Twingate vs. Zscaler: Which is Best for Distributed Teams?

Distributed teams require secure, reliable, and manageable networking solutions. As organizations move away from traditional VPNs, Tailscale, Twingate, and Zscaler have emerged as leading alternatives.

Each tool offers a unique approach:

• Tailscale provides a lightweight, developer-friendly VPN alternative based on Zero Trust principles
• Twingate provides secure remote access to organizations by focusing on resource level and user level controls.
• Zscaler delivers enterprise-grade protection for cloud applications

This article compares these three solutions based on ease of use and setup, performance, and security specifically when it comes to helping distributed teams and the engineering organizations that support them.

Overview of Twingate and Zscaler

What is Twingate?

Twingate offers a Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) model, restricting users to only the applications and services they are authorized to access.

Instead of providing full network access like a traditional VPN, Twingate creates secure tunnels to specific applications.

Twingate is built for organizations that prioritize granular access controls over broad network connectivity.

What is Zscaler?

Zscaler is an enterprise security platform designed to secure internet traffic and cloud applications at scale.

Its cloud-based Zero Trust architecture enforces strict security policies and protects users from threats like malware, phishing, and data loss.

Zscaler is built for large enterprises requiring global security enforcement and compliance monitoring.

Comparison: Ease of Use and Setup

Tailscale: Effortless Peer-to-Peer Networking with High Performance

Tailscale is straightforward to deploy, requiring minimal setup.

Users install the client, authenticate with an identity provider, and gain instant access to their network resources.

Tailscale operates as a peer-to-peer VPN so there's no need for a manual firewall configuration, NAT traversal, or centralized infrastructure management.

By design, Tailscale is built on WireGuard® to make it easier to secure your network connections.

Diagram 1: A WireGuard® multipoint VPN efficiently routes traffic.

This mesh configuration provides solid performance because it prioritizes using direct peer-to-peer connections over a traditional hub-and-spoke model.

Diagram 2: A traditional hub-and-spoke VPN model.

• Setup: Installs in minutes with a one-click process.
• Management: No need to configure VPN servers, firewalls, or NAT traversal.
• User Authentication: Works with existing identity providers (SSO, MFA).
• Maintenance: Automatic updates ensure security without manual intervention.

Twingate: Secure, Granular Access for Organizations

Twingate, is also easier to deploy than a traditional VPN but does require administrators define security policies and configure access points.

Users don't gain full network access. They are only granted permission to specific applications based on predefined rules. This adds security and complexity, which is usually a better fit for teams prioritizing granular access control over ease of use.

• Setup: Requires configuring access policies for specific applications.
• Management: IT teams need to define granular access controls.
• User Authentication: Integrates with major identity providers.
• Maintenance: Regular policy updates and management needed.

Zscaler: Enterprise-Level Deployment

Zscaler is an enterprise-focused platform requiring substantial configuration. IT teams must define access control policies, security rules, and compliance settings before deployment.

The cloud-based infrastructure eliminates the need for physical hardware, but this can make managing global security policies difficult.

This makes it is more suitable for large organizations with dedicated security teams versus smaller dev teams looking for lightweight networking solution.

• Setup: Requires configuring cloud-based security policies and infrastructure.
• Management: Admins must define access controls and security rules.
• User Authentication: Works with enterprise authentication systems.
• Maintenance: Ongoing monitoring and policy enforcement required.

Comparison: Performance

Tailscale: Direct Peer-to-Peer Connectivity

Tailscale’s peer-to-peer architecture bypasses central VPN servers provides low latency and high-speed connections.

Humans and machines communicate directly using the WireGuard protocol. This reduces congestion and keeps performance consistent.

Tailscale is effective for developers working with remote servers, databases, or collaborative tools requiring fast, uninterrupted access.

• Traffic Routing: Direct connections between devices reduce latency.
• Network Performance: No central VPN server avoids bottlenecks.
• Stability: Minimal dropped connections, high uptime.

Twingate: Application-Level Optimization

Twingate only allows traffic for authorized applications versus providing full network access. This application-specific tunneling reduces network load and minimizes attack surfaces.

The efficiency of 'Connector' placements and configurations influences performance and if these placements aren't optimized users may experience latency or stability issues when trying to access multiple applications.

• Traffic Routing: Tunnels traffic only to specific applications.
• Network Performance: Reduces load on the network by limiting traffic scope.
• Stability: Dependent on Connector placements and configurations.

