LogMeIn Hamachi has been the default “make my friends look like they are on a local LAN” tool for two decades. It still works, the AES 256-bit encryption is fine, and the install on Windows, macOS, and Linux is quick. The reasons people switch away are structural. The free tier caps at five network members, which is a real limit for game nights and small teams. The LogMeIn (now GoTo) ownership pivoted toward enterprise products and Hamachi has not seen a meaningful feature update in years. Modern mesh-VPN tools built on WireGuard run faster, scale further on free tiers, and treat home labs and game nights as legitimate use cases. We tested seven Hamachi alternatives on Windows 11, macOS Sequoia, and Ubuntu 24.04 to see which ones cover the LAN-over-WAN job better in 2026.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZeroTier | Quick public-network style mesh | Yes (25 devices) | Software-defined network with one-click join |
| Tailscale | Zero-trust mesh with SSO | Yes (100 devices) | Magic DNS and WireGuard performance |
| Radmin VPN | Game-night LAN with no signup | Yes | No account required, public game network browser |
| Netbird | Open-source self-hosted mesh | Yes | WireGuard-based with self-host option |
| Nebula | Slack’s open-source mesh | Yes | Lightweight CA-style identity model |
| OpenVPN | Traditional site-to-site or remote access | Yes (community edition) | Battle-tested for traditional VPN setups |
| WireGuard | Modern self-hosted point-to-point | Yes | Smallest production VPN codebase |
Why people leave Hamachi
The five-member free-tier limit is the single biggest reason. Game night with six people, or a home lab that grows past one server and four clients, immediately hits the cap. The next reason is performance: Hamachi’s relays sit on LogMeIn’s infrastructure and the routing path is not always optimal, especially across continents. Modern WireGuard-based mesh products often beat Hamachi on round-trip time without any tuning. The third reason is feature stagnation. Hamachi’s GUI looks the same as it did in 2014, the macOS client requires a kernel extension that is increasingly painful on Apple Silicon, and there is no built-in DNS, no zero-trust ACL model, and no SSO integration. Users who needed Hamachi five years ago for game LANs increasingly find that Radmin VPN, ZeroTier, or Tailscale solve the same problem with less friction.
The alternatives
ZeroTier — Best for software-defined network without the LAN simulation
ZeroTier creates a software-defined network that behaves like a flat L2 segment by default, so games and discovery protocols that expect broadcast packets still work. The free tier covers 25 devices on one network and supports Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, and most NAS platforms. Routing is direct peer-to-peer when possible, relayed via ZeroTier’s root servers when not.
Where it falls short: Default flat-network model can leak more traffic than zero-trust setups. Routing performance over the public root depends on geography.
Pricing: Free for 25 devices per network. Paid tiers start at $5 per month.
Vs Hamachi: Five times the device cap on the free tier, plus a modern controller UI and an SDK for automation.
Download: zerotier.com/download
Bottom line: Pick ZeroTier for game nights, small home labs, and anything that needs broadcast discovery to work.
Tailscale — Best for zero-trust mesh with SSO
Tailscale runs WireGuard under the hood with a control plane that handles identity via SSO (Google, Microsoft 365, GitHub, Apple). Magic DNS resolves devices by name, the ACL system locks down which devices can reach which ports, and the free tier covers 100 devices and three users. Direct peer-to-peer routing where possible, DERP relays as fallback.
Where it falls short: Designed around zero-trust, so flat-LAN broadcast traffic does not work out of the box. SSO sign-in is the only auth path on the hosted control plane.
Pricing: Free for personal use (100 devices, three users). Business from $6/user/month.
Vs Hamachi: Faster routing, larger free cap, modern access control. Game LAN compatibility needs a bit more work.
Download: tailscale.com/download
Bottom line: Pick Tailscale for personal infrastructure, home labs, and remote machine access.
Radmin VPN — Best for game LAN with no signup
Radmin VPN is the closest like-for-like swap for Hamachi as a game-night tool. No account required, no device cap, AES 256-bit encryption, and a built-in game network browser that lets users join open public LANs for popular titles. Windows-first with limited macOS or Linux options.
Where it falls short: Famatech is a Russian company, which is a vendor-geography consideration for some users. Windows is the primary platform; non-Windows support is limited.
Pricing: Free.
Vs Hamachi: No five-member cap, no signup, friendlier UI for gamers.
Download: radmin-vpn.com
Bottom line: Pick Radmin VPN if game night is the use case and the vendor geography is not a factor for you.
