Zero-trust access and business VPN · Comparison
Cloudflare Zero Trust vs Tailscale vs ZeroTier
3 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | Cloudflare Zero Trust | Tailscale | ZeroTier |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceZero-trust access, DNS and web filtering and device posture for up to 50 users at no cost, with a $7 per-user plan above that. | Saves engineering timeA private WireGuard network for every laptop, phone and server, reached through your identity provider and one policy file instead of a VPN gateway. | Saves engineering timeA peer-to-peer virtual network at Layer 2 and Layer 3 for laptops, servers and embedded devices, priced per device rather than per user. |
| Overall score | 8.2Best | 6.8 | 5.2 |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan | Free plan |
| Card to start | –Not measured | –Not measured | –Not measured |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $7/user/mo | $8/user/mo | $18/mo |
| Pricing model | Per seat | Per seat | Seat + usage |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Per user who authenticates; no device count published | Per user per month; user devices unlimited; 50 tagged resources included, then $1/mo each | Flat monthly base with included devices, then per device; no per-user fee |
| Free option | Free plan for up to 50 users, business use allowed; no trial | Personal: free for up to 6 users, non-commercial only; 14-day Enterprise trial for company domains | Personal: free, 10 devices, 1 network, non-commercial only |
| Reference scenario (25 users) | $0/mo on Free (25 of 50 users), computed | $200/mo on Standard ($8 × 25), $8 per user, computed | $179/mo on Scale (100 devices included, 60 used), $7.16 per user, computed |
| Annual vs monthly price | $7 per user on Pay-as-you-go; pages disagree on monthly or annual billing | One price per plan with no billing term; annual plans through sales | Monthly prices only |
| Devices per user | Not stated | Unlimited on every plan | No per-user limit; devices counted once per organization |
| Okta / Entra ID sign-in | Every plan (any SAML or OIDC provider) | Every plan (OIDC) | Essential and up (OIDC, desktop only) |
| SCIM | SAML and OIDC providers; no plan restriction stated | Standard and up (Okta, Entra ID, Google Workspace) | Not offered |
| Device posture | Built-in checks and EDR or MDM integrations on every plan | Built-in checks on every plan; MDM and EDR integrations from Standard | Not offered |
| Network flow logs | Every plan; 24 hours on Free, 30 days on Pay-as-you-go | Premium and up, 30 days | Not offered by the vendor |
| SIEM streaming | Logpush on Contract per the plans page; the docs say all customers | Premium and up | Not offered; webhooks from Essential |
| Self-hosted parts | cloudflared connector (open source) | DERP relays and peer relays | TCP relay; controller under licence or Enterprise |
| SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | SOC 2 Type II (in the dashboard, under NDA); ISO 27001:2022 | SOC 2 Type II (on request); ISO 27001 not stated | SOC 2 Type II; ISO 27001 "coming soon" |
| HIPAA BAA | Enterprise-level customers handling PHI | Not offered | Not stated |
| EU data storage | Data Localization Suite, Enterprise add-on | Not guaranteed; coordination server in Frankfurt | Not stated |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Cloudflare Zero Trust puts access, filtering and posture on a Free plan for up to 50 users. Activity logs are short below Contract, and SIEM export, egress IPs and EU storage go through sales. | From its public pages, Tailscale gives a team identity-aware access to every device and server from the first plan, with unlimited user devices and policy as code. Flow logs and SIEM streaming start on Premium, and there is no BAA or EU residency guarantee. | From its public pages, ZeroTier is a flexible per-device virtual network with an open-source client and a strong rules engine. It does not offer device posture, SCIM or vendor-hosted flow logs, which many zero-trust buyers check for. |
Evidence: Cloudflare Zero Trust: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Tailscale: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; ZeroTier: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our Cloudflare Zero Trust review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Cloudflare Zero Trust when
- You want up to 50 users free for business use, with DNS and web filtering in the same client.
- Pick Tailscale when
- You want direct WireGuard connections between devices, unlimited devices per user and a policy file in Git.
From our Tailscale review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Tailscale when
- You want direct device-to-device WireGuard connections, unlimited devices per user and a policy file kept in Git.
- Pick Cloudflare Zero Trust when
- You want up to 50 users free for business use, with DNS and web filtering in the same client.
From our Tailscale review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick Tailscale when
- You need device posture, SCIM or flow logs, which ZeroTier does not offer.
- Pick ZeroTier when
- You want to pay per device rather than per user, or need Layer 2 networking.
From our ZeroTier review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick ZeroTier when
- You want to pay per device, need Layer 2 networking, or want a controller you can host under licence.
- Pick Tailscale when
- You need device posture, SCIM, flow logs or identity-provider sign-in on phones.
From our ZeroTier review
Checked Oct 16, 2026- Pick ZeroTier when
- You want direct peer-to-peer traffic that the vendor’s infrastructure cannot observe.
- Pick Cloudflare Zero Trust when
- You want posture checks, DNS filtering and SAML or OIDC sign-in, free for up to 50 users.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- Cloudflare Zero TrustPay-as-you-go$7/user/moNo user limit; the plans page says billed monthly, the Access page says paid annually
- Activity logs kept 30 days
- Up to 50 DNS locations
- Remote Browser Isolation as an add-on
- Log Explorer: 10 GB free, then $1 per GB a month
- TailscaleStandard$8/user/moOne price published, no billing term; annual plans through sales
- Unlimited users, up to 10 ACL groups
- SCIM user and group provisioning
- Posture integrations: CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Intune, Jamf and more
- 50 tagged resources, then $1 a month each
- ZeroTierEssential$18/mo10 devices included, then $2 per device a month; billed monthly
- 10 networks, 5 admins
- API, service accounts and webhooks
- OIDC single sign-on and templated flow rules
- 30-day audit log
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Cloudflare Zero Trust 2026-10-16, Tailscale 2026-10-16, ZeroTier 2026-10-16.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- Cloudflare Zero TrustSelf-serve sign-up; the highest score of the 3 self-serve products here (8.2/10).
- Lowest starter price
- Cloudflare Zero Trust$7/user/mo for the Pay-as-you-go plan.
- Highest overall score
- Cloudflare Zero Trust8.2/10 (Excellent). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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