Is netbird free to use? What license does it have?

netbird is open source under the Other license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.

Is netbird still maintained?

Actively maintained. The last commit to netbird was on Oct 24, 2026.

What can I use netbird for?

Connecting office laptops, servers and home lab devices into one private network without a traditional VPN gateway. Giving remote staff controlled access to internal services with SSO and per-group policies. Routing traffic to a private subnet or using an exit node from a remote device. Running a self-hosted zero-trust overlay on a small VM with Docker Compose.

How do I install netbird?

Download and install the NetBird client from app.netbird.io/install Sign up with Google, Microsoft, GitHub or your email address, then check the admin UI Or self-host: run the official install script from the README (requires a Linux VM, a public domain and Docker Compose)

Where can I get netbird?

The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/netbirdio/netbird

netbirdio/netbird

Open-source WireGuard-based mesh VPN that connects machines, people and AI agents over peer-to-peer encrypted tunnels with identity-based access control.

Open-source alternative to:Tailscale ZeroTier Cloudflare Access

View on GitHub Website

Stars: 30,186
Forks: 1,778
Open issues: 792
Last commit: 11 hours ago

What is it?

NetBird combines a configuration-free peer-to-peer private network with a centralized access control system. Each machine runs a NetBird agent that manages a WireGuard tunnel, so devices can reach each other without opening inbound ports, writing complex firewall rules, or setting up a VPN gateway.

Access is governed by groups and rules managed from a single admin UI, with SSO and MFA support, IdP integrations, private DNS, routes to external networks and exit nodes. When direct NAT traversal fails, traffic falls back to a relay service. The project can be used through the hosted NetBird Cloud or self-hosted with Docker, and it ships clients for Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, iOS, FreeBSD and several router and NAS platforms.

The repository includes a Management Service, a Signal Service, a Relay Service and client components written in Go. It also provides a public API, a Terraform provider and an Ansible collection for automation.

Key features

01Peer-to-peer WireGuard tunnels with automatic peer discovery and relay fallback.
02Granular access control using groups and rules, managed from one admin UI.
03SSO and MFA support with IdP integrations and IdP group sync.
04Routes to external networks, exit nodes, and private DNS with custom zones.
05SSH and browser-based SSH and RDP with central access policies.
06Public API, Terraform provider, and Ansible collection for automation.

Use cases

Connecting office laptops, servers and home lab devices into one private network without a traditional VPN gateway.
Giving remote staff controlled access to internal services with SSO and per-group policies.
Routing traffic to a private subnet or using an exit node from a remote device.
Running a self-hosted zero-trust overlay on a small VM with Docker Compose.

Quick start

1
Download and install the NetBird client from app.netbird.io/install
2
Sign up with Google, Microsoft, GitHub or your email address, then check the admin UI
3
Or self-host: run the official install script from the README (requires a Linux VM, a public domain and Docker Compose)

Things to know

The license is mixed: BSD-3-Clause for most code, but the management, signal and relay directories are AGPLv3.
Self-hosting needs a public domain, a Linux VM with open ports 80, 443 and UDP 3478, and Docker Compose.
The main branch may be unstable or broken, so use tagged releases for stable use.
The Agent Network feature is in beta.

In collections

Self-hosted apps

Topics

#vpn #wireguard #mesh-network #zero-trust #nat-traversal #golang #self-hosted #access-control #mesh #mesh-networks

FAQ

What is netbird?: Open-source WireGuard-based mesh VPN that connects machines, people and AI agents over peer-to-peer encrypted tunnels with identity-based access control. NetBird combines a configuration-free peer-to-peer private network with a centralized access control system. Each machine runs a NetBird agent that manages a WireGuard tunnel, so devices can reach each other without opening inbound ports, writing complex firewall rules, or setting up a VPN gateway.
Is netbird free to use? What license does it have?: netbird is open source under the Other license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is netbird still maintained?: Actively maintained. The last commit to netbird was on Oct 24, 2026.
What can I use netbird for?: Connecting office laptops, servers and home lab devices into one private network without a traditional VPN gateway. Giving remote staff controlled access to internal services with SSO and per-group policies. Routing traffic to a private subnet or using an exit node from a remote device. Running a self-hosted zero-trust overlay on a small VM with Docker Compose.
How do I install netbird?: Download and install the NetBird client from app.netbird.io/install Sign up with Google, Microsoft, GitHub or your email address, then check the admin UI Or self-host: run the official install script from the README (requires a Linux VM, a public domain and Docker Compose)
Where can I get netbird?: The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/netbirdio/netbird

Summary generated by AI from the project's README. GitHub stats refresh daily.