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Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy vs Tailscale comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 15, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.7
Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy enhances collaboration and security for Google apps, with ROI varying based on utilization strategies.
Sentiment score
5.3
Tailscale streamlines network management, cutting costs and setup time, while reducing hardware needs and VPN-related support efforts.
Previously, networks with FortiGate were used, and that forced us to spend on hardware. With Tailscale, that type of investment is not necessary.
Devops Engineer at Allenta
We have seen clear return on investment since implementing Tailscale by eliminating VPN server infrastructure costs.
System Engineer at a healthcare company with 11-50 employees
With Tailscale, I set it up and forget it because it just works, allowing me to avoid worrying about the whole VPN aspect of my home network architecture.
Application Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy support varies; some find it excellent while others face inefficiencies, affecting direct Google interaction.
Sentiment score
6.3
Tailscale's reliable service and robust documentation minimize support needs, though users rate available support as fast and effective.
Tailscale is that reliable, and their documentation answers any questions I have.
Application Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
The user interface, documentation, and support for Tailscale are fabulous.
IT Support / Sysadmin
I would give it a ten out of ten.
DevOps Engineer at CloudKite.io
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy is praised for effective scalability and ease of management despite potential cost concerns.
Sentiment score
6.7
Tailscale is scalable, handling many devices effortlessly across platforms like Docker, Kubernetes, with efficient traffic management and adaptability.
I would say it is really scalable, and I do not think I have ever experienced any downtime with Tailscale.
Software Engineer at Psycontech
As a free-tier user, I have tested my limits, connecting the maximum amount of devices, and everything performed great.
Application Security Engineer at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
We have over 300 to 400 devices that use Tailscale that we connect with and utilize on a daily basis.
IT Support Engineer at a security firm with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy is praised for its reliability and stability, with minor issues mainly in virtual machines.
Sentiment score
8.3
Tailscale is highly stable and reliable with minimal setup, despite minor reactivation concerns on iOS, ensuring dependable network connectivity.
Tailscale is a SaaS platform, so Tailscale scales it themselves.
DevOps Engineer at CloudKite.io
Tailscale is stable; it has never given me downtime on their side.
Infrastructure Lead & Student Developer (also Head of Ops - FOSSCET) at College of Engineering Trivandrum
For what we use it for—interconnection and networks—it is very stable.
Devops Engineer at Allenta
 

Room For Improvement

Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy needs better user-friendliness, integration, security, support, and cost-effectiveness for enhanced performance and usability.
Tailscale users seek improved UI, faster connections, cloud integration, anti-censorship protocols, and better access control and pricing options.
Tailscale could be improved with more advanced network visibility and monitoring tools, cleaner pricing tiers for scaling teams, and enhanced built-in reporting for device posture and controls for enterprise environments.
System Engineer at a healthcare company with 11-50 employees
At my apartment, I can do 2-gig networking, but when I connect via the exit node, and I'm wired in somewhere else, and that place also has 2-gig networking, I'm at max getting half of my speed.
Software engineer
I would like Tailscale to provide more censorship-resistant options, such as Shadowsocks or VLESS, as fallback protocols.
IT Support / Sysadmin
 

Setup Cost

Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy offers competitive pricing, with mixed reviews on cost-effectiveness compared to AWS and Oracle alternatives.
Tailscale provides a flexible, cost-effective pricing model, appealing to small teams with straightforward setup and predictable per-user costs.
The setup has been straightforward and predictable with the per-user subscription model and no infrastructure or hardware setup cost, making the initial deployment inexpensive.
System Engineer at a healthcare company with 11-50 employees
I never used a license. I never purchased or bought anything more than the basic free license.
Field Service Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Tailscale is that since our team is quite small, about ten people, we did not take any license and the cost was zero for us because we were using Tailscale's open-source version.
Software Engineer at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
 

Valuable Features

Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy provides scalable security, user-friendly access management, real-time collaboration, and seamless integration with minimal expertise needed.
Tailscale offers easy setup, strong security, and seamless connectivity, boosting efficiency and reducing workloads with cross-platform support.
The security is valuable, as there are many providers available, but Tailscale fulfills the requirements that we had, allowing us to access and expose internal apps without exposing them to the general internet.
Software Engineer
The most valuable features are the Zero Trust architecture, peer-to-peer connectivity using WireGuard, easy deployment and setup, access control for granular permissions, single sign-on, subnet and routing, exit nodes, and cross-platform support.
System Engineer at a healthcare company with 11-50 employees
Tailscale's security is fabulous, especially the access control features and the ability to use existing OAuth accounts for access.
IT Support / Sysadmin
 