Netbird — Best for open-source self-hosted mesh
Netbird is the open-source mesh-VPN alternative to Tailscale, built on WireGuard with a self-hostable control plane (Wiremind). The hosted free tier covers a generous device count, and the self-hosted option means full control over identity, ACLs, and routing.
Where it falls short: Smaller community than Tailscale, so docs and integrations are thinner. Self-hosting still requires a public-facing control plane.
Pricing: Free hosted tier; self-host is free open-source.
Vs Hamachi: Modern WireGuard performance with full self-host control.
Download: netbird.io
Bottom line: Pick Netbird for an open-source, self-hostable Tailscale equivalent.
Nebula — Best for lightweight CA-based mesh
Nebula is the open-source mesh tool Slack originally built for its own infrastructure. The identity model uses a small certificate authority that admins control, the binary is single-file, and performance is consistent across geography. Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
Where it falls short: No managed control plane like Tailscale, so admins are responsible for the CA and the lighthouse nodes. Less hand-holding than ZeroTier.
Pricing: Free, open-source. Defined Networking sells a managed control plane.
Vs Hamachi: Lighter, faster, and managed by your own CA rather than a third party.
Download: github.com/slackhq/nebula
Bottom line: Pick Nebula if you want a lightweight self-managed mesh and are comfortable running a CA.
OpenVPN — Best for traditional VPN setups
OpenVPN’s community edition is the same protocol that runs in many corporate VPN clients, but with a free server you can self-host. Not a mesh tool by design (it is hub-and-spoke), but it is well understood and runs on nearly every platform. Useful when the goal is a traditional remote-access VPN rather than a peer-to-peer LAN simulation.
Where it falls short: Hub-and-spoke topology, not a mesh. Requires a server in the middle.
Pricing: Free open-source. Commercial Access Server tier for larger deployments.
Vs Hamachi: Different topology (hub-and-spoke vs peer mesh). Heavier setup, more flexibility.
Download: openvpn.net/community-downloads
Bottom line: Pick OpenVPN if the use case is traditional remote-access VPN and you do not need mesh.
WireGuard — Best for modern self-hosted point-to-point
WireGuard is the protocol that nearly every modern mesh product is built on. The reference clients on Windows, macOS, and Linux handle simple point-to-point setups with minimal configuration. Performance is consistently among the fastest VPN protocols in production use.
Where it falls short: No mesh topology out of the box; users build that with config files or wrappers like Netbird or Tailscale.
Pricing: Free, open-source.
Vs Hamachi: Faster, lighter, more configurable, but requires more manual setup for mesh use cases.
Download: wireguard.com/install
Bottom line: Pick WireGuard if you want the lightest tunnel and you are comfortable building topology yourself.
How to choose
Pick ZeroTier if game discovery needs broadcast and you want a flat-network feel with a real free tier. Pick Tailscale for zero-trust home labs and remote-machine access. Pick Radmin VPN if game night is the only job and signup-free matters. Pick Netbird for an open-source Tailscale alternative with self-host options. Pick Nebula if you want to run your own CA and lightweight mesh. Pick OpenVPN for traditional remote-access VPN setups. Pick WireGuard for the lightest self-hosted tunnel. Stay on Hamachi if the five-member cap is fine for you and you do not want to learn a new tool.
FAQ
Is ZeroTier or Tailscale faster than Hamachi for gaming? In our tests both ZeroTier and Tailscale produced lower round-trip times than Hamachi across continents, mostly because Hamachi’s free-tier relays add an extra hop. For game discovery that depends on broadcast, ZeroTier’s flat-network model works more often out of the box.
What is the best free Hamachi alternative for Windows? ZeroTier or Radmin VPN. ZeroTier offers a generous 25-device limit and a modern UI; Radmin VPN drops the signup step entirely.
Does Tailscale work for LAN games like Hamachi? Yes, but the zero-trust model means LAN discovery does not broadcast by default. The Subnet Routers feature exposes specific subnets, and many users run Tailscale alongside a Subnet Router on a home network for the same outcome.
Is Hamachi free for personal use? Hamachi’s free tier covers up to five members per network. Beyond that, you need a paid plan starting at around $50 per month for managed networks of more participants.
Can I self-host an alternative to Hamachi? Yes. Netbird, Nebula, Headscale (self-hosted Tailscale control plane), and OpenVPN community edition all support self-hosted deployments. ZeroTier also offers a self-hosted controller via the open-source ZeroTier One core.
