OpenVPN vs Tailscale

Replace tedious maintenance with Tailscale’s performant mesh network. Don't let your OpenVPN contract stop you. We'll help cover it if you're ready to switch.

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Here’s how businesses unlock value with Tailscale

>1000

Hours saved by Corelight annually from fewer VPN connectivity issues

25x

Headcount growth at Cribl without dedicated IT resources for config or onboarding

>90%

Reduction in support tickets for Instacart from 10 per week, saving up to 2 hours each

OpenVPN is a hassle to set up and maintain

Setting up OpenVPN Access Server requires more initial planning and infrastructure. CloudConnexa reduces this, but involves more initial steps than Tailscale. This also applies to long-term maintenance requirements. In contrast, Tailscale is zero-config and can be set up in minutes.

OpenVPN isn't as performant

OpenVPN operates on a traditional hub-and-spoke VPN architecture with a bottleneck central server that all clients must connect to. Tailscale is instead performant and secure by employing a non-traditional model with a WireGuard®-based overlay mesh network and direct peer-to-peer connections.

Diagram of latency and throughput inprovement

Stuck in an OpenVPN contract? We’ll help cover it.

Tailscale's secure, zero-config access is simple to manage and quick to deploy.

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Why enterprises are replacing OpenVPN with Tailscale

Identity-based access control

Manage access by user, team, or group — not static IPs or rigid network zones. Define policies that match how your organization actually works.

Works with your IdP

Integrate with Okta, Azure AD, Google Workspace, or any OIDC provider. No need to manage external auth servers, sync jobs, or local user databases.

No open ports or firewall boxes

Connects devices through encrypted tunnels without exposing services, opening firewall ports, or relying on appliances vulnerable to zero-day exploits.

Easy onboarding and offboarding

Provision and deprovision access instantly with SCIM, ACL groups, and SSO. No sync delays, user drift, or cert revocations.

Audit-ready access policies

Define access in version-controlled JSON. Track every change, roll back mistakes, and simplify security reviews with GitOps-style workflows.

Fewer VPN-related tickets

Tailscale runs quietly in the background — no firmware updates, downtimes, or breach responses. Less support overhead for your team.

Ready to move to Tailscale?

Get seamless multi-cloud, hybrid, and on-prem connectivity with Tailscale. Deploy in minutes and see how Tailscale just works.