Tailscale 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.
Not the right match-up?
Tailscale
Zero-config mesh VPN built on WireGuard
VS
tinc
VPN daemon that builds an encrypted mesh network
| Feature | Tailscale | tinc |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 34,934 | ★ 2,233 |
| First released | 2019 | 2003 |
| Replaces | ZeroTier | Hamachi, ZeroTier |
Why pick each one
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
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 Tailscale or tinc better?
Tailscale is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider tinc if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Tailscale and tinc free and open-source?
Yes. Tailscale is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and tinc under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Tailscale and tinc with Docker?
Tailscale: check the project docs for container support. tinc: check the project docs for container support.