Relayant and Tailscale or ZeroTier
Tailscale and ZeroTier build a private network between devices that run their client. We put a box at the site for devices that cannot run anything. Here is where each fits.
What they are good at
Tailscale and ZeroTier join computers into one private network
Both connect devices that run their client into a private, encrypted network, wherever those devices are. Where the network allows, traffic goes device to device. Both have a free tier for personal use.
Tailscale's coordination service can be down and devices that are already connected keep talking until a key expires. Our alerts and alarm signals have a limit of the same kind. Today, a site that cannot reach us is reported offline, and nothing else is raised for its devices. Local relays carry on for sites that already reach them while we are unreachable.
Where they fall short
A camera cannot run the client
Each of these is from Tailscale's or ZeroTier's own pages, read on 13 October 2026.
- A device that cannot run the client needs a computer at the site
- Tailscale reaches such a device through a subnet router. That is an always-on computer at the site running Tailscale, with IP forwarding switched on and the route approved in the admin console. ZeroTier's guide bridges the network through a Linux computer on the site's LAN, configured by hand.
- Behind a hard NAT the connection stays relayed
- Every Tailscale connection starts relayed through a DERP server and is upgraded to a direct one where the network allows. When both ends are behind a hard NAT, or UDP is blocked, it stays relayed. Tailscale's own page says relayed connections are generally slower, with a lower maximum throughput.
- The free tiers are for personal use
- Tailscale's Personal plan is free for up to six users and, in Tailscale's words, "only suitable for non-commercial use". ZeroTier's free plan is for personal, non-commercial use, with ten devices on one network. The paid plans are priced per user (Tailscale) or per device (ZeroTier); the table has the figures and the links.
- Nothing watches the devices
- Their plan pages describe private networking. They do not describe finding the devices on a site, checking that each one answers, sending alarm signals to a control room, or monthly reports. Our box does those four things.
Side by side
Eight things a control room asks, answered for both
| The question | Relayant | Tailscale and ZeroTier |
|---|---|---|
| What runs at the site | Our box on a LAN port, connecting out. Nothing is installed on the devices. | The client on each device, or an always-on computer at the site as a subnet router (Tailscale) or a bridge (ZeroTier).tailscale.com/kb/1019; docs.zerotier.com/bridging, 13 October 2026 |
| Finding the devices on the site | The box finds the cameras, recorders and other devices, and names the maker and model where it can. | Not described on the plan pages.tailscale.com/pricing; zerotier.com/pricing, 13 October 2026 |
| Checking that each device answers | Every minute. You are told when one stops answering. | Not described on the plan pages.The same two pages, 13 October 2026 |
| Alarm signals to the control room | Into your monitoring software over SIA DC-09, as supplementary fault signalling. | Not described on the plan pages.The same two pages, 13 October 2026 |
| A monthly report per site | A PDF per site on the first of the month. | Not described on the plan pages.The same two pages, 13 October 2026 |
| When the service is down | Today the site is reported offline, and device alerts and alarm signals wait until the box reaches us again. Local relays carry on for sites that already reach them. | Tailscale: devices already connected keep talking until a key expires. New devices cannot be added and access rules cannot change.tailscale.com/kb/1091, 13 October 2026 |
| How a connection crosses the internet | Through our cloud relay, or through local relays on PCs in your own control room. | Tailscale: every connection starts relayed through a DERP server and is upgraded to direct where the network allows. Behind a hard NAT at both ends, or with UDP blocked, it stays relayed.tailscale.com/kb/1257, 13 October 2026 |
| How it is priced | Per box at a live site, not per user or per device. A software agent counts as a box. | Tailscale: Personal free for up to six users, non-commercial; Standard US$8 and Premium US$18 per user per month. ZeroTier: Personal free for ten devices, non-commercial; Essential US$18 a month for ten devices, then US$2 for each more.tailscale.com/pricing; zerotier.com/pricing, 13 October 2026 |
"Not described" means exactly that: the vendor's plan pages, read on the date shown, do not mention it. It does not mean the product cannot do it.
About alarm signals
Our alarm signals are supplementary fault signals. They tell your control room that a device has stopped answering, has a fault, or that a site’s network is down. They do not replace the alarm panel’s own communicator.
When to choose them anyway
Computers that can run a client, looked after by IT staff
Choose Tailscale or ZeroTier when the things to reach are computers that can run a client: servers, laptops, a NAS. The people reaching them are IT staff who already manage identity and access rules. Nobody needs to know when a camera stops answering. For an IT team joining offices and laptops into one private network, these tools are the right shape. A subnet router on an always-on computer will carry the odd camera.
We built Relayant for sites full of devices that cannot run anything, and for control rooms whose monitoring software connects by address and port. The relay reaches only the device-and-port pairs you chose, not the site's whole network. It also suits the moment a device goes quiet and someone has to be told.
Tell us how your sites connect
Say how many sites you look after, how they reach the internet and what monitoring software you use. We reply by email.
Checked against Tailscale's and ZeroTier's published information on 13 October 2026. Tell us if something has changed: [email protected].
Product names belong to their owners.