What is OpenZiti used for?

OpenZiti's core project, an open-source zero-trust networking platform that authenticates every connection with cryptographic identity and keeps services hidden. It is a good fit for replacing VPNs for internal services, hiding APIs from the public internet, and securing IoT and machine-to-machine connections.

Is OpenZiti open source?

Yes. OpenZiti is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at openziti/ziti and is written mainly in Go.

Yes. OpenZiti is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.

Can I self-host OpenZiti?

Yes. OpenZiti can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is OpenZiti an alternative to?

OpenZiti is an open-source alternative to Twingate, Tailscale, Cloudflare Zero Trust and ngrok. Other open-source alternatives to Twingate include Octelium, Firezone and NetBird.

Is OpenZiti actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to OpenZiti was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v2.0.6, published on 17 September 2026. The project has 4.4k stars on GitHub.

OpenZiti: open-source alternative to Twingate, Tailscale

About OpenZiti

Ziti is the parent project of OpenZiti, an open-source zero-trust networking platform that makes network services invisible to unauthorized users. Every connection, whether from a person, service, device or workload, is authenticated with a cryptographic identity, authorized by policy and encrypted end to end.

It works with existing applications through lightweight tunnelers that need no code changes, and with new applications through embedded SDKs for the strongest zero-trust model. The README lists use cases such as replacing VPNs with per-service authorization, hiding APIs and services so they have no listening ports, and giving IoT devices and other non-human workloads their own identities.

OpenZiti was created and sponsored by NetFoundry and is licensed under Apache-2.0. The code is written in Go, the README describes three deployment models, and a managed solution is available for teams that prefer not to operate it themselves.

Key features

Zero-trust overlay networking
Cryptographic identity for every connection
End-to-end encryption
Tunnelers for apps without code changes
Embedded SDKs for new applications
Policy-based authorization per service
Dark services with no listening ports

Good fit for

→Replacing VPNs for internal services
→Hiding APIs from the public internet
→Securing IoT and machine-to-machine connections

Built with: Go
Tags: zero-trust; ztna; overlay-network; vpn; networking; openziti; go; security

OpenZiti: questions and answers

What is OpenZiti used for?: OpenZiti's core project, an open-source zero-trust networking platform that authenticates every connection with cryptographic identity and keeps services hidden. It is a good fit for replacing VPNs for internal services, hiding APIs from the public internet, and securing IoT and machine-to-machine connections.
Is OpenZiti open source?: Yes. OpenZiti is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at openziti/ziti and is written mainly in Go.
Is OpenZiti free?: Yes. OpenZiti is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.
Can I self-host OpenZiti?: Yes. OpenZiti can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is OpenZiti an alternative to?: OpenZiti is an open-source alternative to Twingate, Tailscale, Cloudflare Zero Trust and ngrok. Other open-source alternatives to Twingate include Octelium, Firezone and NetBird.
Is OpenZiti actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to OpenZiti was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v2.0.6, published on 17 September 2026. The project has 4.4k stars on GitHub.