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# Tailscale's free plan replaced my $100-a-year VPN subscription

**[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 4 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

Tailscale's updated free Personal plan now supports up to 6 users and unlimited devices, making it a viable replacement for paid VPN subscriptions used for remote home network access. The author switched from a $100/year VPN after finding Tailscale easier to configure (no NAT, firewall rules, or manual reconnections) and more feature-complete for their use case. The key caveat: Tailscale is not a privacy or streaming VPN and won't mask your IP or unblock geo-restricted content.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://www.xda-developers.com/tailscale-free-plan-replaced-my-paid-vpn>

## Questions this post answers

### How many users does Tailscale's free Personal plan support now?

Tailscale's free Personal plan supports up to 6 users, increased from a previous cap of 3, following a pricing update earlier in the year. Device limits remain unlimited across every plan tier, so a single tailnet can include laptops, phones, NAS devices, and cloud VMs without hitting a device cap.

_Compare self-hosted networking options like Tailscale on daily.dev before committing to a paid VPN._

### Can Tailscale replace a paid VPN for remote access to a home NAS?

Yes, for remote access to personal devices like a NAS, desktop, or home server, Tailscale's free tier can fully replace a paid VPN subscription. It automatically connects devices without manual NAT configuration, port forwarding, or firewall rule setup, and devices stay reachable continuously rather than requiring a manual connect and disconnect cycle.

_Developers weighing self-hosting tradeoffs can follow tools like Tailscale on daily.dev._

### Can Tailscale be used to unblock streaming services or mask my IP address?

No, Tailscale is not designed to unblock geo-restricted streaming content or mask a user's IP address the way commercial privacy VPNs do. It's built specifically for secure remote access to a private network (a tailnet), not for spoofing location or anonymizing traffic, so a dedicated VPN provider is still needed for those use cases.

_Anyone comparing VPN tools for different purposes can track distinctions like this on daily.dev._

## Similar posts on daily.dev

- [Tailscale replaced my entire networking setup, and I finally stopped dreading new services](https://daily.dev/posts/tailscale-replaced-my-entire-networking-setup-and-i-finally-stopped-dreading-new-services-taswqwfah) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments
- [I almost paid my ISP for a static IP, but a free Tailscale account did the job better](https://daily.dev/posts/i-almost-paid-my-isp-for-a-static-ip-but-a-free-tailscale-account-did-the-job-better-kdq3ebadc) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments
- [Tailscale pricing update: clearer plans, more value](https://daily.dev/posts/tailscale-pricing-update-clearer-plans-more-value-ua9q4ead5) · Tailscale · 3 upvotes · 0 comments
- [Tailscale's latest personal plan changes make it easier than ever to share your home lab with friends and family](https://daily.dev/posts/tailscale-s-latest-personal-plan-changes-make-it-easier-than-ever-to-share-your-home-lab-with-friend-5od56h4eq) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments

---

Tags: [#networking](https://daily.dev/tags/networking), [#self-hosting](https://daily.dev/tags/self-hosting), [#vpn](https://daily.dev/tags/vpn), [#tailscale](https://daily.dev/tags/tailscale)

[View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/tailscale-s-free-plan-replaced-my-100-a-year-vpn-subscription-dpcy12zum)

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