Raw source: tailscale¶

Immutable capture. Curated into wiki pages — do not edit. See the curated page(s) for synthesis. Extracted 2026-07-16 via web_extract (head+tail; full pages truncated at source).

URL: https://tailscale.com/kb/1151/what-is-tailscale TITLE: What is Tailscale? · Tailscale Docs Join us in San Francisco for TailscaleUp!Grab your ticket ->

Documentation¶

Close navigation

What is Tailscale?¶

Last validated: Sep 30, 2025|Copy as markdown| View as markdown

Tailscale is a Zero Trust identity-based connectivity platform that replaces your legacy VPN, SASE, and PAM and connects remote teams, multi-cloud environments, CI/CD pipelines, Edge & IoT devices, and AI workloads.

Out-of-the-box, Tailscale solves many networking headaches. It has a customizable configuration to meet the demands of managing a distributed workforce. Tailscale helps provision for internal self-hosted and external third-party applications. It scales for growth as your requirements change.

Tailscale is an ideal solution for DevOps, IT, and Security teams.

Technical details ¶

Tailscale is a secure networking solution that streamlines connecting devices and services securely across different networks. It enables encrypted point-to-point connections using the open source WireGuard protocol, which means only devices on your private network can communicate with each other.

Tailscale creates a peer-to-peer mesh network (known as a tailnet). However, you can still use Tailscale like a traditional VPN by routing all traffic through an exit node.

A user in Charleston connecting to a computer in New York City through a gateway in San Diego. This results in high latency because the gateway is on the opposite coast.

Figure 1(a). The central gateway may or may not be close to users, thus resulting in higher latency. Because traffic is centralized, it can also act as a bottleneck, slowing down connections further.

The same user in Charleston connecting to the New York City computer directly, thanks to Tailscale.