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Portnox vs Tailscale comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
4.5
Portnox improves network security with efficient cloud-based management, reducing maintenance needs and offering quick policy control advantages.
Sentiment score
4.7
Tailscale streamlines remote access, reducing setup time, VPN costs, and support issues, enhancing network management efficiency.
If I compare this to an on-premises environment using Cisco ISE or Aruba ClearPass, it would require phenomenally large teams for infrastructure management.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
If you were moving from a traditional on-premise NAC that was 100% managed by the IT department, there would be great savings in going to a cloud-based NAC with Portnox.
IT Infrastructure Manager at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
Most customers feel value immediately upon deployment.
Product Manager at Applied Principles Limited
We have seen clear return on investment since implementing Tailscale by eliminating VPN server infrastructure costs.
System Engineer at Idkatar
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.
Application Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
It provides time savings instead of maintaining a VPN.
DevOps Engineer at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
Portnox's customer service is praised for responsiveness and helpfulness, though some suggest improvements in local services and partner training.
Sentiment score
5.7
Tailscale's customer service is efficient and responsive, with comprehensive documentation and staff available on Reddit for further queries.
The main area needing improvement is the technical knowledge of support staff.
Senior Network Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
For very high severity issues where the entire office is non-functional, response time is within 30 minutes.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
They respond very immediately and provide detailed, amazing support.
Systems Analyst at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Tailscale is that reliable, and their documentation answers any questions I have.
Application Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
The user interface, documentation, and support for Tailscale are fabulous.
IT Support / Sysadmin
I would give it a ten out of ten.
DevOps Engineer at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Portnox effectively scales for multiple deployments, supports thousands of endpoints, and adjusts easily, though large environments may need tweaks.
Sentiment score
5.8
Tailscale efficiently scales with numerous devices, offering seamless performance and integration without limits, though costs may rise.
We have never had any challenge based on a customer who has 1,000 devices versus a customer who has 30,000 devices; the feel is the same.
Product Manager at Applied Principles Limited
They ensure the backend can support it and do the provisioning while maintaining headroom and elasticity.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I rate scalability a ten; you simply pay and you get more.
Network And Security Engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
As a free-tier user, I have tested my limits, connecting the maximum amount of devices, and everything performed great.
Application Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
We have over 300 to 400 devices that use Tailscale that we connect with and utilize on a daily basis.
IT Support Engineer at a security firm with 11-50 employees
Tailscale's scalability is actually so good; I have not faced any downtime or issues.
Data Engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Portnox is generally reliable, with high stability ratings, but experiences occasional glitches and recommends improved update communication.
Sentiment score
8.3
Tailscale is praised for its stability and scalability, with minimal disruptions despite frequent updates needing cautious feedback.
The product itself is available and its uptime is 100%.
Systems Analyst at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
In the four years that I used Portnox, if it crashed or the server crashed, that would not have been more than once.
Information Technology System Administrator at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
If there is a version one and another version, the communication between the organization using it and Portnox should be firm so they can coordinate effectively.
Windows Server Administrator/ IT Support Officer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Tailscale is a SaaS platform, so Tailscale scales it themselves.
DevOps Engineer at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Tailscale has been very stable in my experience, with no issues so far.
Freelance Web Developer and IT Support Specialist at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Portnox users seek better integration, interface improvements, flexible configuration, enhanced reporting, and reduced cloud reliance for on-premises solutions.
Tailscale users seek UI enhancements, clearer documentation, easier configuration, advanced networking, and pricing adjustments for improved experience.
Ideally, we should be able to search for any MAC address in the database, regardless of its authentication status, to see all its associated groups and potential conflicts.
President at TrackerSoft
When I reach the technical support, they give solutions that do not help me much, so I try to search the internet for other users' experiences to find solutions.
IT Project Manager at Xpress technologies
When I'm doing filtering at times, it doesn't filter the items properly.
Systems Analyst at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Tailscale could be improved with more advanced network visibility and monitoring tools, cleaner pricing tiers for scaling teams, and enhanced built-in reporting for device posture and controls for enterprise environments.
System Engineer at Idkatar
At my apartment, I can do 2-gig networking, but when I connect via the exit node, and I'm wired in somewhere else, and that place also has 2-gig networking, I'm at max getting half of my speed.
Software engineer
I would like Tailscale to provide more censorship-resistant options, such as Shadowsocks or VLESS, as fallback protocols.
IT Support / Sysadmin
 

Setup Cost

Portnox offers competitive, transparent pricing under $20 per device annually, though opinions on affordability vary among users.
Tailscale's pricing is initially cost-effective but can increase with more users and advanced feature requirements.
If you compare Portnox with all other well-known standard products, it is the cheapest.
IT Network Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
The pricing is a bit high, possibly due to the cloud features and running instances across regions like the US, Asia, and Europe.
President at TrackerSoft
You are charged according to the number of users.
Senior Network Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The setup has been straightforward and predictable with the per-user subscription model and no infrastructure or hardware setup cost, making the initial deployment inexpensive.
System Engineer at Idkatar
I never used a license. I never purchased or bought anything more than the basic free license.
Field Service Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Valuable Features

