NetBird
An open-source zero-trust network platform built on the WireGuard protocol. It uses a peer-to-peer mesh architecture and provides identity management, NAT traversal, device posture checks, and fine-grained access control policies. It is designed as a replacement for traditional VPNs to enable secure remote access.
Timeline (last 90 days)
NetBird is a zero-trust mesh network platform based on WireGuard, adding an identity management, NAT traversal, and policy distribution layer on top of WireGuard.
NetBird uses a peer-to-peer mesh architecture where devices establish direct WireGuard tunnels with each other whenever possible, falling back to a relay server only when a direct connection is not feasible.
NetBird can integrate with identity providers such as Google, GitHub, SAML, and LDAP, and supports device posture checks (minimum OS patch level, antivirus software, disk encryption, local firewall, auto-lock screen, etc.).
NetBird's free tier supports up to 100 peers and requires no credit card.
NetBird's management plane is responsible only for key exchange and policy distribution, while actual traffic flows through the peer-to-peer data plane.
NetBird can be installed via the NetBird App in the TrueNAS app store, with WireGuard defaulting to port 51821; manual Docker deployment requires --net=host mode and the two capabilities NET_ADMIN and SYS_MODULE.
The NetBird client supports Windows 10/11, macOS 10.15+ (including Apple Silicon), mainstream Linux distributions, iOS 12+, and Android 8.0+.
NetBird's policy engine supports service-level control, allowing access permissions to be defined individually for each service, restricting ports and protocols, setting time-based and geolocation-based access boundaries, with policy changes taking effect in real time.
Compared to Tailscale, both the NetBird client and server are open source, whereas Tailscale's server is closed source.
NetBird supports DNS-based service discovery, allowing friendly names such as truenas.aj-hub.netbird.io:11434 to replace volatile IPs, and supports Split Tunneling.
All Facts (10)
NetBird is a zero-trust mesh network platform based on WireGuard, adding an identity management, NAT traversal, and policy distribution layer on top of WireGuard.
50%UnverifiedNetBird uses a peer-to-peer mesh architecture where devices establish direct WireGuard tunnels with each other whenever possible, falling back to a relay server only when a direct connection is not feasible.
50%UnverifiedNetBird can integrate with identity providers such as Google, GitHub, SAML, and LDAP, and supports device posture checks (minimum OS patch level, antivirus software, disk encryption, local firewall, auto-lock screen, etc.).
50%UnverifiedNetBird's free tier supports up to 100 peers and requires no credit card.
50%UnverifiedNetBird's management plane is responsible only for key exchange and policy distribution, while actual traffic flows through the peer-to-peer data plane.
50%UnverifiedNetBird can be installed via the NetBird App in the TrueNAS app store, with WireGuard defaulting to port 51821; manual Docker deployment requires --net=host mode and the two capabilities NET_ADMIN and SYS_MODULE.
50%UnverifiedThe NetBird client supports Windows 10/11, macOS 10.15+ (including Apple Silicon), mainstream Linux distributions, iOS 12+, and Android 8.0+.
50%UnverifiedNetBird's policy engine supports service-level control, allowing access permissions to be defined individually for each service, restricting ports and protocols, setting time-based and geolocation-based access boundaries, with policy changes taking effect in real time.
50%UnverifiedCompared to Tailscale, both the NetBird client and server are open source, whereas Tailscale's server is closed source.
50%UnverifiedNetBird supports DNS-based service discovery, allowing friendly names such as truenas.aj-hub.netbird.io:11434 to replace volatile IPs, and supports Split Tunneling.
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