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SonicWall SMA vs Tailscale comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

SonicWall SMA
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Universal Access Gateways (2nd), SSL VPN (6th)
Tailscale
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of SonicWall SMA is 2.6%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tailscale is 5.8%, down from 5.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Tailscale5.8%
SonicWall SMA2.6%
Other91.6%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

BA
Owner at ThinkEzIT
Security enhances through autonomous protection and strong support while multi-factor authentication secures access
I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, as I haven't been looking at what they're releasing. We're a small shop, so we drop stuff in and manage it and do what we need to do to maintain it. If we run into an issue, we contact support. There's a learning curve, but it comes down to getting support to train you on the product, and then once you have the training you need, you're able to make the changes and updates that you need to.
Adeniyi Stephen - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Engineer at CloudKite.io
Secure access has simplified hybrid connectivity and has unified multi-cluster workflows
I would say that in terms of Tailscale, if I have so many tailnets I need to connect to, there are some issues in the login process that need a little bit of attention from the Tailscale team. Sometimes, you would probably need to restart your entire system for it to connect. As a DevOps as a Service engineer, I have so many clients that are using Tailscale, and I would need to connect to maybe five different tailnets because they are different clients. Client A might have a Tailscale, Client B, Client C, and so on. When changing between tailnets, sometimes it hangs. Sometimes you might need to restart your entire system. This is a bit of a headache in that aspect. However, I believe if you are just using a particular tailnet, just one, then it is quite easy and there won't be any headache. For me, I think it can be improved in the aspect of having multiple tailnets to connect to. A good refresh on the Tailscale side and the backend side to refresh the connection anytime there is a new connection to be made would be helpful. Instead of needing to restart the system, it should be able to refresh itself. The connection side and connecting to multiple Tailscale instances can be problematic, and sometimes you have to restart your system when switching between them. The ACL sometimes is like another language on its own entirely. It is fine, but they need to make it in a YAML format instead of the current format because it is quite new and something you have to go and study. If they can make it like a YAML format, that would be better. Aside from the switching which I mentioned and the fact that you have to relearn their ACL, if the ACL could be in a YAML format instead of JSON format, that would be beneficial. I don't think there is much they can do about the switching of tailnets, but if they can have a YAML format of the ACL, that would be good. Every other thing is a ten out of ten. The connection-wise is easy to set up and easy to install. It is good to have things connected all together from on-premises, from so many environments, and even exit nodes as well. It is good overall. The pricing, I think Tailscale can be a little bit on the higher side. It is not for teams with just small users. If you want to set it up for small users and a small startup, I don't think you can afford it and might need to go to other open-source alternatives. It is good for teams that have maybe fifty plus users or one hundred users. In terms of pricing, I would say it is on the higher side, but it is worth it. The price is worth the functionality. As a user, I would say it is more on the higher side, but based on its functionality, it is worth the price.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is faster than other security options when using remote connections."
"The SonicWall SSL-VPN solution offers the best protection with the least effect on services."
"My advice to others is this solution is reliable, feature-rich, and reasonable-priced."
"Secure remote access is now available from home offices."
"The advanced threat protection and the endpoint control features of SonicWall SMA have helped improve security measures tremendously."
"I like the load balancing capability."
"This solution has many options for remote desktop and access."
"The performance is good."
"Tailscale has positively impacted my organization by making the previously unusable doorbell with the cloud solution fast and reliable for remote access."
"Tailscale is a great solution that is fast, easy, and cheap."
"Tailscale has really helped in terms of security because users can be in another part of the world and, instead of them connecting to the company environment through the local network there, they can switch on their Tailscale and once they switch on their Tailscale, they don't have to connect over their internet; they just go through Tailscale to access company infrastructures."
"There is no better option than this."
"With Tailscale, it is honestly super easy."
"Tailscale has positively impacted my organization by allowing us to speed up development without worrying about GDPR restrictions."
"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."
"I have been using it every day since June 2025, and it has never given me a problem."
 

Cons

"The overall menu is not very user-friendly and it could be easier."
"The pricing for the solution could be a lot less."
"The user interface could be improved."
"The timed synchronization between the network appliance needs improvement."
"There are some features that are available on Palo Alto or Cisco that don't exist. The solution could integrate better with other platforms."
"I'd like to see the product maybe polish keyboards in Bookmark."
"The solution has 2FA, it will generate a token and send it to an email, but multifactor authentication is not available. I would suggest that there should be MFA integration and provided with the appliance."
"The problem is that when combined with what the client already has, there are two different logins and two different management systems, and these should be consolidated into a single interface."
"The only improvement I see for Tailscale is that I would love to check out Headscale to fully host it on my own infrastructure."
"I think Tailscale can be improved by enhancing the free side of things."
"Regarding how Tailscale can be improved, I think for free users, there are some limited options."
"Regarding the supported emails, I understand it is strong authentication, so it has to be Apple, Gmail or others, but this creates certain limits for some clients who do not want to have that kind of email. We lose clients because of that, and we are forced to look at other solutions regarding the features of this tool."
"One thing I want Tailscale to improve is their user interface for Arch Linux, which is one of the devices I have that I installed Tailscale on, but they do not have the native package with full features, a capability I really want them to develop."
"I am currently testing the ability to expose to the WAN certain services that we select, which is in beta. I imagine it is still in development, but from the tests we have done, the connection outward is quite slow, which is a point of curiosity, and I hope that aspect can be improved."
"One somewhat negative point that I see is that if you want to use Exit Node and that is installed on a device within the network, then you have a bit more latency because instead of the packets going from a mobile device to the router at the other home and from the router going out again to the internet, for example, now they have to enter the network, enter the device that has Tailscale, and only then go out."
"I choose a seven because it sells what it does honestly, but I believe some more flexibility might be needed."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution is priced well and we currently have the maximum number of licenses allowed."
"All the costs are included in a bundled license."
"The platform has medium pricing."
"The cost of the licensing is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, and it costs a lot to add them."
"Our licenses are stackable and can be anywhere from five users to a million users."
"I don't know about the pricing of the SSL-VPN box. I know the SSL-VPN software is free. Global VPN client, by comparison, is licensed for around $150 or something like that. But the SSL-VPN software is free. It is already built-in with the box."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Construction Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with SonicWall SMA?
I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, a...
What is your primary use case for SonicWall SMA?
I have experience with the SonicWall SMA; we have rolled it back into our stack. We use SonicWall SMA for all of our clients that need VPNs, including doctor's offices and lawyer offices. Our clien...
What needs improvement with Tailscale?
At the moment, I don't know because it's been working very well for me, and I haven't been managing it much lately. I still use it because I connect from different phones, but everything is already...
What is your primary use case for Tailscale?
My main use case for Tailscale is for my homelab, where I have several services, including professional services. I use it to connect remotely from different places and access my services. I used t...
What advice do you have for others considering Tailscale?
There are several or many minutes of time saved, especially with WireGuard and in management, and in the mental management, it also has an impact because having to manage so many peer files with Wi...
 

Also Known As

SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

UnitedStack, Newport City Homes, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, PRIME aerostructures GmbH, Celtic Manor Resort
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 SonicWall SMA vs. Tailscale and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,939 professionals have used our research since 2012.