OpenVPN vs Tailscale
No shared keys, no open ports, and no painful setup. Discover why leading companies are making the switch from OpenVPN to Tailscale.
Why switch
It's time to leave the legacy VPN model in the past
OpenVPN relies on an old-school approach: shared credentials, complex configs, port forwarding, and centralized bottlenecks. It works — but it’s slow, brittle, and hard to scale.
Why Tailscale
Tailscale brings secure access into the modern era
Built on WireGuard® and powered by identity, it connects your devices directly using peer-to-peer mesh networking. No open ports. No shared secrets. No infrastructure rewrites.
Tailscale simplifies what OpenVPN overcomplicates
No open ports or firewall changes
Tailscale connects devices directly over encrypted tunnels — no need to expose services to the internet or manage NAT traversal manually.
Built-in WireGuard® encryption
Every connection is end-to-end encrypted using WireGuard®, by default. No additional setup, plugins, or configs required.
SSO and MFA with ease
Tailscale supports Okta, Azure AD, Google Workspace, and more — so your users log in with credentials they already use, not shared secrets.
Peer-to-peer mesh networking
Skip the bottlenecks of centralized VPN servers. Tailscale builds a lightweight, direct mesh between devices — even behind NATs.
Zero shared credentials
No more pre-shared keys, manual certs, or one-password-for-everyone. Each user authenticates with their identity and device.
Instant setup on any device
Install Tailscale and connect in minutes — with zero infrastructure changes. Works on laptops, servers, containers, and cloud VMs.
Access control, made simple
Control exactly who can reach what — by identity, device, group, or tag — all in simple JSON. No more managing IP allowlists or subnet maps.
In cloud, on-prem, and beyond
Tailscale traverses firewalls, NAT, and CGNAT automatically. Connect infrastructure across environments with zero reconfiguration.
No more connection headaches
Tailscale runs quietly in the background — no brittle tunnels, no dropped connections, and no endless support tickets for broken VPN clients.
Seamless setup, with support along the way
From quickstart guides to advanced network setups, our documentation covers every step — whether you're connecting your first device or rolling out access across an organization.
Get started with Tailscale in minutes — not weeks
No more manual IP rules, brittle tunnels, or frustrated users. Tailscale is simple to set up, secure by default, and ready for your whole team.