Tailscale Transformed My Workflow with Secure, Effortless Setup
What do you like best about the product?
I absolutely love Tailscale, and it has fundamentally changed my development workflow. As a Full Stack Developer, I rely on its seamless networking capabilities to securely access internal resources from anywhere. The ease of setup, combined with the wide range of support available, has been fantastic. It feels incredibly secure, is very well-documented, and is extremely easy to use, typical of the best tools in this space. I use the free tier which has been more than sufficient for the needs of my business.
What do you dislike about the product?
I personally don't have any negatives when it comes to using Tailscale. It checks literally all my boxes.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Tailscale addresses a critical need: secure, seamless remote access without the complexity of traditional VPNs. In my current workflow, I rely on AI agents to support my development tasks, so I need instant, trusted access to my local environment. Tailscale enables this by letting me securely expose my dev stack in under a minute. As a result, I spend far less time on setup, and my AI-assisted workflow stays secure and uninterrupted whether I’m working from home or from another location.
Secure remote access has simplified my home lab and now routes all my mobile traffic through it
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Tailscale is connecting me to my home lab, which serves as my front-end infrastructure, whereas I use ZeroTier for back-end infrastructure for connecting things such as IOT devices and personal servers.
A specific example of how I use Tailscale with my home lab is that it allows me to easily provide secure access from myself to my home lab while on the go. This does more than just connect me with my servers; it allows me to run all of my internet traffic on my devices while on the go through my router as the exit node, which allows me to use AdGuard as my DNS server and my home firewall. Overall, it makes me more secure on the go and prevents me from often having to use HTTPS on many of my personal services because Tailscale encrypts traffic already, making HTTPS sort of irrelevant in that specific use case.
What is most valuable?
The best features Tailscale offers are its encrypted tunnel and easy setup VPN, which are common across your space. I personally love two specific things that differentiate Tailscale: the automatic HTTPS setup, which means you don't have to deal with certificates or anything similar, and the ability to use exit nodes very easily, which is a super useful feature.
The automatic HTTPS setup and easy node management have helped me in my daily workflow because I have an automation on my iPhone that runs as soon as I disconnect from my home network, allowing me to tunnel my cellular data through Tailscale back to my home lab and run my router as an exit node. This means I can use AdGuard for my DNS to block anything from malware to ads in general. The HTTPS setup is super useful for another use case I had where I was building an AI German teacher for myself, allowing communication to happen because most browsers require HTTPS for such connections. Not having to set up certificates and simply using the Magic DNS URL with HTTPS on the Tailscale side was super time-saving and useful.
Tailscale positively impacts my organization because I can feel incredibly secure on the go without worrying about opening ports on any routers. It makes an incredible amount of sense for my use, and I wish I could use it more in my role at ADP, though they generally manage that externally through Cisco. But I give my sign-off to advertise to them.
What needs improvement?
The only improvement I see for Tailscale is that I would love to check out Headscale to fully host it on my own infrastructure. However, I think it is a really great product as is. It is easy to set up, and since it uses WireGuard on the back end, it is quite fast. I would love to see a diagram that gives me clearer visibility into how I connect to each node, as I often find I connect to non-direct routes to individual servers, and a visual representation of that would make it easier to visualize.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Tailscale for about five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Tailscale is stable most of the time, as I occasionally see dropouts. However, I appreciate receiving notifications about drops, which I almost never notice myself. Occasionally, I see on my router that the exit node has gone dark, but I don't notice that in practice.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Tailscale's scalability is very good, with the visibility and ability to access metrics making it easy to scale upward, although I have limited experience with that as I have under 100 devices, around 20.
How are customer service and support?
I have never had to use customer support because the product is that good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used ZeroTier for my back-end services, and I think that is the number one one-to-one competitor within your space. I switched from ZeroTier to Tailscale for two reasons: it was much easier to set up Tailscale, and while ZeroTier still has value, Tailscale makes more sense for the speed, visibility, and overall functionality, especially with exit nodes being easier to use.
How was the initial setup?
Tailscale is incredibly easy to use, and I will always sing its praises. It has made my life a lot easier. I was originally an early adopter of ZeroTier and championed that for a long while. Only in the past couple of years have I switched over to Tailscale, and it has been world-changing, making many things easier to achieve the security I was looking for on the go.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I generally work within a free tier, as there is no reason for me to step outside of that currently.
Tailscale has definitely made it so I don't have to incur additional costs. The ability to use your servers as relay servers instead of setting up my own Headscale server is the primary reason I haven't done so far, because it makes things easy and time-saving.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Tailscale, I evaluated ZeroTier again. The only reason I haven't moved my entire infrastructure to Tailscale is cost. I can utilize free accounts on both Tailscale and ZeroTier, allowing me to build a back-end infrastructure for my family without paying for an entire organization account. ZeroTier operates on a device-based quota, while Tailscale uses an account-based quota.
