ZeroTier vs Nebula
A detailed comparison to help you choose between ZeroTier and Nebula.
ZeroTier Virtual networking — Ethernet over the internet | Nebula Scalable overlay network built by Slack | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.5 (31 reviews)✓ | 4.3 (389 reviews) |
| Pricing model | freemium | free |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free |
| Best for | Homelab operators and small teams wanting virtual Ethernet networks connecting distributed servers | Infrastructure engineers building large-scale private overlay networks for distributed systems |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tieropen sourceapi access | free tieropen sourceself hostable |
| Visit ZeroTier → | Visit Nebula → | |
ZeroTier
Pros
- + Free for up to 25 devices
- + Virtual Ethernet — servers appear on same LAN
- + Works through NAT and firewalls
Cons
- - ZeroTier controls the SDN layer — trust required
- - Less control than pure WireGuard
Nebula
Pros
- + Open source by Slack engineers
- + Scales to hundreds of thousands of nodes
- + Firewall rules built into protocol
Cons
- - Requires manual configuration
- - No GUI — DevOps/engineering tool
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