Free plans and prices
Both services list a free tier. Their limits are counted differently, and that drives the choice for a household. Figures are from each pricing page on 30 October 2026. [1][2]
| Item | Tailscale | ZeroTier |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Personal, $0 [1] | Personal, free [2] |
| Free limits | Up to 6 users; unlimited user devices; up to 3 ACL groups; up to 50 tagged resources to start, more at $1 a month each [1] | 10 devices; 1 network; 1 admin [2] |
| Commercial use on free plan | No: pricing FAQ says non-commercial use only [1] | No: personal, non-commercial only [2] |
| First paid tier | Standard, $8 per user per month [1] | Essential, $18 per month with 10 devices, $2 per extra device [2] |
| Larger tier | Not compared here | Scale, $179 per month with 100 devices [2] |
| Self-hosted controller | Not on pricing page | Enterprise plan lists self-hosted and air-gapped [2] |
Worked example: a household with 12 devices
Picture a fictional household of four people: four phones, four laptops, a NAS, a desktop, a travel router and a remote KVM, 12 devices in all. On Tailscale's Personal plan, four users are within the 6-user limit, and user devices are unlimited. Some of those devices, like the NAS or KVM, may be tagged rather than owned by a user. Tagged resources have their own cap of 50. On ZeroTier's Personal plan, 12 devices exceed the 10 included. ZeroTier lists no add-on device price for Personal, so the next step is Essential at $18 a month. [1][2]
When a direct path fails: relays
Both services try to connect devices directly and relay only when they must. Tailscale describes three connection types: direct, peer relay and DERP relay. Use tailscale status or tailscale ping to see which one a peer is using. DERP is a last resort when hard NAT or firewalls block a direct path, and Tailscale says DERP servers cannot decrypt the traffic they forward. Opening UDP port 41641 or enabling NAT-PMP or UPnP can improve the odds of a direct link. [3][4]
ZeroTier uses direct UDP and falls back to a TCP relay run by ZeroTier Inc. when UDP is blocked. Its docs warn of more latency than UDP, and say it can take a few minutes to switch unless you force TCP relay in local.conf. You can also host your own relay. [5]
| Behavior | Tailscale | ZeroTier |
|---|---|---|
| Default path | Direct UDP [3] | Direct UDP [5] |
| First fallback | Peer relay in your tailnet, if set up [3][4] | TCP relay run by ZeroTier Inc. [5] |
| Last fallback | DERP relay, encrypted end to end [4] | Same TCP relay, or your own relay [5] |
| How to check | tailscale status or tailscale ping [3] | zerotier-cli info shows TUNNELED [5] |
Router support: GL.iNet and OpenWrt
On GL.iNet firmware 4, both apps arrived in 4.2 and are marked beta. Both support models such as the Flint 2 (GL-MT6000) and Beryl AX (GL-MT3000), and both exclude some low-memory models. Tailscale on GL.iNet can advertise LAN or WAN subnets, renamed in firmware 4.9, which you approve in the Tailscale admin console. It can also send router clients through a custom exit node. [6][7]
ZeroTier on GL.iNet can allow access to the router's LAN or WAN side, but each needs a managed route in the ZeroTier network. GL.iNet notes that Legacy Central allows one custom route for free, while New Central requires an Essential plan or higher. Its doc describes Legacy Central as for accounts created before November 2025. A new free account may therefore not reach devices behind the router without paying. [7]
On plain OpenWrt, the OpenWrt wiki documents a tailscale package installed with apk (apk update, then apk add tailscale). It warns that the bundled version can be outdated and that OpenWrt's packaged binary is about 30 MB, which matters on small flash. ZeroTier's docs say ZeroTierOne is available from the OpenWrt project and bundled on GL.iNet and Teltonika firmware, configured through UCI or LuCI. [8][9]
Address and routing gotchas
Tailscale gives devices addresses from 100.64.0.0/10, a block reserved for ISP carrier-grade NAT. It warns of conflicts with other VPNs that use the same space. GL.iNet advises against running Tailscale, ZeroTier, OpenVPN client or WireGuard client together on one router because of routing conflicts. Pick one overlay per router. [10][6][7]
Who fits each
| If you... | Lean toward | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Have a family with many devices | Tailscale | Unlimited user devices for up to 6 users free [1] |
| Need to reach LAN devices behind a GL.iNet router on a new free account | Tailscale | ZeroTier New Central needs Essential for managed routes [7] |
| Use it for a business | A paid plan on either | Both free plans are non-commercial [1][2] |
| Require a self-hosted, air-gapped controller with vendor support | ZeroTier Enterprise | Listed on its pricing page [2] |
| Have a very small-flash OpenWrt router | Check space first | Tailscale binary about 30 MB per OpenWrt wiki [8] |
Questions before you decide
What happens when a direct connection is impossible?
Tailscale tries a peer relay in your tailnet, then falls back to its DERP relays, which forward WireGuard-encrypted traffic they cannot decrypt. ZeroTier falls back to a TCP relay run by ZeroTier Inc. when UDP is blocked. Its docs warn this adds latency and can take a few minutes to kick in.
Can I run both on the same GL.iNet router?
GL.iNet does not recommend it. Its Tailscale and ZeroTier pages each list the other, along with OpenVPN and WireGuard clients, as features not to run at the same time because of routing conflicts.
Is the free ZeroTier plan fine for a small business?
No. ZeroTier's pricing page lists the Personal plan for personal, non-commercial use, and its paid plans include commercial use. Tailscale's pricing FAQ likewise says its free Personal plan is only suitable for non-commercial use.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- Tailscale: Pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- ZeroTier: Pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Tailscale Docs: Connection types Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Tailscale Docs: DERP servers Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- ZeroTier Docs: Relay Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- GL.iNet Router Docs (firmware 4): Tailscale Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- GL.iNet Router Docs (firmware 4): ZeroTier Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- OpenWrt Wiki: Tailscale Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- ZeroTier Docs: OpenWrt Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Tailscale Docs: What are these 100.x.y.z addresses? Accessed 30 Oct 2026
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