What other advice do I have?
A specific example of how I use Tailscale with my home lab is that it allows me to easily provide secure access from myself to my home lab on the go. This does more than just connect me with my servers; it allows me to run all of my internet traffic on my devices on the go through my router as the exit node, which allows me to use AdGuard as my DNS server and my home firewall. Overall, it makes me more secure on the go and prevents me from often having to use HTTPS on many of my personal services because Tailscale encrypts traffic already, making HTTPS sort of irrelevant in that specific use case. I would rate this product a 10 out of 10.
Super Easy Private Network for Secure Server Access
What do you like best about the product?
Super easy way to create a private network between my laptop and my servers so that only I can access them.
What do you dislike about the product?
Nothing, it works great and does the job.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I want to keep my servers secure by allowing only my laptop to SSH into them. Tailscale creates a private network that gives me exactly that level of access control.
Secure remote access for SSH and RDP has simplified private server management across networks
What is our primary use case?
I use Tailscale to securely access remote Linux servers for tasks like SSH and system management without exposing services to the public internet. I also access a Linux server with the help of the RDP protocol.
What is most valuable?
I mainly use Tailscale to securely connect device to device, and it provides authentication and access control between multiple machines, which I found very helpful.
When I mention authentication and access control, it allowed me to access servers from anywhere without worrying about network restrictions and reduced the time spent on setup and troubleshooting.
The biggest benefit of Tailscale is simplicity; it is quick to set up and provides a stable and secure connection. I can set it up with only one command without any manual configuration, which is where I think it is very helpful.
Tailscale has improved remote access efficiency and reduced the complexity of managing secure connections across systems, which is the main point from my perspective.
What needs improvement?
The only drawback I found is that the subnet routing option in Tailscale is too advanced and sometimes requires advanced networking concepts. A person needs to fully understand it to configure it properly.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Tailscale for several months from a different account to access remote servers and to test connectivity between systems.
What other advice do I have?
I chose Tailscale because it simplifies VPN setup, and I did not have to deal with port forwarding or complex firewall configurations, which saved a lot of time for me.
When I needed to access a remote Linux server from a different network, instead of configuring port forwarding or a traditional VPN, I used Tailscale to connect securely and directly. It allowed me to perform tasks like SSH access and system checks without exposing the server publicly. I would rate this product a 10 out of 10.
Remote access to my home network has become seamless and now simplifies daily management
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Tailscale is accessing my home network when I'm outside. Essentially, it functions as a VPN.
I use Tailscale to access my home network by connecting to a main machine that runs Tailscale, which is separate from my home server. This allows me to connect to it even when my home server goes down, and it serves as a subnet router so I can access my home network through that single machine instead of connecting every single virtual machine to the same Tailscale network.
What is most valuable?
In my opinion, the best features Tailscale offers are its ease of use and quick setup. You essentially just need to run a command and you're connected to Tailscale network, and I love MagicDNS as well. Ease of use, MagicDNS, and the subnet router capabilities are very good.
I appreciate that MagicDNS helps me avoid memorizing IP addresses, and the subnet router allows me to use one device to connect to the entire network. For example, if I have a smart TV that cannot install Tailscale, I can access it through my subnet router machine. I set it up this way because I only have Tailscale installed on that entry point machine, which serves as the gateway to my network.
Tailscale has made managing and accessing my home network easier compared to using OpenVPN before. Previously, I had to manage everything myself, run the server, and keep it operational. If the server ever went down, I couldn't access my home network. With Tailscale, the situation is similar, but I don't have to expose any ports; I just connect a device to Tailscale servers. The main difference is that I don't have to run the VPN server since Tailscale does it for me, connecting my devices through their service. It's really great that I don't have to worry about all the setups.
I appreciate how their login system works. Tailscale services are fast, and since processing is done on the clients rather than the servers, they can focus on providing a good, reliable service. I don't think I've ever faced downtimes or connection issues from another country.
What needs improvement?
Tailscale does a great job for free-tier users, and the 100 device limit is very fair. However, I think improvements could be made in the support for UI clients, especially on Linux machines. In Windows and macOS, the UI support is good, but Linux is more customizable and has a unique setup, and I feel like I never have a good UI to interact with when using Linux desktops, which is unfortunate.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been working in my current field for about four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Tailscale is stable for me.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I feel Tailscale would handle adding more devices or users in the future easily, and I am confident of it. As a free-tier user, I have tested my limits, connecting the maximum amount of devices, and everything performed great. After that, I switched to subnet routing, allowing one device to forward traffic into my home network, which also circumvented device limits.
How are customer service and support?
