# meridian vs netbird

> Two self-hosted [VPN projects](https://selfhost.directory/vpn), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | meridian | netbird |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 52/100 | 81/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #31 of 56 in VPN | #2 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 499 | 30 290 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +822 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 18 | 40 ✓ |
| Latest release | v4.0.0b8 · 27 Oct 2026 | v0.81.5 · 26 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | MIT | Other |
| Main language | Python | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

netbird scores 81/100 against 52/100 for meridian, so it is the safer default.

netbird ships more often: 40 stable releases in the past year, against 18 for meridian.

netbird is growing faster right now (+822 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [meridian](https://selfhost.directory/project/meridian) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/meridian.md)
- [netbird](https://selfhost.directory/project/netbird) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/netbird.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/meridian-vs-netbird