Firezone vs Outline VPN (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Firezone grades higher than Outline VPN: 2.6 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Firezone grades higher on the free plan, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Firezone
WireGuard-based zero-trust remote access for teams
Which one is for you
Pick Firezone if
- Fits if you are a team of 6 or fewer that wants access tied to a sign-in
- Works for teams that already use Okta, Entra ID or Google Workspace
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you grow past 6 users, 10 service accounts or, on Team, 500 users
- Pricey if you need directory sync or device posture checks, which are on Business at $80 a seat a year
- Skip it if you want to self-host for production, because the GitHub page says that is not officially supported
- Watch out: the Enterprise trial is 30 days and only on request through sales
- Watch out: prices are for Firezone Cloud US, in dollars, with an EU region announced
Pick Outline VPN if
- Fits if you want to run your own VPN rather than trust a provider
- Works for sharing one server with friends or family
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you don't want a hosting bill, as you pay your own server host
- Skip it if you want to switch between countries, since traffic exits from one location
- Tight if you only have a phone, because creating a server needs a desktop computer
- Watch out: getoutline.me and a Telegram channel are not affiliated with the Outline team
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAFirezoneGood | 2.0GPAOutline VPNFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CTeam is $50 a seat a year, about $4.17 a month, in the middle of a category that runs $3.99 to $8. Business is $80 a seat a year. | CThe software is free, but only if you host it yourself, which needs a server; the site cites $5 a month or less at many providers. |
| Free plan and trial | BStarter is free for 6 users and 10 service accounts with no card. A very small team could live on it. | CThe apps and server software cost nothing, but you also need a server of your own, so it is not free to use. |
| Features | CWireGuard with outbound-only gateways, identity sign-in, resource policies and audit logs. The gaps: directory sync and device posture checks are Business only, and production self-hosting is not officially supported. | CYour own server, access keys, per-key data limits and an SDK. There is one exit location, with no pool to switch between. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. You connect an identity provider, gateways and policies before anyone can use it. | DNo store rating on record, and you create a server through the Manager on a desktop and manage it yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | AMac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android clients, a REST API, and links to Okta, Entra ID, Google Workspace, Intune, Splunk and Datadog. | BManager on Windows, Mac and Linux, and clients for iOS and Android. |
| Best for | identity-based access to servers for small teams | running your own VPN server for a few people |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Firezone and Outline VPN. How we grade
Price against what you get
Firezone starts at $4.17 a month when paid by the year for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Outline VPN has no paid plan and scores 2.0.
Firezone scores higher, and starts $4.17 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other VPNs on the chart, 3 score higher than Firezone for less, and none scores higher than Outline VPN for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Outline VPN is self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Firezone | Outline VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $50 per seat / year ($5 per seat / month billed monthly) | Free |
| Free plan | Starter plan: free for up to 6 users and 10 service accounts, no credit card required. | The software is free and open source. You pay your own server host; the Get Started page says many providers offer plans for $5 a month or less. |
| Free trial | 30-day trial of Enterprise on request through sales. | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Firezone | Outline Foundation |
| Price read from | firezone.dev | getoutline.org |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Firezone
- Starter is capped at 6 users and 10 service accounts; Team at 500 users.
- Directory sync and device posture checks need Business at $80 per seat / year.
- The GitHub page says production self-hosting is not officially supported; Firezone Cloud is the supported way to run it.
- Prices are for Firezone Cloud US, in US dollars; a Cloud EU region was announced on the pricing page.
Outline VPN
- You need your own server, so there is a hosting bill, and the site cites $5 a month or less at many providers.
- Your traffic leaves from the one server location you picked, with no pool of locations to switch between.
- The site says getoutline.me and a Telegram channel are not affiliated with the Outline team and cannot help with access keys from those services.
- Outline Manager runs on Windows, macOS and Linux desktops, so creating a server needs a desktop computer.
Key features
Firezone
- WireGuard with a Rust data plane
- The site says it combines WireGuard with a Rust data plane tuned per operating system, and lists throughput figures from 2 Gbps on mobile to 7 Gbps and up on Linux, as tested.
- Outbound-only gateways
- Gateways only make outbound connections and never listen for traffic from the internet, so no firewall ports are opened.
- Identity-provider sync
- Syncs users and groups from Okta, Entra ID and Google Workspace on Business, so deactivating a person there signs them out of every device.
- Device trust and posture checks
- Checks a device certificate from an MDM and can use checks such as disk encryption and OS version, drawn from over 380 parameters from supported MDM and EDR tools.
- Conditional policies
- Policies can require a sign-in provider, location or time of day before a group reaches a resource.
Outline VPN
- Your own server
- Outline Manager walks you through creating a server at a cloud provider such as DigitalOcean, AWS or Google Cloud, or on your own Linux machine, and lets you pick its location.
- Access keys
- Each person you share the server with gets a unique access key from the Manager, and a key can be managed or deleted from the server.
- Per-key data limits
- The Manager can set a data limit for each key so one user cannot use all of the server's bandwidth.
- Shadowsocks-based
- The server runs a Shadowsocks service with a REST API for key management, which the project says benefits from ongoing work on resisting detection and blocking.
- Outline SDK
- A cross-platform library and tools for building the same blocking-resistant networking strategies into other apps and VPN tools.
Plans
Firezone
Starter$0
Up to 6 users and 10 service accounts, native clients, email and OpenID Connect sign-in, resource-level policies, audit logs, a REST API and community support.
Team$50
per seat / year ($5 per seat / month billed monthly)
Up to 500 users, full-tunnel routing, conditional access policies, a custom account slug and priority email support. Self-serve, no contract.
Business$80
per seat / year ($8 per seat / month billed monthly)
Directory sync for Google, Entra ID and Okta, device posture checks, log sinks and SIEM integrations; up to 1,000 users, 200 service accounts, 200 sites. Per active seat.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited users, service accounts and sites, SOC 2 and pentest reports, a 99.9% uptime SLA, dedicated Slack or Teams support and white-glove onboarding.
Outline VPN
Outline$0
Free Manager and Client apps and server software. You host the server yourself at a cloud provider you choose or on your own Linux infrastructure.
Ways to pay less
Firezone
- Annual discount
Save 17% with annual billing
The pricing page shows $50 per seat a year for Team against $5 a month, and $80 against $8 for Business.
Outline VPN
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Firezone or Outline VPN?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Outline VPN is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $4.17 a month when paid by the year for each person for Firezone. Firezone starts at $50 per seat / year ($5 per seat / month billed monthly), and Outline VPN is free.
Which has a free plan, Firezone or Outline VPN?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Firezone and Outline VPN have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.