Obkio
Obkio is a network performance monitoring and troubleshooting solution that helps you continuously monitor network health and core business applications to improve end-user experience.
Tailscale
Tailscale is a zero-config VPN software that creates secure mesh networks between your devices and cloud resources using the WireGuard protocol to simplify remote access and internal connectivity.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Obkio | Tailscale |
|---|---|---|
| Website | obkio.com | tailscale.com |
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting Price | Free | Free |
| FREE Trial | ✓ 14 days free trial | ✓ 0 days free trial |
| Free Plan | ✓ Has free plan | ✓ Has free plan |
| Product Demo | ✓ Request demo here | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2018 | 2019 |
| Headquarters | Montreal, Canada | Toronto, Canada |
Overview
Obkio
Obkio is a network performance monitoring and troubleshooting solution that helps you continuously monitor the health of your network and core business applications. It identifies the causes of intermittent VoIP, video, and application slowdowns in seconds, allowing you to troubleshoot issues before they impact your end-users. You can deploy monitoring agents across various locations, including headquarters, branch offices, cloud environments, and remote user sites, to gain end-to-end visibility.
This platform uses synthetic traffic to measure key network metrics like latency, jitter, and packet loss every 500ms. It also offers SNMP device monitoring for firewalls, switches, and routers. Obkio provides real-time insights, historical data analysis, and customizable dashboards to help you quickly pinpoint and resolve network problems.
Tailscale
Tailscale makes creating a secure network between your computers, servers, and cloud instances as easy as installing an app. It builds a private mesh network—called a tailnet—that connects your devices directly to each other using the WireGuard protocol. This means you can access your home office computer from a coffee shop or connect to a private database in the cloud without managing complex firewall rules or centralized VPN gateways.
You can manage identity and access through your existing providers like Google, Microsoft 365, or GitHub, ensuring that only authorized users can reach your sensitive resources. It handles the difficult parts of networking, like NAT traversal and key rotation, automatically in the background. Whether you are a developer connecting to a local test environment or an enterprise securing thousands of endpoints, it provides a stable, encrypted connection that works across any provider or location.
Overview
Obkio Features
- Network Performance Monitoring Continuously monitor end-to-end network performance using synthetic traffic to detect latency, jitter, and packet loss.
- Network Device Monitoring Monitor the performance of network devices like firewalls, switches, and routers using SNMP polling for detailed insights.
- Visual Traceroutes Diagnose the root cause of performance issues with intuitive visual traceroutes that pinpoint problem locations.
- Application Performance Monitoring Identify and troubleshoot performance issues affecting your applications, including VoIP and video.
- Real-Time Notifications Receive smart notifications via email, PagerDuty, Slack, or Microsoft Teams when network issues are detected.
- Customizable Dashboards Create personalized dashboards to visualize network data and performance graphs that matter most to you.
- Speed Test Tool Run on-demand or scheduled speed tests to assess your internet connection's upload and download performance.
- Historical Data Analysis Analyze historical network performance data to identify trends and troubleshoot past issues effectively.
Tailscale Features
- Zero-Config Mesh VPN. Connect your devices directly to one another without manual port forwarding or complex firewall rules.
- Single Sign-On Integration. Use your existing identity providers like Google, Microsoft 365, or Okta to authenticate users and devices.
- MagicDNS. Access your devices using short, easy-to-remember names instead of tracking changing IP addresses across your network.
- Tailscale SSH. Manage SSH access to your servers using your tailnet identity instead of distributing and rotating static SSH keys.
- Split DNS. Configure specific DNS servers for different domains so your internal queries stay private while public traffic flows normally.
- Exit Nodes. Route all your internet traffic through a specific trusted device on your network to stay secure on public Wi-Fi.
- Subnet Routers. Expose entire existing networks to your tailnet so you can access legacy devices that cannot run the software.
- Access Control Lists. Define granular security policies in code to restrict which users can access specific devices or ports.
Pricing Comparison
Obkio Pricing
- 2 Monitoring Agents
- 1 Network Device
- End-to-End Monitoring
- 7 Days History Retention
- Email Notifications
- Automatic Updates
- Everything in Free, plus:
- 50 Agents
- 100 Agents
- 150 Agents
- 200 Agents
- Ultra-fast polling
- 10 monitoring sessions per agent
- 36 months of history
Tailscale Pricing
- Up to 3 users
- Up to 100 devices
- MagicDNS
- Tailscale SSH
- Community support
- Admin console access
- Everything in Personal, plus:
- Up to 10 users included
- User & group management
- Basic access control lists
- Email support
- 1 identity provider
Pros & Cons
Obkio
Pros
- Easy to deploy and set up quickly.
- Intuitive and modern user interface.
- Provides real-time network performance insights.
- Excellent and responsive customer support.
- Effective for diagnosing internet and VPN issues.
Cons
- Configuration can be challenging for firewalls.
- Speed test feature is used less frequently by some users.
- Limited integration options compared to some competitors.
- Pricing can get expensive for larger enterprise plans.
- Learning curve for advanced features and configurations.
Tailscale
Pros
- Extremely simple setup process for all devices
- Reliable connectivity even behind strict firewalls
- Generous free tier for personal projects
- Minimal impact on system performance and battery
- Seamless integration with existing identity providers
Cons
- Requires a third-party identity provider login
- Limited advanced routing features for complex setups
- Mobile app can occasionally drain battery
- Admin console lacks some deep auditing logs