Friendly reminder that Tailscale is VC-funded and driving towards IPO

Comments

• httperror418@lemmy.world ⁨49⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

  I’m unsure if it has been mentioned, but a similar tool which is open source (you can run the backend unlike tailscale), netbird

  netbird.io

  source
• HelloRoot@lemy.lol ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  a long runway that allows us to become profitable when needed

  Switch to self-hosting headscale when they enshittify in an attempt to become profitable, duh

  source

  • kratoz29@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

    I mainly use Tailscale (and Zerotier) to access my CGNATED LAN, headscale will require me to pay a subscription for a VPS wouldn’t it?

    I really envy the guys who say only use them because they’re lazy to open ports or want a more secure approach, I use them because I NEED them lol.

    If (when?) Tailscale enshitify I’ll stick with ZT a bit until it goes the same way lol, I started using it 1st, I don’t know if ZT came before Tailscale though.

    source

    • not_amm@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      Same. I mean, I was already looking to rent a VPS, but at least there’s some time so I can save money until things get weird.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • three@lemmy.zip ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Been meaning to do this. Tailscale was just there and easy to implement when I set my stuff up. Is it relatively simple to transition?

    source
  • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

    Bookmarking “headscale”!

    I only recently started using Tailscale because it makes connecting to my local network through a Windows VM running in Boxes on Linux a hell of a lot easier than figuring out how to set up a networked bridge.

    This sounds like a great alternative, and it looks like it can even work on a Synology NAS.

    source
• lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Tailscale never sat right with me. The convenience was nice, but - like other VC-funded projects - it followed that ever-familiar pattern of popping up out of nowhere and gaining massive popularity seemingly overnight. 🚩🚩🚩

  I can’t say I’m surprised by any of this.

  source

  • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Would you rather a difficult and hard to use program?

    Easy to use means people will want to adopt it, and that’s what VC companies want. Nobody wants to pay millions of dollars to make a program that nobody wants to use.

    source

    • lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      My problem isn’t directly with the program - my problem lies with VC funding in general. Because they will come back for their money, and the project will inevitably enshittify and shove out enthusiasts.

      source
• milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Tailscale is great. The principle concern to me is that your super easy mesh network depends on Tailscale so if they want it they have control, and if they change their pricing or options you depend on them, and though they can’t see the data you send they can see the topology of your network and where all your computers/devices are.

  I use Nebula, which is more work to set up and doesn’t have some of the features, not But if you slap the ‘lighthouse’ (administrating node) on a cheap VPS it works great. And it has some advantages. But Nebula also troubles me: though it’s fully open source and fully in your control, the documentation isn’t great. Instead, you can now get “managed nebula”, which puts you in the same problem as Tailscale: the company sees and controls your network topology. I fear the company (Defined Networking) is trying to push things that way. Even their android app you can’t fully configure unless you use their ‘managed’ service.

  For now, Nebula is great, and my preferred mesh network (I looked into all the main ones). And for Tailscale you can run the administration server yourself with Headscale and be fully in your control.

  ---

  Actually I wish Tailscale the best as a profitable business. They’ve created a fantastic service and system. But for me, I’d rather my network be in my own hands and for my own eyes. And, as is OP’s main point, once they have enough dependent users, the service might turn much worse.

  source

  • avidamoeba@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Nice to hear your experience with Nebula. I considered it when I went with Tailscale years ago. Now you gotta migrate off of lemm.ee as it’s shutting down soon. :D

    source

    • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      Yep. It’s on the TODO list…

      source
  • dangercake@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

    Netbird seemed to go in a similar way, though still good. I want to try zrok next, looks interesting

    source

    • httperror418@lemmy.world ⁨48⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

      Netbird you can still run unlike tailscale with headscale right?

      At least hope the backend can be fully ran ?

      source

      • -> View More Comments
• Wahots@pawb.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Are there better alternatives? I was planning on using tailscale until now. :P

  source

  • avidamoeba@lemmy.ca ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    For me personally, the next step is using Headscale - a FOSS replacement of the Tailscale control server. The Tailscale clients are already open source and can be used with Headscale.

    Someone else could give other suggestions.

    source

    • JoMiran@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I’ve been meaning to switch from Tailscale to Headscale but I have been to busy. Do you have any instructions, write-ups/walk-thrus you could recommend to set this up? I have three sites with 1GB internet I can use. One has a whole house UPS but dynamic IP, another has a static IP but no UPS, and the third is Google fiber with no UPS, but I can use the app to get the current IP anytime. I also own a number of domain names I could use.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • exu@feditown.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    A bunch really, Headscale with Tailscale client, Nebula VPN, Netmaker, Zerotier.

    source
  • MangoPenguin@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Wireguard.

