Nebula vs Neko
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?
Nebula
Scalable overlay networking tool from Slack
VS
Neko
Self-hosted virtual browser running in Docker
| Feature | Nebula | Neko |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 17,591 | ★ 21,884 |
| First released | 2019 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Tailscale | Browserling |
Why pick each one
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
Choose Neko if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 21.9k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Nebula or Neko better?
Neko is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Nebula if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Nebula and Neko free and open-source?
Yes. Nebula is licensed under MIT and Neko under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Nebula and Neko with Docker?
Nebula: check the project docs for container support. Neko: yes.