innernet vs NetBird
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?
innernet
Private network system using WireGuard
VS
NetBird
Connect devices into a secure WireGuard-based overlay network
| Feature | innernet | NetBird |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Rust | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,520 | ★ 28,139 |
| First released | 2021 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Tailscale | Tailscale, ZeroTier |
Why pick each one
Choose innernet if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 5.5k GitHub stars
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose NetBird if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 28.1k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is innernet or NetBird better?
NetBird is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider innernet if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are innernet and NetBird free and open-source?
Yes. innernet is licensed under MIT and NetBird under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run innernet and NetBird with Docker?
innernet: check the project docs for container support. NetBird: yes.