NetBird

Open source

WireGuard-based mesh VPN and zero-trust network access

NetBird connects devices and servers into an encrypted private WireGuard mesh with centrally managed access policies. No complex firewall rules. Self-hostable, cloud option available.

VPN & Remote AccessOpen sourceSelf-hostedWeb
Visit official website
CategoryVPN & Remote Access
AccessSelf-hosted
LicenseVerify license
Founded2021
Profile views53
Latest source0.80.0
Overview

What is NetBird?

NetBird launched in 2021 and has grown to over 10,000 GitHub stars. In January 2026 the company closed a $10M Series A led by Pace Capital. The architecture is peer-to-peer: clients connect directly over WireGuard tunnels, brokered by a coordination server. Firewall traversal uses STUN/TURN when direct routing is not possible.

Read the full overview

The management plane provides SSO/OIDC user identity integration, access control rules, and activity logs from a single dashboard. NetBird operates in over 30 countries with teams in Europe, North America, and APAC relying on it for remote access and service-to-service connectivity.

NetBirdVPN & Remote Access

WireGuard-based mesh VPN and zero-trust network access

Open sourceSelf-hostedFreemium
Why teams use it

Key capabilities

  • Peer-to-peer WireGuard tunnels - automatic NAT traversal, no open inbound ports required.
  • SSO integration - connect Okta, Azure AD, or Google for user-based access control.
  • Network policies - group-based access rules defining which peers can reach which resources.
  • Self-hosted control plane - run the management server and TURN relay on your own infrastructure.
  • Activity logs - see which peers are connected and audit access events.
  • Mobile clients - iOS and Android apps for remote workers.
API access Open-source code Self-hosted deployment Web
Why it matters

Traditional VPNs were designed for the hub-and-spoke enterprise of 2005, not distributed teams and cloud workloads. NetBird's mesh topology keeps latency low and limits the blast radius of a compromised node by access policy, not network perimeter. The WireGuard foundation provides modern cryptography with a minimal attack surface - roughly 4,000 lines of kernel code versus OpenVPN's 100,000+.

“WireGuard-based mesh VPN and zero-trust network access”

Technical details

Access
Self-hosted
Source model
Open source
Founded
2021
Pricing model
Freemium
API
Available
Before you shortlist

What to verify

Profile audiences: DevOps Engineers, System Administrators, IT Teams.

  • Confirm current features, licensing and support terms.
  • Validate deployment, data location and access control.
  • Test integrations, exports and recovery workflows.
Evaluation methodology →
Community experience

Reviews of NetBird

No published reviews yet.

Loading review form…

Official product resources

Explore NetBird

WireGuard-based mesh VPN and zero-trust network access

Get started with NetBird View documentation
  • Open source
  • Self-hosted
  • API available
  • Web access