Portnox provides agentless, scalable network visibility and security with easy management and integration, streamlining access control and operational efficiency.
Tailscale offers secure, efficient Zero Trust architecture with features like MagicDNS, subnet routing, and seamless remote access management.
It's notable how Portnox has improved operational efficiency.
IT Network Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
It is a very robust application because three teams use that part: the network team, the security team, and the support people.
Windows Server Administrator/ IT Support Officer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
It is possible to find the MAC address in the switch, but in Portnox, it is very useful to see the status of those ports, and that increases our security.
Assistant System Engineer at Tata Consultancy
The security is valuable, as there are many providers available, but Tailscale fulfills the requirements that we had, allowing us to access and expose internal apps without exposing them to the general internet.
Software Engineer
The most valuable features are the Zero Trust architecture, peer-to-peer connectivity using WireGuard, easy deployment and setup, access control for granular permissions, single sign-on, subnet and routing, exit nodes, and cross-platform support.
System Engineer at Idkatar
Tailscale's security is fabulous, especially the access control features and the ability to use existing OAuth accounts for access.
IT Support / Sysadmin
 

Categories and Ranking

Portnox
Ranking in ZTNA
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (6th), Passwordless Authentication (1st)
Tailscale
Ranking in ZTNA
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the ZTNA category, the mindshare of Portnox is 3.3%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tailscale is 8.7%, down from 22.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ZTNA Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Tailscale8.7%
Portnox3.3%
Other88.0%
ZTNA
 

Featured Reviews

Maurice Mwaura - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at Applied Principles Limited
Unified access control has improved compliance visibility and simplified passwordless access
There is work to be done when it comes to making the solution more seamless. For example, when a user is denied access, they would need a way to maybe self-resolve themselves, perhaps a way to generate a ticket on their own, something around resolutions. When it comes to users using the product, that is where good products are differentiated from products that are a bit of a challenge. Portnox has much to do in terms of their reporting. The generated reports need improvement. Things that other tools would say are normal are usually not present. For example, there is a page called NAS devices or NAS network that is able to show the switches that have been managed. Currently, there is no way of generating an easy report or an easy way of just generating something to tell the customer what they have been able to achieve so far. This is not done yet and is still very manual. I think there is work to be done there. More integrations around the various products being used would be beneficial. So far I have not encountered any major challenge. Where there was a challenge, I think support came in and helped us resolve. In fact, most of the challenges are not with the product; they are with the customer environment. I think that is just to update their documentation where they have come across a new vendor for easier integrations in the future.
Ahamed Shadhir - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at Idkatar
Secure hybrid access has simplified remote work and has reduced traditional VPN overhead
The most valuable features are the Zero Trust architecture, peer-to-peer connectivity using WireGuard, easy deployment and setup, access control for granular permissions, single sign-on, subnet and routing, exit nodes, and cross-platform support. I rely mostly on subnetting and routing in Tailscale because it allows seamless access to internal network resources without installing clients on every device, which greatly simplifies daily operations and improves workflow efficiency. Tailscale stands out for its simplicity and fast deployment with strong identity-based security, which makes it both easy to manage and highly reliable for everyday use. Since implementing Tailscale, we have seen improved remote access reliability, reduced VPN maintenance overhead, faster onboarding for new users, and stronger security through identity-based access controls, all while significantly lowering the administrative workload.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Healthcare Company
9%
Computer Software Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
15%
University
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Media Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise9
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Portnox Clear?
Portnox's pricing is very conservative and offers great value for money. If I compare it with any other solution, pricing is definitely at the top of the list because it is very affordable. Pricing...
What needs improvement with Portnox Clear?
In Portnox, the area that has room for improvement is that older data is not fetching correctly. For an older switch, for example, a six-month-old switch that we just added, it does not happen to e...
What is your primary use case for Portnox Clear?
My use case for Portnox is for whitelisting ports and adding policies. We are using two modes: enforce mode and monitoring mode. For monitoring, we are using some smaller switches, just some busine...
What needs improvement with Tailscale?
Regarding how Tailscale can be improved, I think for free users, there are some limited options. However, we have a paid policy, so we pay Tailscale every month. At some point, we may want to host ...
What is your primary use case for Tailscale?
We have been using Tailscale for about four or five months, and we have been using it from the beginning. For our main use case, we use Tailscale because it creates a peer-to-peer VPN mesh where we...
What advice do you have for others considering Tailscale?
My advice to others looking into using Tailscale is that if there is a use case where you want to secure your private EC2 instances, the workflows, your Git repositories, and sensitive data, Docker...
 

Also Known As

Access Layers Portnox, Portnox CLEAR
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Data Realty, Royal London, Wales Millennium Centre, McLaren Construction Group, EL AL Israeli Airlines, 
Bamboo Health, Duolingo, Shiguredo, Instacart, Corelight, Machinify, Bolt, Mercari, Cobalt, Yugabyte, Jasper, VersaBank, Zego, Gini and Finter
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Check Point Software Technologies, Cloudflare and others in ZTNA. Updated: February 2026.
885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.