NetBird replaced Tailscale for $3 vs $25
Tech companies are constantly tweaking their free tiers, and Tailscale recently announced some significant upgrades that change the landscape for remote access. This year, the service has become much more generous, raising the user cap to six and completely removing the hundred-device limit.
For many users, these changes mean a simple expansion of capability. However, as soon as the new limits were announced, a familiar dilemma emerged: the desire for broader access. My own experience demonstrated this perfectly. I had already been leveraging Tailscale for easy remote access for my family long before these changes, and immediately afterward, the demand for access to my media server spiked.
Within a short time, I reached the new user limit of six. At that point, the tempting option was to upgrade to a paid subscription, especially since the infrastructure already provided by Tailscale was proving incredibly useful. But there was a smarter, more cost-effective path forward.
Instead of paying for extra features, I decided to leverage the infrastructure I was already invested in. By utilizing self-hosted solutions like NetBird, I was able to bridge the gap between convenience and cost. This involved tapping into existing infrastructure, such as self-hosted VPS, which are often a better investment for a home lab than monthly subscription fees.
This approach allowed me to maintain seamless, secure remote connectivity without incurring any hefty monthly fees. It was a simple demonstration of how integrating various tools can solve a technical limitation while saving money. The lesson is clear: sometimes the best feature isn’t the newest one, but a clever combination of existing tools.
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