Pritunl vs Tailscale
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?
Pritunl
Enterprise VPN server built on OpenVPN and WireGuard
VS
Tailscale
Zero-config mesh VPN built on WireGuard
| Feature | Pritunl | Tailscale |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, docker | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,997 | ★ 34,934 |
| First released | 2013 | 2019 |
| Replaces | OpenVPN Access Server | ZeroTier |
Why pick each one
Choose Pritunl if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (5k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Choose Tailscale if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 34.9k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Pritunl or Tailscale better?
Tailscale is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Pritunl if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Pritunl and Tailscale free and open-source?
Yes. Pritunl is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Tailscale under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pritunl and Tailscale with Docker?
Pritunl: yes. Tailscale: check the project docs for container support.