NetBird vs tinc
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
tinc
VPN daemon that builds an encrypted mesh network
| Feature | NetBird | tinc |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 98 · Excellent | 76 · Good |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 29,473 | ★ 2,248 |
| First released | 2021 | 2003 |
| Replaces | Tailscale, ZeroTier | Hamachi, ZeroTier |
What are NetBird and tinc?
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
tinc
tinc is an open-source VPN daemon that uses tunneling and encryption to create a secure private mesh network between hosts. It is fully self-hosted and automatically routes traffic between peers.
- Mesh VPN routing
- Automatic full-mesh peering
- Encrypted tunnels
- Self-hosted daemon
NetBird vs tinc: key differences
NetBird is written in Go, while tinc is built with C. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for NetBird versus GPL-2.0 for tinc. Tinc is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for NetBird. Tinc is the more established project (first released 2003), while NetBird arrived in 2021. NetBird has the considerably larger community, at 29,473 GitHub stars versus 2,248. NetBird lists first-class Docker deployment; tinc does not.
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 tinc if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (2.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is NetBird or tinc 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 tinc free and open-source?
Yes. NetBird is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and tinc under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NetBird and tinc with Docker?
NetBird: yes. tinc: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, NetBird or tinc?
tinc has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for NetBird. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.