Cloudflare Zero Trust is free for up to 50 users with all core features — the most generous free tier in zero-trust network access by a wide margin. If you're a small team and Cloudflare is already part of your stack, this is close to a default answer.
| Free tier | Paid entry | Architecture | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Zero Trust | up to 50 users, core features | $7/user/mo | brokered through Cloudflare's edge (inline inspection, DLP) |
| Tailscale | Personal: 1 user, 3 devices free | Starter $6/user, up to Premium $18/user | peer-to-peer overlay (WireGuard) |
| Twingate | free tier for small teams | Business from ~$10/user/mo | peer-to-peer overlay |
The architectural split matters more than the price. Tailscale and Twingate build a direct peer-to-peer overlay — once you're authorized, traffic flows straight between your device and the resource, which is fast and simple. Cloudflare (and Zscaler) route every session through their own global edge, which is slower but enables inline traffic inspection, data-loss prevention and browser isolation — things a security team at a larger company will want.
For a small team with little IT time — a startup that needs staging access working today, a few people connecting to a few servers — Tailscale is usually the safest pick. Near-zero config, and the paid step at $6/user is cheap. Twingate makes more sense once you have contractors, named-app access policies, and a security team that wants access tied tightly to identity. Cloudflare Zero Trust fits when you're already Cloudflare-heavy, or when private app access is just one piece of a broader policy you're building.
Small team, minimal budget: Cloudflare's free 50-user tier or Tailscale's cheap Starter plan. Don't pay Twingate or Zscaler prices until you actually need the enterprise access controls.