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    Tailscale has raised $160M

    (tailscale.com)
    655 points louis-paul | 18 comments | 08 Apr 25 10:36 UTC | HN request time: 1.039s | source | bottom
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    elAhmo ◴[08 Apr 25 14:09 UTC] No.43621983[source]▶
    When I saw the new round, I was instantly worried about change in direction that will most likely come with this, and effectively drive away regular users from a tool that seems universally loved.

    Similar sentiment can be seen in the discussion from three years ago [1] when they raised $100M.

    [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31259950

    replies(5): >>43622328 #>>43622975 #>>43624385 #>>43624453 #>>43625024 #
    1. braginini ◴[08 Apr 25 14:38 UTC] No.43622328[source]▶
    Try netbird which is an open-source alternative to free yourself from worries xD https://github.com/netbirdio/netbird
    replies(4): >>43623563 #>>43624205 #>>43626509 #>>43630260 #
    2. 650REDHAIR ◴[08 Apr 25 16:27 UTC] No.43623563[source]▶
    Thank you for sharing this link!

    I was about to slog through AI search results looking for an alternative.

    replies(1): >>43623903 #
    3. drcongo ◴[08 Apr 25 16:56 UTC] No.43623903[source]▶
    I've been tracking this space for a while just out of annoyance that Tailscale offers ssh on the free tier, then not on the "starter" paid tier. Netbird is by far the best of the alternatives that I've tried.
    replies(3): >>43627197 #>>43627320 #>>43627736 #
    4. arcanemachiner ◴[08 Apr 25 17:22 UTC] No.43624205[source]▶
    I've always been on the outside looking in, so I've never used Tailscale or its open-source brethren.

    Would this service be comparable to Headscale[0]?

    [0] https://github.com/juanfont/headscale

    replies(2): >>43624577 #>>43625265 #
    5. ◴[08 Apr 25 17:53 UTC] No.43624577[source]▶
    6. acheong08 ◴[08 Apr 25 18:51 UTC] No.43625265[source]▶
    Headscale is server only. Netbird is the whole stack (basically does the same thing but completely different software/implementation)
    replies(1): >>43626804 #
    7. resiros ◴[08 Apr 25 21:11 UTC] No.43626509[source]▶
    I use personally for my home network. Very easy to use and quite mature. I'd highly recommend.
    8. bjackman ◴[08 Apr 25 21:49 UTC] No.43626804{3}[source]▶
    But the tailscale client is open source too
    replies(2): >>43628505 #>>43628539 #
    9. CharlesW ◴[08 Apr 25 22:44 UTC] No.43627197{3}[source]▶
    Their Personal Plus (the non-business "starter" plan) does offer SSH, FWIW.
    10. stavros ◴[08 Apr 25 23:02 UTC] No.43627320{3}[source]▶
    Can you comment a bit on what you liked about them, especially compared to Tailscale?
    replies(1): >>43630045 #
    11. mkl ◴[09 Apr 25 00:15 UTC] No.43627736{3}[source]▶
    Have you tried ZeroTier? Their free plan's been working well for me. I haven't tried NetBird.
    12. Imustaskforhelp ◴[09 Apr 25 03:01 UTC] No.43628505{4}[source]▶
    Doesn't that also then make tailscale completely open source?
    replies(2): >>43631047 #>>43648329 #
    13. pilif ◴[09 Apr 25 03:08 UTC] No.43628539{4}[source]▶
    Not on Windows and iOS. And on the mac, the most useable client isn’t open source either.
    14. drcongo ◴[09 Apr 25 08:30 UTC] No.43630045{4}[source]▶
    Well, it's important to start with saying I didn't like it as much as Tailscale, but I liked it a lot more than any of the others I tried. The UI for their dashboard is very good and getting it up and running was pretty trouble free though the docs could be a little better.
    replies(1): >>43630054 #
    15. stavros ◴[09 Apr 25 08:31 UTC] No.43630054{5}[source]▶
    Ah, that makes sense thank you!
    16. regisso ◴[09 Apr 25 09:09 UTC] No.43630260[source]▶
    I highly recommend netbird, after using it for two years. The whole stack can be self hosted is open source develop by an european based company.
    17. udev4096 ◴[09 Apr 25 11:44 UTC] No.43631047{5}[source]▶
    What? The original coordination server, which is not running headscale, is closed source so yes, they are still a closed source company
    18. bjackman ◴[10 Apr 25 21:44 UTC] No.43648329{5}[source]▶
    No their "real" backend is proprietary. Headscale is a separate implementation that they also maintain. It's intended for self-hosting your individual Tailnet. I'm assuming if you tried to use it as a corporate VPN you would run into limitations.

    Their clients for proprietary OSs are at least partly proprietary too.

    To be honest I find this all a very reasonable set of compromises. It means I'm comfortable using their proprietary service without feeling like I'm getting locked into a completely closed ecosystem.