Tailcat
BSD-3 WireGuard+DERP netcat without Tailscale control plane
DevOps / Networking · BSD-3-Clause · 8.4k
Reviewed 2026-09-07 · last push 2026-10-07 · repo checked 2026-10-19
What's Good
BSD-3-Clause. CLI and Go library. Userspace tunnels, SOCKS child mode, bring-your-own DERP. Out-of-band tokens instead of a tailnet.
The Catch
CLI/API unstable — no stability promises. Public Tailscale DERP may be rate-limited or revoked; run your own derper for real bandwidth. Not Headscale control plane or full Tailscale VPN. Distinct from Headscale/Netbird.
Verdict
BSD-3 WireGuard netcat without Tailscale Inc coordination. Bring your own DERP.
Embed
Maintainer? Add the badge to your README. It is free, links to this review, and there is no paid version.
Markdown
[](https://stackgems.com/gems/tailcat)
HTML
<a href="https://stackgems.com/gems/tailcat"><img src="https://stackgems.com/badge/tailcat.svg" alt="Tailcat reviewed on Stack Gems" height="20"></a>