Categories and Ranking

Google Cloud Identity-Aware...
Ranking in ZTNA
14th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Tailscale
Ranking in ZTNA
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the ZTNA category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy is 2.1%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tailscale is 6.5%, down from 20.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ZTNA Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Tailscale6.5%
Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy2.1%
Other91.4%
ZTNA
 

Featured Reviews

UchechiSylvanus - PeerSpot reviewer
Team Lead, Process Improvement & RPA at Fidelity Bank Plc
A scalable product that offers an easy-to-use interface
Some of the product users feel that the solution's storage part should be increased, especially when compared to products like Yahoo, which is an old tool in the market that offers unlimited storage to users. Other platforms offer more storage sizes than Google. The storage part of the solution, especially the storage capability offered by Google Drive, needs to be increased. There are certain shortcomings with the product's stability where improvements are required.
Adeniyi Stephen - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Engineer at CloudKite.io
Secure access has simplified hybrid connectivity and has unified multi-cluster workflows
I would say that in terms of Tailscale, if I have so many tailnets I need to connect to, there are some issues in the login process that need a little bit of attention from the Tailscale team. Sometimes, you would probably need to restart your entire system for it to connect. As a DevOps as a Service engineer, I have so many clients that are using Tailscale, and I would need to connect to maybe five different tailnets because they are different clients. Client A might have a Tailscale, Client B, Client C, and so on. When changing between tailnets, sometimes it hangs. Sometimes you might need to restart your entire system. This is a bit of a headache in that aspect. However, I believe if you are just using a particular tailnet, just one, then it is quite easy and there won't be any headache. For me, I think it can be improved in the aspect of having multiple tailnets to connect to. A good refresh on the Tailscale side and the backend side to refresh the connection anytime there is a new connection to be made would be helpful. Instead of needing to restart the system, it should be able to refresh itself. The connection side and connecting to multiple Tailscale instances can be problematic, and sometimes you have to restart your system when switching between them. The ACL sometimes is like another language on its own entirely. It is fine, but they need to make it in a YAML format instead of the current format because it is quite new and something you have to go and study. If they can make it like a YAML format, that would be better. Aside from the switching which I mentioned and the fact that you have to relearn their ACL, if the ACL could be in a YAML format instead of JSON format, that would be beneficial. I don't think there is much they can do about the switching of tailnets, but if they can have a YAML format of the ACL, that would be good. Every other thing is a ten out of ten. The connection-wise is easy to set up and easy to install. It is good to have things connected all together from on-premises, from so many environments, and even exit nodes as well. It is good overall. The pricing, I think Tailscale can be a little bit on the higher side. It is not for teams with just small users. If you want to set it up for small users and a small startup, I don't think you can afford it and might need to go to other open-source alternatives. It is good for teams that have maybe fifty plus users or one hundred users. In terms of pricing, I would say it is on the higher side, but it is worth it. The price is worth the functionality. As a user, I would say it is more on the higher side, but based on its functionality, it is worth the price.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Platform Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy?
There are different pricing plans depending on data volumes and services, but it's comparable to other providers. The value and benefits depend on what we're developing and the specific use case.
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Platform Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy?
Google Cloud Platform Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy should improve stability.
What is your primary use case for Google Cloud Platform Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy?
We use the solution for data engineering, data preparation, and AI.
What needs improvement with Tailscale?
Tailscale could be improved in different ways. I have not really found any problem with it so far. It pretty much solved the problems of other VPN clients that we have been trying. If Tailscale pro...
What is your primary use case for Tailscale?
My main use case for Tailscale is connecting to company internal systems due to GDPR requirements. The company is located in Germany with private servers in Germany, and I stay in the UK, so I use ...
What advice do you have for others considering Tailscale?
My advice to others looking into using Tailscale is to definitely try it out because it is going to really abstract away a lot of network problems, especially when it comes to private networks, pri...
 

Also Known As

GCP Cloud IAP, Google Cloud Platform Cloud IAP, Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy, Google Identity-Aware Proxy, Google Identity Aware Proxy, Google Cloud Identity Aware Proxy
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Bamboo Health, Duolingo, Shiguredo, Instacart, Corelight, Machinify, Bolt, Mercari, Cobalt, Yugabyte, Jasper, VersaBank, Zego, Gini and Finter
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy vs. Tailscale and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
892,943 professionals have used our research since 2012.