I never interacted with Tailscale's customer support because I never needed to. Tailscale is that reliable, and their documentation answers any questions I have.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used OpenVPN before switching to Tailscale. I liked OpenVPN, but setting it up in a production environment was more of a learning experience rather than a complete permanent solution. You always find yourself wondering what improvements could be made. While OpenVPN is fine for production use, I'd say a managed service is more professional because it provides guarantees and reduces concerns. I switched to Tailscale out of curiosity, wanting to try WireGuard, and I was sold after just one to two minutes of setup.
Before choosing Tailscale, I evaluated other options, including OpenVPN. I was familiar with running my own VPN solution and considered using WireGuard directly on my home network or opting for Tailscale, which uses WireGuard in the background. I wanted something that worked correctly the first time, so I chose Tailscale while planning to tinker with WireGuard later.
How was the initial setup?
My advice for others looking into using Tailscale is simple: just do it. Spin up a virtual machine, run the one-line command that Tailscale provides, and see how it works because it's so intuitive that nobody can mess it up.
What was our ROI?
I've seen a return on investment with Tailscale in terms of time saved and less maintenance required. I learned a lot from installing and maintaining OpenVPN, which sometimes required extensive hands-on configuration and problem-solving. With Tailscale, I set it up and forget it because it just works, allowing me to avoid worrying about the whole VPN aspect of my home network architecture. Every return on investment with Tailscale is time saved and reliability from the managed service.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I wouldn't say I have an experience with pricing, setup costs, or licensing because I use the free tier. My needs have never exceeded the free tier as I am the single maintainer of my home network and server, which is beneficial.
What other advice do I have?
I think Tailscale is an awesome product; I use it every day and have it implemented in my home network. As long as the free tier stays the same, I don't see myself switching from it.
Simplifies Global Device Connectivity with Ease
What do you like best about the product?
I really like Tailscale's ability to connect devices peer-to-peer using the WireGuard protocol, regardless of the network situation or device status. It's great that the device doesn't need a public IP for others to connect to it. I use Tailscale with PFSENSE and a few other servers, especially AWS, and it works great in terms of security and ease of use. Its ability to support multi-platforms like Apple TV is a really great feature. The initial setup of Tailscale is very straightforward, and the manual and documentation contain everything that's needed. If I find anything confusing, I can easily refer to YouTube videos to walk me through the setup.
What do you dislike about the product?
I think the thing that Tailscale doesn't work well is the authentication. A lot of times, almost always, you would have to sign in your Google account to authenticate a device. And sometimes if you have not used Tailscale for a long time, it'll prompt you for re-signing in your Google account to log in to your Tailscale account. In some cases where the device is sitting behind a network with strict regulations preventing Google access, like in China, you wouldn't be able to authenticate yourself and thus can't use Tailscale effectively.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use Tailscale to connect my network stations globally, solving NAT traversal issues and enabling peer-to-peer device connectivity without needing a public IP.
Easier to use and easier to set up
What do you like best about the product?
It's fast, straightforward, and lightweight. Easy to implement as well.
What do you dislike about the product?
Nothing comes to mind. It's very smooth so far in my team.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Replacing our previous implementation which is OpenVPN
It is just perfect a few clicks an you have your VPN network
What do you like best about the product?
Very easy to setup.
It is secure.
Works fast.
Is robust and secure
Service is lightning fast and resultive!
What do you dislike about the product?
Nothing I can think about. Everything is great.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It integrated my networks
Stupidly Simple Setup!
What do you like best about the product?
I thought that a WordPress installation was Stupidly Simple. I was ready to spend a few hours learning the TS (TailScale) dashboard and it's implementations. I think that I'm all of 15 minutes in and have 4 devices already connected.
For the devices such as my managed switch that don't have a way to add the TS client it's ridiculously east to sub net to it through one of my NAS's or PC. I can't seem to find anything negative to say about my experience so for. I'll be curious as time goes by to see if I'm ever connected to the DERP server. Great job TailScale team!
What do you dislike about the product?
I can't seem to find any at this time to report.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Protecting my whole network from bad actors.
Easy to use VPN for humans and machines
What do you like best about the product?
Tailscale is incredibly easy to set up and in almost all cases just works. The ACLs allow fine grained control between users and devices, regardless of where they live on the network, which massively reduces the admin burden of maintaining IP lists and allows security teams audit who has access to what and apply the principle of least privilege.
The staff at Tailscale are very friendly and it's clear they want to build what their users want. The calls we have had with their teams have been very productive and it really feels like they value our feedback when deciding how to build features.
What do you dislike about the product?
A lot of Tailscale's features (e.g. magic DNS) are inherently tied to the tailnet DNS name, which can make integration with existing services more difficult. We'd love it if Tailscale integrated with our own domain name as this would make everything work transparently!
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Securely allowing access to our network from staff members, and between machines.
Granting access based on identity, rather than needing to trust based on location or IP address.
