NetBird vs trzsz
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?
NetBird
Connect devices into a secure WireGuard-based overlay network
VS
trzsz
File transfer over SSH with progress and resume
| Feature | NetBird | trzsz |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 28,139 | ★ 1,439 |
| First released | 2021 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Tailscale, ZeroTier | lrzsz, SCP |
Why pick each one
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
Choose trzsz if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is NetBird or trzsz better?
Neither is universally better. NetBird has the larger community, while trzsz is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are NetBird and trzsz free and open-source?
Yes. NetBird is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and trzsz under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NetBird and trzsz with Docker?
NetBird: yes. trzsz: check the project docs for container support.