Tailscale

What it is for

Tailscale is a hosted Machines desk: you open a device list, and Personal is $0 forever. Use it when the job is a tailnet table you start at a public $, not when you need a $20 chat seat.

What makes it unique: the cover is Tailscale’s official Machines view (example.com, search version:update-available, 1 machine, debian-vm, alice@example.com, 100.120.16.22, version 1.56.0, Linux 6.1.0-17-amd64) from the Auto-Updates still on Auto-Updates: Smarter Updates with Activity Awareness — not a pricing card. The row itself is ops of Machines.

Key features

• Machines — a searchable list of devices on the tailnet (cover still; filter docs). One desk. Cover debian-vm / 100.120.16.22 sit here.
• Access controls — ACL / grant policy for who can reach which machine (pricing; docs). A policy, not a device row. Personal caps at 3 ACL groups.
• Users — people on the tailnet next to Machines (pricing). A seat list, not a machine. Personal is up to 6 users.
• DNS — MagicDNS / tailnet name for the same devices (Home Assistant guide; cover nav). A name, not a Machines IP cell.
• Logs — configuration audit and (on Premium) network flow logs / log streaming (pricing). A log, not a device row.

Add device / Filter / Export on the cover are CTAs (not desks). Personal / Standard / Premium tiles are the meter. Ephemeral minutes and $1/month extra tagged resources are the extra meter, not a desk we fold into Machines. SSH… on a row is a CTA on Machines. PAM, Aperture, and Workload connectivity tiles are other SKUs.

Who it's for

Best fit: individuals who will stay on Personal at $0 (up to 6 users) while they open a first Machines list, then Standard at $8/user/month when they need unlimited users / SCIM — not Premium $18 unless they need flow logs or 10,000 ephemeral minutes.

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) from tailscale.com/pricing. Figures below are the printed USD tiles we fetched.

• Personal — $0. Free forever. Unlimited user devices. Up to 6 users. Up to 3 ACL groups. 50 tagged resources to start. 1,000 mins/month for ephemeral resources.
• Standard — $8/user/month. Unlimited users. SCIM. Up to 10 ACL groups. 1,000 ephemeral mins/month. MDM / device-posture integrations. Advanced user roles.
• Premium — $18/user/month. Up to 300 ACL groups. 10,000 ephemeral mins/month. Just-in-time access. Advanced Tailscale SSH. Network flow logs. Log streaming. Regional routing.
• Enterprise — Custom. Contact sales. Custom device quantities, MSA, invoicing, custom tailnet subdomains.
• Mullvad add-on — $5/month for every 5 devices.
• Extra tagged resources — $1/month for each tagged resource beyond the included 50.

Confirm checkout; taxes follow your location. Ephemeral overflow and multiple tailnets are Contact sales on the page we fetched — do not invent a unit price.

Limitations / costs

• Personal stops at 6 users and 3 ACL groups. A team IdP is the $8 Standard mark.
• Flow logs and 10,000 ephemeral minutes are Premium. Standard keeps the 1,000-minute ephemeral cap.
• A Machines desk, not NetBird’s Peers list. For that mesh list see NetBird.

Alternatives

• NetBird — a Peers list when you want NetBird’s Cloud Free €0, not Tailscale’s debian-vm Machines row.
• Twingate — a Network Overview when you want Twingate’s Starter Free / 5 users, not Personal $0 / 6 users.
• Cloudflare — Security Analytics when you want Cloudflare’s public $, not a tailnet device table.

Official tutorial

Official Tailscale channel video: How to get started with Tailscale in under 10 minutes (oEmbed author: Tailscale). First-party getting-started walkthrough; the Machines still is the cover. Install / first-device on the video is ops of Machines, not generate-on-Access-controls. @Tailscale oEmbedded as author Tailscale.

Written path: tailscale.com/pricing plus the Auto-Updates Machines still.

Website

https://tailscale.com

Repository

https://github.com/tailscale/tailscale

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is Tailscale’s official Machines still (debian-vm + 100.120.16.22 + version 1.56.0 + version:update-available). Dollars checked on tailscale.com/pricing (Personal $0; Standard $8/user/mo; Premium $18/user/mo; Mullvad $5/5 devices; extra tagged $1/mo). Tutorial oEmbed author: Tailscale.

Last verified

2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.