Twingate review (2026): is the free plan enough?
Zero trust network access to replace a company VPN
Black Friday: is there a Twingate sale?
Twingate report card
Good · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026
Best for replacing a company VPN with access rules
Twingate is a zero trust access service meant to replace a company VPN, free for up to 5 users and 50 resources. Past that it caps at 100 users on Teams and 500 on Business, and only one set of prices is shown.
Who Twingate is for
- Fits if you are a small team that wants to retire a company VPN
- Works for homelabs, where the Home plan costs $15 a month for up to 7 users
Who Twingate is not for
- Tight if you grow past 5 users, as the free Starter plan stops there
- Watch out: Teams is capped at 100 users and Business at 500, then it's Enterprise through sales
- Watch out: the Home plan is limited to non-commercial use
- Watch out: only one set of prices is shown, and the monthly-billing prices aren't displayed
Why Twingate gets a 2.6
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyTeams is $5 per user a month on the page's yearly view and Business is $10, inside the category's $2.78 to $18 range.
- BFree plan and trialStarter is free for 5 users and 50 resources, with conditional access and split tunneling. A tiny team can stay on it.
- BFeaturesVPN replacement, least-privilege rules, device and identity checks and privileged access to infrastructure cover the core of the job.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. You deploy connectors, connect an identity provider and write access rules first.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWindows, macOS, Linux, iPhone, Android and a browser extension, with Okta, Entra ID, Google Workspace, Kubernetes and SSH. No full web console client is listed.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Twingate's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/twingate#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/twingate.svg" alt="Twingate: 2.6 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Twingate stands among remote desktop apps
Twingate's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 49 of the 85 other remote desktop apps we grade, and level with 19.
It stands best on features (B, above 55 of 85) and worst on value for money (C, above 7).
Its paid plans start at $5 a month for each person, against a middle price of $8.33 for the category: 16 of the 44 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 2 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 86 remote desktop apps we grade, cut by the letter each got. Twingate’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 7 of 85, level with 46
- BFree plan and trialAbove 48 of 85, level with 22
- BFeaturesAbove 55 of 85, level with 30
- CEase of useAbove 10 of 85, level with 48
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 28 of 85, level with 50
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 59 remote desktop apps. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Twingate, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Twingate you would be making servers in dozens of countries, kept fast and private. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It costs $60 a year.
What you could not
- Servers in dozens of countries, kept fast and private.
- Apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android that stay in step with each other.
- It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- It plugs into other products, Okta, Microsoft Entra ID and Google Workspace among them, and has an API.
- What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Twingate’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Twingate?
Twingate is a zero trust network access service that lets staff reach private apps, servers and cloud networks without a traditional VPN. Admins define resources and who may reach them, and client apps connect users directly to those resources. It ships apps for desktop, mobile and Chrome.
Worth knowing
- The free Starter plan stops at 5 users and 50 resources.
- Teams is capped at 100 users and Business at 500; larger accounts need Enterprise through sales.
- The Home plan is limited to non-commercial use.
- Only one set of prices is shown; the monthly-billing prices behind the yearly view are not displayed.
Key features
- VPN replacement
- Staff reach office networks, cloud VPCs and other private resources through Twingate clients instead of a VPN gateway.
- Least-privilege access rules
- Access is granted per resource and per user or group, and the Teams plan adds automated least-privilege policies.
- Device and identity checks
- Conditional access is on every plan, with native device posture checks and endpoint integrations on higher plans.
- Identity provider sign-in
- Teams supports SSO through Google Workspace; Business adds Okta, Entra ID and automatic user provisioning from the IdP.
- Privileged access to infrastructure
- The Business plan lists privileged access for Kubernetes, SSH, databases and web apps, marked with an asterisk on the pricing page.
- Apps for most platforms
- The download page lists Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and a Chrome client.
Twingate pricing
As of Nov 13, 2026, Twingate has a free plan, and paid plans start at $5 per user / month (page's yearly view; monthly not shown).
- Starts at
- $5 per user / month (page's yearly view; monthly not shown)
- Free plan
- Starter plan: free for up to 5 users and 50 resources, with conditional access controls and split tunneling.
- Free trial
- 14-day trial on Home, Teams and Business
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $0 | Up to 5 users and 50 resources, with peer-to-peer connections, split tunneling and conditional access. |
| Home | $15per month for up to 7 users | For homelabs, adds service accounts, exit networks and device posture checks. Non-commercial use only. |
| Teams | $5per user / month (page's yearly view; monthly not shown) | Up to 100 users, SSO via Google Workspace, SaaS app gating and automated least-privilege policies. |
| Business | $10per user / month (page's yearly view; monthly not shown) | Up to 500 users, IdP provisioning, SSO via Okta or Entra ID, endpoint integrations and just-in-time access. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom account sizes, custom MSA and SLAs, invoice payment, geoblocking and static IPs. Sold through sales. |
Read from twingate.com on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Twingate before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discount15% off with yearly billing
The pricing page labels yearly billing on Teams and Business as 15% off.
Stated on twingate.com
Works with
Twingate alternatives
- Twingate vs Tailscale
Free plan · from $8/mo
- Twingate vs NetBird
Free plan · from €6/mo
- Twingate vs ZeroTier
Free plan · from $18/mo
- Twingate vs Teleport
Free plan
Common questions
Is Twingate open source?
Twingate is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 13, 2026.
Does Twingate have an API?
Yes. Twingate offers a public API, according to its own site.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026.