2.0 (community project) |
| Firezone | WireGuard-based VPN replacement | Apache-2.0 + Elastic License 2.0 components |
| WireGuard | VPN protocol only | GPL-2.0 for Linux kernel implementation |
We looked for open-source tools that give remote users private access to resources like Twingate. We verified each project's license, recent activity, stars, and self-hosting in its repository, and flag the parts that are not open. See our methodology for the full criteria.
NetBird is a WireGuard overlay network with zero-trust controls, SSO, MFA, posture checks, and an API, and can be self-hosted. Pangolin offers zero-trust access to infrastructure and self-hosted apps with WireGuard tunnels and centralized access rules, with connectors that work behind firewalls.
Firezone is a WireGuard-based VPN replacement with simple policies and identity provider sync. OpenVPN has a long track record, but its managed CloudConnexa service is paid, starting at $7 per connection per month.
Tailscale's clients are open source but its coordination control plane is proprietary, so it is not a fully self-hosted choice. WireGuard is only a protocol with no management interface, so you need a tool such as NetBird or Firezone for multi-user access. Pangolin has a commercial license for some editions, and Firezone includes components under the Elastic License 2.0.
NetBird is BSD-3-Clause with AGPL-3.0 components. Pangolin is AGPL-3.0 with a commercial license. Firezone is Apache-2.0 with Elastic License 2.0 components. OpenVPN community is GPL-2.0, and WireGuard's Linux kernel implementation is GPL-2.0.
Tailscale, NetBird, Pangolin, Firezone, OpenVPN, and WireGuard all had commits within weeks of this update.
Twingate is a proprietary SaaS whose control plane and connectors are managed by Twingate, with pricing per user. Open-source options can be self-hosted so you control the coordination server, but you also manage uptime, identity integration, and upgrades.
Tailscale is a WireGuard mesh networking platform with automatic NAT traversal, MagicDNS, exit nodes, subnet routing, ACLs, SSH, and broad platform support. Core clients and DERP relay code are open source while the official control plane is proprietary.
Pricing: Free and paid hosted plans; complete official coordination stack is not self-hostable.
NetBird is a self-hostable WireGuard overlay network with peer-to-peer tunnels, NAT traversal, identity integration, network policies, posture checks, DNS, exit nodes, and a web management interface.
Pricing: Open source and self-hostable; hosted plans and support may be paid.
Pangolin is dual-licensed AGPL-3.0 and commercially for identity-aware application access, secure tunnels, policy management, SSO, MFA, audit logs, and connectivity behind NAT and firewalls.
Pricing: AGPL-3.0 option available; commercial licensing and hosted services may be offered separately.
OpenVPN is a long-running remote access VPN. The community project is GPL-2.0 and can be self-hosted, while OpenVPN Inc. sells the Access Server for self-hosting with a management layer and CloudConnexa, a managed zero trust service priced from $7 per connection per month. The page lists it as open source, but the commercial products are not.
Pricing: Community edition is free; Access Server and CloudConnexa are paid.
Firezone is a WireGuard-based remote access platform with identity policies, lightweight gateways, SSO, resource-level access, NAT traversal, and self-hostable infrastructure. Licensing is mixed across components.
Pricing: Open-source and mixed-license components are available; hosted and enterprise services may be paid.
WireGuard is a GPL-2.0 encrypted networking protocol and implementation. It provides the secure data plane but leaves discovery, coordination, identity, DNS, routing, and policy management to other tools or manual configuration.
Pricing: Free and open source; coordination, routing, and infrastructure are your responsibility.
| Alternative | Type | License | Self-hosted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tailscale | Mesh VPN | BSD-3-Clause clients; proprietary control plane | No (coordination is hosted) | Quick setup |
| NetBird | Zero-trust VPN | BSD-3-Clause + AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Closest open alternative |
| Pangolin | Access platform | AGPL-3.0 + commercial | Yes | Self-hosted apps |
| OpenVPN | VPN | GPL-2.0 (community) | Yes | Traditional VPNs |
| Firezone | Access platform | Apache-2.0 + ELv2 parts | Yes | Simple policies |
| WireGuard | Protocol | GPL-2.0 (kernel) | Yes | Building blocks |
Want a fully self-hostable zero-trust network
NetBird offers SSO, MFA, posture checks, and an API, and can be self-hosted.
Want access to private web apps behind firewalls
Pangolin gives zero-trust access with connectors that work behind firewalls.
Want the easiest setup and accept a hosted control plane
Tailscale is quick to set up, but its coordination service is proprietary.
Want a simple VPN replacement
Firezone offers simple policies and identity provider sync on WireGuard.