Nebula vs Enclave Networks
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Nebula and Enclave Networks.
Quick Verdict
3.9/5
Nebula
0 reviews
3.5/5
Enclave Networks
0 reviews
Nebula is rated higher (3.9 vs 3.5). Nebula is an open source scalable overlay networking tool built by Slack engineers. Creates a flat network where distributed nodes communicate securely. Firewall rules in the protocol. Enclave Networks provides zero-trust connectivity for distributed teams, MSPs and infrastructure. It replaces traditional VPN with direct peer-to-peer tunnels that require no VPN server, no open firewall ports and no public IP exposure; connections fall back to Enclave-operated relays only when a direct path cannot be established.
Nebula Scalable overlay network built by Slack | Enclave Networks Zero-trust private networking without VPN complexity | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.9 (0 reviews)✓ | 3.5 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | free | freemium |
| Starting price | Free | Free tier available |
| Best for | Infrastructure engineers building a large self-hosted mesh across clouds and colos who want identity-based networking with no SaaS dependency and can run a certificate authority safely. | MSPs and IT teams connecting multi-site, multi-cloud or hybrid estates that want closed firewalls and policy-driven zero trust connectivity, with per-machine licensing that suits device fleets. |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ||
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tieropen sourceself hostable | free tierapi access |
| Visit Nebula → | Visit Enclave Networks → | |
Nebula
Pros
- + Free and open source; no vendor sits on your data path
- + Proven at scale — Slack's overlay runs on 50,000+ documented production hosts
- + Modern, non-homegrown crypto: Noise Protocol Framework, Curve25519/P256, AES-256-GCM
- + Certificate-based identity with groups-style firewall rules enforced between peers
- + Direct peer-to-peer tunnels with NAT traversal; lighthouses handle discovery only
Cons
- - You run the PKI: CA key custody, one-year default CA lifetime, certificate signing per node
- - No GUI, no hosted control plane, no SSO in the open-source edition
- - Operationally steeper than WireGuard and much steeper than managed mesh products
- - Overlay IPv6 and mobile client polish lag the desktop experience
- - No support contract or SLA unless you buy the third-party managed offering
Enclave Networks
Pros
- + Per-enrolled-system pricing is simple and predictable ($8.00/mo list, $7.33/mo annual)
- + Strong cryptographic defaults: Ed25519 certificates, per-session Curve25519 ECDHE with forward secrecy, AES256-GCM tunnels
- + No VPN concentrator, no open firewall ports, no network reconfiguration — direct peer-to-peer tunnels
- + Multi-tenant portal and subnet gateways fit MSP and multi-site operations well
- + SSO/OIDC trust requirements (Entra ID, Okta, Google, Duo, JumpCloud) gate tunnel establishment
- + Generous honesty in the docs, including a frank explanation of relay fallbacks and their cost
Cons
- - Every container and every machine counts as a paid enrolled system — costs grow with fleet size
- - Free tier is non-commercial only (5 systems); no free commercial usage
- - Relayed fallback paths traverse Enclave-operated servers with higher latency and lower throughput
- - No published uptime SLA or third-party audit report we could find
- - Small vendor (Wales, small-company filings) with a thinner ecosystem than the consumer mesh brands
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