NetBird vs Netmaker
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
NetBird
Connect devices into a secure WireGuard-based overlay network
VS
Netmaker
WireGuard-based virtual networks with a management server
| Feature | NetBird | Netmaker |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 98 · Excellent | 93 · Excellent |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 29,473 | ★ 11,800 |
| First released | 2021 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Tailscale, ZeroTier | Tailscale, ZeroTier |
What are NetBird and Netmaker?
NetBird
NetBird is an open-source platform that creates secure private networks over WireGuard with peer-to-peer connectivity and centralized access control. The full stack can be self-hosted.
- WireGuard mesh overlay
- Self-hostable management
- SSO and access policies
- NAT traversal
Netmaker
Netmaker is an open-source platform for building and managing fast WireGuard-based virtual networks. It provides a self-hosted server and dashboard for connecting devices across locations.
- WireGuard mesh networks
- Self-hosted control server
- Web dashboard
- Site-to-site VPN
NetBird vs Netmaker: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for NetBird versus Apache-2.0 for Netmaker. NetBird is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Netmaker. NetBird has the considerably larger community, at 29,473 GitHub stars versus 11,800.
Why pick each one
Choose NetBird if…
- WireGuard performance
- SSO integration
- Full stack self-hostable
Watch out for
- Involved self-host setup
- Younger than Tailscale
Choose Netmaker if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 11.8k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is NetBird or Netmaker better?
Neither is universally better. NetBird has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are NetBird and Netmaker free and open-source?
Yes. NetBird is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Netmaker under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NetBird and Netmaker with Docker?
NetBird: yes. Netmaker: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, NetBird or Netmaker?
NetBird has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Netmaker. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.