    Many various ways to manage it, and it's built in to most routers already.

    source
  • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I use Nebula. It’s lightweight, well-engineered and fully under your control. But you do need a computer with a fixed IP and accessible port. (E.g. a cheap VPS)

    You can also use “managed nebula” if you want to enjoy the same risk of the control point of your network depending on a new business ;-)

    source
  • candyman337@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I use the built in wireguard VPN in my router. If you just need local network access elsewhere it’s usually really easy to setup if your router provides it. I would look into it!

    source
  • 4k93n2@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    ive been eyeing up netbird but havnt got around to trying it yet. its fully open source at least, and theyre based in germany is anyone cares about that

    source

    • avidamoeba@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Just looked at NetBird, it looks suspiciously similar to Tailscale in what it does except they also got an open-source control server. They have self-hosting doc right in their web site. Looks interesting. Can’t find much about the company other than it’s based in Berlin and it’s currently private - Wiretrustee UG.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
• irmadlad@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Tailscale is a business seeking profit? (clutches pearls gasp)

  source

  • LandedGentry@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

    Literally the main reason everyone here hates plex too so I don’t get why you’re acting like this isn’t a valid concern

    source

    • irmadlad@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      …and what are current Plex users, that don’t like the direction Plex has taken, doing ? Riding the next horse. When Tailscale gets unbearable with their business practices, there are a lot of other options. Tailscale is just easy and it flippin’ works.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
• gravitywell@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Just use normal wireguard, why do you need tails or heads at all?

  source

  • ShortN0te@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Tailscale offers way more then just wireguard. ACLs, NAT traversal etc. etc.

    While some use cases can be replaced with traditional wireguard, others not.

    source

    • gravitywell@lemmy.ml ⁨40⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

      I’m curious what kind of a use case you can think of that “traditional wireguard” can’t replace tailscale for.

      Tailscale has a maximum of 3 users on their free tier, so it seems like a super limited use case of people who DIY their own servers for Jellyfin or HomAssistant or whatever, but just a tad too lazy to setup their own Wireguard service in addition to whatever it is they’d be using it for… I think the vast majority of free tailscale users have simply never actually tried wg-easy , because if they did they wouldnt need to use a third party service.

      source
  • TheFrogThatFlies@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Accessing your home network that is kept inside a NAT by your ISP, without you having to acquire an online server somewhere.

    source

    • gravitywell@lemmy.ml ⁨36⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

      Except you do need to acquire an online server somewhere, its just one that tailscale owns and controls instead of you, and when tailscale decides to enshittify and kill of their free tier you’ll be left wondering why you didn’t just rent a cheap VPS sooner.

      Ask yourself, what is tailscale getting out of those “free” users that makes it worth providing services to them that they’d otherwsie need to rent a VPS for? What do you think their response would be if for example they got pressured about maybe too many users on their network are running a certain video streaming app?

      source
    • Flatfire@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      You really don’t though. I use wireguard myself under the same scenario without issue. You just need to use some form of dynamic DNS to mitigate the potentially changing IP. Even if you’re using Tailscale you’ll still need to have something running a service all the time anyways, so may as well skip the proxy.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
• 30p87@feddit.org ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  What’s the benefit over just WG?

  source

  • Starfighter@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    You dont need to manually handle the WG config files. This isn’t really an issue when it’s just and your two devices, but once you start supporting more people like non-technical family members, this gets really annoying really quickly.

    Tailscale (and headscale) just require you to log in which even those family members can manage and do the rest for you. They also support SSO in which case you wouldn’t even have to create new accounts.

    source
  • kratoz29@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

    WG is worthless in a CGNAT environment… And as we are in 2025 and time doesn’t stop it will be irrelevant for everyone someday, unless they fully support IPv6 (which I don’t know if they do, if you can use WG in a CGNATED network with IPv6 I’d like to know though, I am very rusty setting it up, but it might worth checking it out).

    source
  • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    No need to port forward, almost 0 config.

    tailscale.com/blog/how-tailscale-works

    source
  • avidamoeba@lemmy.ca ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Easier/zero configuration compared to manual WG setup. Takes care of ports and providing transparent relay when no direct connection works.

    source
  • lepinkainen@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Your tech illiterate grandma can set it up. It’s that easy.

    source
  • RxBrad@infosec.pub ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Personally, my IP (T-Mobile 5G) has CGNAT and blocks all incoming traffic. I can’t simply Wireguard into my network. Tailscale has been my intermediary to get remote access.

