# Tailscale alternatives: what AI models name instead, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. 190 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where Tailscale holds a standing named it neither first nor as an alternative; these are the first choices those answers made. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/tailscale/alternatives/

## Named instead, most often (every category and segment added)

- Zscaler Private Access: 49
- Cloudflare One: 43
- Twingate: 33
- Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access: 6
- Cato Networks: 4
- Microsoft Entra Private Access: 4

## Zero trust network access

**Small business**: 37 of 84 answers did not name Tailscale (Tailscale is #3 of 10 at 8%).

- Cloudflare One: first choice in 17 of those 37
- Twingate: first choice in 12 of those 37
- Check Point Harmony SASE: first choice in 1 of those 37
- NordLayer: first choice in 1 of those 37
- OpenVPN CloudConnexa: first choice in 1 of those 37

**Mid-market**: 70 of 84 answers did not name Tailscale (Tailscale is #7 of 11 at 2%).

- Twingate: first choice in 21 of those 70
- Cloudflare One: first choice in 16 of those 70
- Zscaler Private Access: first choice in 8 of those 70
- Cato Networks: first choice in 4 of those 70
- NordLayer: first choice in 2 of those 70
- OpenVPN CloudConnexa: first choice in 2 of those 70
- Check Point Harmony SASE: first choice in 1 of those 70
- Microsoft Entra ID with Intune: first choice in 1 of those 70

**Enterprise**: 83 of 84 answers did not name Tailscale.

- Zscaler Private Access: first choice in 41 of those 83
- Cloudflare One: first choice in 10 of those 83
- Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access: first choice in 6 of those 83
- Microsoft Entra Private Access: first choice in 4 of those 83
- Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange: first choice in 4 of those 83
- Akamai Enterprise Application Access: first choice in 2 of those 83
- Netskope Private Access: first choice in 2 of those 83
- Cloudflare Zero Trust Access: first choice in 1 of those 83

Published under CC BY 4.0. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.