Zscaler: Cloud-Based Routing

Zscaler routes traffic through cloud-based security gateways, where traffic filtering, malware scanning, and data loss prevention occur. This approach adds security but can also introduce latency through its layers of complexity. This may not be the ideal solution for users that need to frequently access internal applications requiring high speed or real-time capabilities.

• Traffic Routing: Routes traffic through Zscaler’s global cloud infrastructure.
• Network Performance: Designed for securing cloud applications at scale.
• Stability: Dependent on internet traffic loads and cloud service availability.

Comparison: Security Features

Tailscale: Built-in End-to-End Encryption

Tailscale ensures security with automatic end-to-end encryption via WireGuard, eliminating the need for additional firewall rules or access control lists. It integrates with identity providers for SSO and MFA, making it easy to enforce secure authentication without complex configurations.

• Encryption: Uses WireGuard for automatic end-to-end encryption.
• Access Control: Integrates with identity providers for authentication.
• Configuration Complexity: Minimal configuration required for remote secure access.

Twingate: Zero Trust Access Control

Twingate enforces Zero Trust principles so users only access specific applications rather than the entire network. IT administrators define granular access policies to remain compliant with security best practices and limit threat exposure.

• Encryption: Secures application connections individually.
• Access Control: Implements Zero Trust principles for restricted access.
• Configuration Complexity: Requires ongoing policy updates.

Zscaler: Enterprise-Grade Security

Zscaler provides enterprise-grade security with advanced threat protection, data loss prevention (DLP), and cloud security posture management.

It is best suited for companies needing to enforce strict compliance policies across globally distributed teams.

• Encryption: Enforces cloud-based security policies and encryption.
• Access Control: Comprehensive identity and device-based access policies.
• Configuration Complexity: High due to enterprise security requirements.

Feature Comparison Matrix

Unique Features of Tailscale that Benefit Distributed Teams

Tailscale is built for simplicity and speed, making it an ideal choice for developers and remote teams who need secure access to internal resources without complex network configurations.

Unlike traditional VPNs or cloud-based security gateways, Tailscale automatically handles NAT traversal so developers can connect to remote servers, databases, or development environments without opening firewall ports or manually configuring access rules.

Because Tailscale directly connects devices performance is better for latency-sensitive tasks like SSH, remote desktop access, and collaborative coding. It also leverages identity-based access control so teams can enforce policies through SSO and MFA integrations.

This developer-first approach makes Tailscale particularly effective for engineering teams prioritizing seamless, fast, and secure connectivity.

Unique Features of Twingate that Benefit Distributed Teams

Twingate’s Zero Trust model provides granular access control, allowing IT administrators to restrict access based on identity, device, or security posture.

Unlike VPNs that expose users to the full network, Twingate dynamically creates secure tunnels only for authorized applications. This minimizes attack surfaces, prevents lateral movement, and reduces risk.

For distributed teams, Twingate’s architecture allows cloud-native deployment. Organizations can enforce security policies without requiring VPN infrastructure. A focus on identity-based authentication rather than IP-based access allows for secure access from any device or location.

Unique Features of Zscaler that Benefit Distributed Teams

Zscaler operates on a global cloud-based security infrastructure. This means remote employees can connect securely from anywhere in the world without relying on corporate VPN servers. Zscaler acts as a secure web gateway to scan and filter all traffic in real time, block malware, phishing attempts, and data leaks before they reach the user.

Organizations with strict regulatory and compliance needs will be interested in Zscaler's comprehensive logging, monitoring, and audit capabilities. Its data loss prevention (DLP) and secure web gateway (SWG) features are particularly useful for companies handling sensitive data across global teams.

Choosing the Right Solution for Your Distributed Team

Tailscale is designed for teams that require fast, secure connections with minimal setup. It is suited for growing businesses, engineering teams, and remote workers needing seamless peer-to-peer access to resources.

• What people are saying about Tailscale: “Tailscale just works—no VPN headaches, no NAT traversal issues—just fast, secure access.”

Twingate is built for organizations that need strict Zero Trust access controls. It is ideal for businesses prioritizing granular security policies and application-specific access.

• What people are saying about Twingate: “Twingate made it easy to enforce least-privilege access without disrupting our workflow.”

Zscaler is tailored for large enterprises requiring comprehensive security, global compliance, and cloud-based traffic protection.

• What people are saying about Zscaler: “Zscaler transformed our security posture by providing real-time protection across all our remote endpoints.”

Each solution serves different priorities.

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Teams looking for a developer-friendly, low-maintenance, high-performance network access solution should review our docs then take advantage of a free trial of Tailscale.