    I guess it’s time to figure how how to host an alternative on a VPS (I see Headscale mentioned in these comments).

    source

    • lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Tailscale uses WG though, so it’s fundamentally the same thing. Like you said - just do Headscale on a VPS.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
• ChickenAndRice@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  If I host headscale on a VPS, is that as seamless of an experience as Tailscale? And would I miss out on features, like the Tailscale dashboard? How does the experience change for me (an admin type) and my users (non-technical types)?

  source

  • MangoPenguin@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    There are some community webUIs for Headscale: https://headscale.net/stable/ref/integration/web-ui/

    I'm not sure otherwise how different the experience would be.

    source
• dieTasse@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Question: if I setup Headscale on my network, I would have to open a port on my router to connect to it right? And also if I setup Headscale with some cloud provider, could they theoretically go and use the setup to get to my home network? I know its unlikely, I just mean if the technology is like e2e from clients to my home network, or if the cloud headscale ‘centre’ would be also an unguarded entry point (from the perspective of cloud admins). I hope I am clear 😀 Thanks (btw you probably guess why I currently use Tailscale 😀)

  source

  • avidamoeba@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    if I setup Headscale on my network, I would have to open a port on my router to connect to it right?

    The way I understand it is:

    I would have to open a port on my router to connect to it right? Yes

    if I setup Headscale with some cloud provider, could they theoretically go and use the setup to get to my home network? If they are able to authorize their own node to your Headscale server, then their node gets on your network. If they take over that node, they might also be able to access your network, either by changing Headscale’s config to auth another node or perhaps if the Headscale node is part of the network, which it might be, I don’t recall. But I think that’s immaterial. If someone takes over the Headscale machine, they can get on your network either way.

    source

    • dieTasse@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      So there has to be some trust between you and the cloud provider then. Thank you

      source
• LiveLM@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I always knew it was too nice to stay non-shitty forever.
  Guess it’s time for me to pester my ISP to let me open some ports

  source
• deur@feddit.nl ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I’ve realized how easy it is to just actually run a network rather than half ass it with tailscale. I recommend this, it’s fun.

  source
• supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  pre-emptive pikachu strike

  Image

  source
• Goretantath@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Didnt even work for me, i use mullvad so if i wanted to use tailscale on my android to connect to my desktop, it wants me to disable mullvad unlike on my desktop…

  source

  • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I think that’s because both work on Android by being a VPN, and the system can’t handle doing two vpns simultaneously

    source

    • Archer@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      Well not really but most people don’t like manually editing routing tables

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • scrooge101@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

    Tailscale offers a paid Mullvad integration, where you can select most Mullvad servers as exit nodes. Works quite well.

    source
  • irmadlad@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Hmmm. I run PIA and Tailscale simultaneously on my devices. I did have to tinker around with the settings in PIA such as the VPN & Advanced Kill Switch. So, now Tailscale is for administrating remote servers, and PIA for everything else. DNS leak checks, etc all check out.

    source
  • danielquinn@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Yeah this was a deal-breaker for me too.

    source
• gemappliedfax@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Meh. I will keep using it

  source
• anachrohack@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  What is even the point of tailscale? What can it do that other VPN solutions don’t? I feel like this is a problem that was solved like 20 years ago and still we’re coming up with novel solutions for some reason. At my company they want to start using tailscale and I don’t see why we don’t just set up wireguard on a node in our k8s cluster instead

  source

  • lepinkainen@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Because I can have 3 phones, 2 tablets, 3 computers and 4 server on the same Tailnet in 15 minutes when starting from scratch

    source

    • anachrohack@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I guess that’s neat but I don’t think I’ve ever needed more than one connection to a corpo VPN at a time

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    If you are capable of setting up your own personal VPN, you don’t need Tailscale. You still may want to use it though, depending on how much of a novelty Network Fun is for you in your spare time.

    For me, the main advantage to Tailscale et al is that it is on a per device basis. So I can access my SMB shares or Frigate setup remotely while still keeping the rest of my internal network isolated( to the degree I trust the software and network setup). You CAN accomplish that with some fancy firewall rules and vlanning but… yeah.

    source
  • witx@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Because it offers much more than just VPN even though that’s what most users use it for. Read their documentation and you’ll see

    source
• Franconian_Nomad@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Was listening to some computer podcast a while ago and the co-host and ex- hacker was saying that more and more VPNs are getting targeted and it’s just a matter of time we see quite a bit of them owned. (I think he was talking about implementation of VPNs for remote workers, rather than actual VPN providers. Sorry, it was some time ago)

  Anyway, the host asked „What about wireguard?“

  And the co-host: „Oh yeah, wireguard is solid! But all the services building up on wireguard? … They’ll get popped.“

  Doesn’t have to be true, but something to keep in mind.

  source