ZeroTier One vs Meshtastic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ZeroTier One
Create secure, peer-to-peer virtual Ethernet networks on your iOS device. Connect to hybrid clouds, remote teams, and IoT devices without hardware. Easily join existing networks via a simple interface.
- Join ZeroTier virtual networks
- Secure peer-to-peer connections
- Connect hybrid clouds
- Connect remote teams
- Connect IoT devices
- No hardware required
- iOS VPN control panel integration
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ZeroTier One for iOS allows you to join ZeroTier virtual networks as VPN connections on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. ZeroTier creates secure peer-to-peer virtual Ethernet networks that work anywhere. Skip the VPN hassles. Connect hybrid clouds, remote teams, and IoT devices directly with no hardware required. ZeroTier One provides virtual network endpoint functionality for iOS devices. Getting started takes seconds: Just tap '+', enter your network ID and name, and then click ‘join network.’ (Once a network is added you can also join it via the iOS VPN control panel. It will appear there as an available VPN connection.) You can only join one ZeroTier network at once due to an iOS limitation of one VPN connection per network extension app. The app allows you to add multiple networks but if you flip one to 'on' any others currently joined will disconnect. We value your feedback! If you encounter any issues or have suggestions for future improvements, please contact our support team through our website. Thanks for using ZeroTier! Clients for other platforms are available on https://www.zerotier.com/ and source code to ZeroTier's core engine can be found here: https://github.com/zerotier/ZeroTierOne
Meshtastic
This app enables off-grid, decentralized communication via a low-power mesh network. Send text messages in areas lacking cellular or WiFi service.
- Off-grid communication
- Decentralized mesh network
- Low-power LoRa radio support
- Text messaging
- No cellular/WiFi required
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Meshtastic® is an open source, off-grid, decentralized, mesh network built to run on low-power Lora radios letting you send text messages in areas without reliable cellular or WiFi service.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Meshtastic at every 10 days against ZeroTier One's every 2 months. Meshtastic also leads on rating (4.1 vs 3.9) and ratings volume (824 vs 189). ZeroTier One's advantage is review sentiment (58% vs 44%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.5). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Meshtastic holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 189 and 824 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 58% of ZeroTier One's written reviews are positive against 44% of Meshtastic's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
ZeroTier One ships an update every 2 months, Meshtastic every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ZeroTier One | Meshtastic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (189 ratings) | 4.1 (824 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 58.0% of reviews — better | 44.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 189 | 824 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 95 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | ZeroTier, Inc | Meshtastic LLC |
Customer experience
ZeroTier One
Meshtastic
User reviews
ZeroTier One
From 189 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Works great
- 🔒 Reliable and secure
- 👍 Easy to set up and use
- 🌐 Allows remote access to devices
- 💡 Useful for gaming and collaboration
Room to improve
- 🐛 Connectivity issues
- 🔋 Battery drain
- 🤔 Confusing UI
- 🚫 Doesn't work on certain devices/OS versions
Meshtastic
From 824 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Well-made app
- 🚀 Polished and intuitive interface
- 🚀 Powerful features for off-grid communication
- 👍 Great community and responsive developers
- 👍 Continuously improving with updates
Room to improve
- 🐛 Bluetooth connectivity issues
- 🐛 Unreliable messaging and node connections
- 🐛 Crashes and stability problems
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 👎 Lacking feature parity with Android version
Bugs and requests
ZeroTier One
Reported bugs
3 issues- Unable to add networks on iOS devices
- Frequent disconnections and reconnection issues
- Managed IP field always empty
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for custom planet and moon servers
- Implement on-demand VPN functionality
- Provide better network visibility and management
- Improve compatibility with newer iOS versions
Meshtastic
Reported bugs
4 issues- Canned messages configuration issues
- Location sharing and traceroute functions not working
- Settings screen bugs and crashes
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between devices
Requested features
5 requests- Offline maps support
- Ability to customize notifications
- More sorting and filtering options for nodes
- Apple Watch and Shortcuts integration
- Improved documentation and user guidance
In-app purchases
ZeroTier One
No in-app purchases
Meshtastic
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ZeroTier One free?
Is Meshtastic free?
Which has better reviews, ZeroTier One or Meshtastic?
Do ZeroTier One or Meshtastic have ads?
Which is updated more often, ZeroTier One or Meshtastic?
Other comparisons
