Comparison

Google Smart Lock vs Tailscale

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

Head to head
About

Google Smart Lock

Securely log in to websites and apps using your phone's built-in security key or a physical Bluetooth key. It simplifies access by remembering your passwords and offering a more convenient sign-in experience.

Highlights
  • Use phone as security key
  • Use Bluetooth security key
  • Password saving
  • Simplified sign-in
  • Secure access
Currently charting
Read full description

Smart Lock allows you to use your Bluetooth security key or set up the security key built in to your phone.

About

Tailscale

Securely connect devices, users, and workloads with a mesh VPN built on WireGuard. It brings identity to network access, enabling Zero Trust principles across diverse environments. Modernize your network for homelabs, businesses, and cloud infrastructure.

Highlights
  • Secure mesh networking
  • Identity-based access control
  • Zero Trust security
  • WireGuard-based VPN
  • Homelab and business VPN
  • Cloud and workload connectivity
  • Hardware-agnostic overlay network
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Securely connect people, workloads, and even AI agents to anything on the internet with Tailscale, the secure connectivity platform built on WireGuard®. Tailscale brings identity to the network layer so you can control access based on users, groups, tags, and devices instead of IP addresses, applying Zero Trust principles end-to-end across every environment. Tailscale transforms your existing network from a legacy hub and spoke model to a modern, lightweight, and responsive mesh networking architecture that eliminates single points of failure and delivers better performance, scalability, and security for your end users, devices, and remote resources. Tailscale can be used for your Homelab VPN and connectivity, Business VPN, Workload Connectivity across clouds, Kubernetes clusters, regions, and environments, Privileged Access Management (PAM), Edge & IoT, CI/CD, and Securing AI – all on the same platform. Replace legacy VPNs, connect workloads across on-prem and cloud infrastructure providers, power Zero Trust initiatives, and make remote access secure by simplifying software-defined networking and security operations. Modernize your home, your organization, and your enterprise networking at scale with Tailscale. Tailscale is hardware-agnostic, so you can make decisions about your hardware independently from decisions about your network. Tailscale creates an overlay network, using your existing network, so you can incrementally deploy Tailscale without needing new network switches or to change your network architecture. Tailscale integrates with 100+ technologies and dozens of identity providers, and is available on a wide range of platforms — including Apple’s macOS, iOS, and tvOS — so you can securely connect from wherever you work.

Screenshots

Google Smart Lock4 screens
Tailscale3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Tailscale at 61% against Google Smart Lock's 9%. Tailscale also leads on rating (4.4 vs 2.5) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On price, ratings volume, 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

Tailscale holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 614 and 741 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 9% of Google Smart Lock's written reviews are positive against 61% of Tailscale's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Google Smart Lock ships an update every 2 months, Tailscale fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Google Smart Lock versus Tailscale: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoogle Smart LockTailscale
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.5 (614 ratings)4.4 (741 ratings) — better
Positive reviews9.4% of reviews60.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings614741 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#134#90 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size56 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoogleTailscale Inc.

Customer experience

Google Smart Lock

All ratings614 ratings
Positive35.2%
Neutral3.6%
Negative61.2%
Written reviews308 reviews
Positive9.4%
Neutral2.9%
Negative87.7%

Tailscale

All ratings741 ratings
Positive83.9%
Neutral3.2%
Negative12.8%
Written reviews443 reviews
Positive60.9%
Neutral11.1%
Negative28.0%

User reviews

Google Smart Lock

From 614 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Works fine
  • 🔒 Adds extra security layer
  • 👍 Useful app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes on iOS 18 update
  • 🐛 Doesn't work with Yubikey
  • 🐛 Doesn't work with child accounts
  • 🐛 Unreliable, constant issues
  • 🐛 Locked out of accounts

Tailscale

From 741 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to set up and use
  • 🔒 Secure remote access
  • 👍 Convenient for accessing home network
  • 👍 Seamless connectivity between devices
  • 🚀 Powerful networking features

Room to improve

  • 🔋 Significant battery drain
  • 🐛 Connectivity issues and bugs
  • 🐛 Unreliable performance
  • 🐛 Broken functionality after updates

Bugs and requests

Google Smart Lock

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes on launch
  • Doesn't detect nearby devices
  • Endless login loop
  • Incompatible with latest iOS

Requested features

3 requests
  • Support for NFC security keys
  • Easier setup and usage
  • Better compatibility with other devices

Tailscale

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to connect or authenticate
  • Exit node feature not working as expected
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching networks
  • App getting stuck in a loading state

Requested features

5 requests
  • On-demand VPN connection
  • Ability to switch between multiple accounts
  • More granular control over exit nodes
  • Integration with other networking tools
  • Dark mode option

In-app purchases

None

Google Smart Lock

No in-app purchases

None

Tailscale

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Google Smart Lock free?
Google Smart Lock is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Tailscale free?
Tailscale is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Google Smart Lock or Tailscale?
Tailscale is rated higher. Google Smart Lock averages 2.5 out of 5 from 614 ratings, while Tailscale averages 4.4 from 741 ratings.
Do Google Smart Lock or Tailscale have ads?
Neither Google Smart Lock nor Tailscale shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Google Smart Lock or Tailscale?
Google Smart Lock ships an update every 2 months, and Tailscale fortnightly. Most recently, Google Smart Lock was updated on September 30, 2026 and Tailscale on September 28, 2026.
Which is more popular, Google Smart Lock or Tailscale?
Google Smart Lock currently peaks at #134 in the App Store charts, and Tailscale at #90. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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