Comparison

ZeroTier One vs NetBird P2P VPN

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Read full description

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

About

NetBird P2P VPN

This app establishes a secure, point-to-point network for your devices and teams, eliminating the need for traditional VPN servers. It enables seamless and automatic connections across various environments, including cloud and on-premises infrastructure, for easy access to internal resources.

Highlights
  • Point-to-point networking
  • WireGuard-based
  • Automatic connections
  • Cross-cloud and on-premises support
  • Secure access to internal resources
Features
Read full description

NetBird replaces traditional centralized VPNs with a WireGuard®-based point-to-point network that automatically connects your servers, containers, and remote teams. It works universally across clouds and on-premises, allowing your team to quickly and securely connect and access internal resources.

Screenshots

ZeroTier One3 screens
NetBird P2P VPN4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: NetBird P2P VPN at every 3 weeks against ZeroTier One's every 2 months. ZeroTier One's advantage is review sentiment (57% vs 46%) and ratings volume (212 vs 56). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.8 for ZeroTier One against 3.9 for NetBird P2P VPN. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 212 and 56 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 57% of ZeroTier One's written reviews are positive against 46% of NetBird P2P VPN's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ZeroTier One ships an update every 2 months, NetBird P2P VPN every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ZeroTier One versus NetBird P2P VPN: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZeroTier OneNetBird P2P VPN
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (212 ratings)3.9 (56 ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.1% of reviews — better46.0% of reviews
Number of ratings212 — better56
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB79 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZeroTier, IncNetBird GmbH

Customer experience

ZeroTier One

All ratings182 ratings
Positive70.3%
Neutral7.1%
Negative22.5%
Written reviews217 reviews
Positive57.1%
Neutral11.5%
Negative31.3%

NetBird P2P VPN

All ratings54 ratings
Positive70.4%
Neutral9.3%
Negative20.4%
Written reviews50 reviews
Positive46.0%
Neutral12.0%
Negative42.0%

User reviews

ZeroTier One

From 212 App Store ratings

What 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

NetBird P2P VPN

From 56 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Works as intended
  • 👍 Good app
  • 👍 Excellent VPN and Mesh
  • 👍 It works :)
  • 👍 Promising

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Didn’t work
  • 🐛 Was working great but doesn’t work at all now
  • 🔋 Battery issues
  • 🐛 Unreliable
  • 🤢 Glass look

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

NetBird P2P VPN

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • Lost connection after opening other applications
  • Connects briefly then immediately disconnects
  • App says disconnected even when connected (version 0.0.15)
  • Disconnects in the background, crashes, hangs
  • Disconnects after phone is off for more than 15 minutes
Show 11 more
  • Routes sometimes not working when reconnecting
  • Runtime version consistently behind other platforms
  • Custom DNS servers behind peer relays not resolving
  • Lack of logs for WireGuard connection
  • Custom DNS resolution sometimes requires disconnect/reconnect
  • DNS queries leak through during startup
  • Connection goes into a dormant state when phone is locked for ~2 minutes
  • Connection does not automatically come back when phone is unlocked
  • Agent not updated on iPhone
  • Login process not smooth
  • Custom DNS server not available and cannot resolve private DNS

Requested features

10 requests
  • VPN on demand
  • Allow turning on and off entire Networks
  • Define trusted Wi-Fi for automatic connect/disconnect
  • Configuration for connection medium
  • iPad app development
Show 5 more
  • Integration into Shortcuts for on-demand VPN
  • Copy IP address option
  • Connection on demand
  • Auto-disconnect on trusted WiFi
  • Trust WLAN auto-disconnect

In-app purchases

None

ZeroTier One

No in-app purchases

None

NetBird P2P VPN

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ZeroTier One free?
ZeroTier One is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is NetBird P2P VPN free?
NetBird P2P VPN is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ZeroTier One or NetBird P2P VPN?
NetBird P2P VPN is rated higher. ZeroTier One averages 3.8 out of 5 from 212 ratings, while NetBird P2P VPN averages 3.9 from 56 ratings.
Do ZeroTier One or NetBird P2P VPN have ads?
Neither ZeroTier One nor NetBird P2P VPN shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ZeroTier One or NetBird P2P VPN?
ZeroTier One ships an update every 2 months, and NetBird P2P VPN every 3 weeks. Most recently, ZeroTier One was updated on November 2, 2026 and NetBird P2P VPN on November 3, 2026.

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