Software-defined networking platform
Visit WebsiteThe Bottom Line
Entry price
Free plan available, paid tiers above
Biggest pro
Software-defined networking
Biggest con
Performance overhead
TL;DR - Zerotier
- ZeroTier is a software-defined networking tool for virtual networks
- It creates secure, private networks connecting devices anywhere
- Free for up to 25 devices, paid plans for more
What is Zerotier?
Available on: Web
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Software-defined networking
- Easy setup
- Cross-platform
- Good for mesh networks
- Free for small networks
Cons
- Performance overhead
- Less proven than alternatives
- Some complexity
- Paid for larger networks
- Documentation could improve
Ratings Across the Web
Zerotier holds an aggregate rating of 4.8 out of 5 from 5 reviews across G2, last checked March 18, 2026.
What people say
“ZeroTier One is so easy to setup that you have it up and running so quickly that it is hard to believe. Don't spend hours fighting with VPNs and firewalls when you can add remote clients to a corporate SDWAN in a matter of seconds.”via G2
Ratings aggregated from independent review platforms. Learn more
Key Features
Pricing
Zerotier offers a generous free tier with optional paid upgrades for advanced features.
Is Zerotier worth the price?
ZeroTier Free tier (10 devices, 1 network) is genuinely useful for personal VPN and home lab use.
The paid plans underwent a major restructuring, Essential at $18/month (10 devices + $2/additional) and Scale at $179/month (100 devices + $1.80/additional) replaced the old Professional/Business tiers. The per-device pricing model means costs scale linearly with fleet size, which becomes expensive at 200+ devices compared to flat-rate alternatives.
The new Quantum tier offers post-quantum cryptography for mission-critical infrastructure, a unique differentiator no competitor matches yet.
Hidden Costs & Gotchas
Per-device pricing on paid plans scales linearly. Essential at $2/device above 10 means 50 devices = $18 + (40 x $2) = $98/month. Scale at $1.80/device above 100 means 500 devices = $179 + (400 x $1.80) = $899/month
Free tier was reduced from 25 devices to 10 devices and from unlimited networks to 1 network. Existing free users may have been grandfathered, but new signups get the reduced limits
Network admin seats are limited per tier
1 (Personal), 5 (Essential), 10 (Scale). Additional admin seats require upgrading to a higher tier, you cannot add admins a la carte
Self-hosted controllers are possible (open source) but eliminate central management features, audit logging, and support. Running your own controller saves money but adds operational burden
Audit logs are only available on Essential and above (30-day retention). Scale gets extended retention. Compliance-focused organizations may need Scale tier purely for audit requirements
No SLA on Essential or Personal. Only Enterprise and Quantum tiers include SLA guarantees. Mission-critical networks need Enterprise tier minimum
Bandwidth is not metered, but ZeroTier relies on peer-to-peer connections. If direct connections fail, traffic routes through ZeroTier relays, which may introduce latency and are capacity-limited on free/lower tiers
How Zerotier Compares to Competitors
Tailscale is the closest competitor, free for up to 100 devices (3 users), Personal Pro at $48/year for 1 user with unlimited devices. Tailscale is easier to set up (uses WireGuard under the hood, integrates with existing identity providers) and has a more generous free tier. For small teams, Tailscale is significantly cheaper.
Nebula (by Slack/Defined Networking) is fully open source and self-hosted, zero recurring cost but requires operating your own lighthouse nodes and managing certificates. Good for teams with DevOps capacity. WireGuard is the underlying protocol (used by Tailscale and others), free and open source, but requires manual configuration of each peer, no automatic NAT traversal, and no central management. ZeroTier differentiates through its Layer 2 virtual networking (vs Tailscale Layer 3), which enables multicast and broadcast, essential for legacy protocols and some IoT use cases. The Quantum tier with post-quantum cryptography is unique to ZeroTier. For most teams, Tailscale offers better value. ZeroTier wins for Layer 2 requirements, IoT fleets, and post-quantum security needs.
Reviews
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Zerotier FAQ
How does ZeroTier facilitate secure connections between devices?
Which teams would benefit most from using ZeroTier?
How is ZeroTier priced?
What kind of trade-offs should users consider when choosing ZeroTier?
Can ZeroTier be used to connect cloud resources with on-premise infrastructure?
How does ZeroTier compare to Tailscale for virtual networking?
Does ZeroTier support cross-platform compatibility for connected devices?
Source: zerotier.com