EasyTier vs Nebula
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
| Feature | EasyTier | Nebula |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,019 | ★ 17,591 |
| First released | 2024 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Tailscale, ZeroTier | Tailscale |
Why pick each one
Choose EasyTier if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 13k GitHub stars
- Written in Rust
Choose Nebula if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 17.6k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is EasyTier or Nebula better?
Neither is universally better. Nebula has the larger community, while EasyTier is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are EasyTier and Nebula free and open-source?
Yes. EasyTier is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Nebula under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run EasyTier and Nebula with Docker?
EasyTier: yes. Nebula: check the project docs for container support.