OpenZiti

OpenZiti is an open-source Zero Trust networking platform for teams that need identity-controlled access to private services. It is particularly suited to organizations able to operate a network fabric themselves, including groups securing APIs, AI systems, sites, and connected devices. Its central advantage is production use without license fees, balanced by the operational responsibility of self-management.

Overview

OpenZiti separates control from transport: a controller holds identity, policy, and network state, while edge routers move sessions through an encrypted mesh with smart routing and automatic failover. Clients and services initiate outbound connections, eliminating the need for inbound listening ports or publicly reachable endpoints. That design can substantially reduce direct exposure for private applications, but running the fabric, maintaining policy, and keeping the components available remain the operator’s job.

Its security model uses certificate-based identities, mutual authentication, identity-based policy, and end-to-end encryption. Private-app access and device posture checks are included. Apache 2.0 licensing means there is no license charge for production deployment, making the platform unusually attractive when software cost matters more than managed convenience.

Key features

Application connectivity

SDKs for Go, C, C#/.NET, Python, Node.js, Java/Kotlin, and Swift let development teams build identity-aware connectivity directly into their applications. That is the better route when access control should be part of an application’s architecture. Tunnelers cover existing software on Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android without code changes, a more practical choice for established workloads that cannot be rewritten.

Outbound-only networking

Because both clients and services dial out, private systems do not need publicly reachable endpoints. This is a strong fit for replacing VPN-style access, linking sites, or reaching OT and IoT environments where opening inbound paths is undesirable. The benefit is architectural rather than cosmetic: exposure is reduced while identity and policy determine which connections are allowed.

Ecosystem and operations

The wider ecosystem adds zrok for secure sharing, a visual Ziti Console, and AI gateways for MCP tool servers and LLM providers. These components broaden OpenZiti beyond basic private-app access, especially for teams connecting modern AI services. The self-managed edition is supported through Discourse, GitHub, and documentation, so organizations needing a contractual response operation should consider the commercial tiers instead.

Pricing

Plan	Price	What it means
OpenZiti	free	Self-hosted and self-managed, Apache 2.0, with community support.
NetFoundry-Hosted	Custom pricing	Dedicated managed fabric, more than 100 points of presence, and an uptime SLA of up to 99.95%.
NetFoundry Self-Hosted	Custom pricing	Licensed management suite, self-hosted fabric, and 24×7 enterprise support.

The free OpenZiti plan is the clear starting point for engineering teams that can operate controllers and routers and are comfortable with community support. It gives up managed infrastructure and an enterprise support commitment, not the core license rights: the Apache 2.0 release can run in production without a software fee. NetFoundry-Hosted trades that operational burden for a dedicated managed fabric and a stated SLA, while NetFoundry Self-Hosted adds a licensed management layer and round-the-clock enterprise assistance without moving the fabric off your premises.

Platforms

OpenZiti supports Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, web, API, and self-hosted deployments. That range covers application development, user devices, servers, and browser-accessible administration, with tunnelers providing a path for existing applications across the principal desktop and mobile operating systems.

Who it's for

OpenZiti fits teams replacing VPN access, protecting APIs and AI agents, connecting multiple sites, or providing controlled reach into OT and IoT networks. It is especially compelling when avoiding inbound exposure and avoiding per-production license costs are priorities. Smaller groups without networking operations capacity, or organizations that require guaranteed 24×7 assistance, should budget for a NetFoundry tier rather than assume the free edition supplies that service.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Apache 2.0 licensing permits production use with no license cost, which favors broad deployment and experimentation.
• Pro: Identity-based authorization, mutual authentication, and end-to-end encryption make access decisions more precise than simply exposing a private network.
• Pro: Outbound-only connections avoid inbound listening ports and publicly reachable service endpoints.
• Pro: SDKs and code-free tunnelers cover both new applications and legacy software.
• Con: The free edition is self-managed and community-supported, so operating expertise and incident responsibility stay with the customer.
• Con: Managed capacity, the stated SLA, and 24×7 support require custom-priced commercial plans.

Alternatives

Choose Twingate instead when a freemium service with a free trial and a Starter plan capped at five users and 50 resources better matches a small deployment.

Cloudflare One is the better alternative for organizations wanting a broad freemium security platform, including a free plan for up to 50 users and up to 24 hours of standard log retention.

Pick Cloudflare Gateway when a gateway-oriented service with a free 50-user tier or a $7 a month pay-as-you-go option is preferable.

Dope Security CASB Neural suits teams prioritizing secure web gateway controls such as on-device SSL inspection, URL filtering, cloud-app controls, anti-malware, and Shadow IT discovery.

Choose Zscaler Private Access for a paid private-access platform with Standard and Platform offerings rather than an open-source fabric.

Skyhigh Private Access is a paid private-access alternative with custom pricing.

Forcepoint Data Security Cloud is another paid option, priced by request across a wide range of platforms.

NetFoundry is the natural choice when you want NetFoundry’s managed infrastructure, uptime SLA, or 24×7 support instead of operating OpenZiti directly.

For a wider category view, see Security Service Edge Software.

Verdict

Choose OpenZiti if your team wants identity-controlled, encrypted networking without publicly reachable service endpoints and can run the underlying fabric. Its open-source production license, outbound-only architecture, and flexible integration options are the core reasons to select it. Look elsewhere if you need included 24×7 support or prefer a fully managed service; those requirements point to NetFoundry’s commercial offerings or another managed alternative.