Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

NetBird VS Requestly

Compare NetBird VS Requestly and see what are their differences

NetBird logo NetBird

Connect your devices into a single secure private WireGuardยฎ-based mesh network with SSO/MFA and manage access with just a few clicks.

Requestly logo Requestly

A Powerfulย API Mockingย andย Testingย Tool
  • NetBird Landing page
    Landing page //
    2025-10-28
  • NetBird Browser client support
    Browser client support //
    2025-10-28
  • NetBird Control Center
    Control Center //
    2025-10-28
  • NetBird Setup in minutes!
    Setup in minutes! //
    2025-10-28
  • NetBird Secure sharepoints
    Secure sharepoints //
    2025-10-28
  • NetBird SSH/RDP
    SSH/RDP //
    2025-10-28

NetBird is an open-source Zero Trust Networking platform designed by engineers, for engineers. It radically simplifies how modern organizations deploy and manage secure private networks offering the speed, security, and scalability todayโ€™s distributed teams demand.

Built on the trusted, high-performance WireGuardยฎ protocol, NetBird overcomes the traditional limitations of legacy VPNs by creating high-throughput, low-latency decentralized private networks. Its robust architecture provides a single, intuitive management console that enables granular, identity-based access control, integrating seamlessly with your existing Identity Provider (IdP) to support SSO and MFA out of the box.

With native IdP integration, your devices, servers, and cloud environments form direct, encrypted tunnels to each other - no central gateway or bottleneck. The centralized control plane offers full visibility, policy enforcement, and point-and-click management for secure remote access across hybrid and multi-cloud setups.

NetBirdโ€™s decentralized architecture delivers multiple key advantages:

Zero bottlenecks: Traffic flows directly between peers, avoiding latency and bandwidth constraints from central gateways.

Enhanced resilience: With no single point of failure, users stay connected even if on-prem infrastructure fails. Cloud-to-cloud and user-to-cloud links remain fully operational.

Scalability and privacy: Lightweight clients on each peer manage encrypted communication, while the management plane handles authentication and policy distribution without ever seeing your data.

Seamless integrations: Works effortlessly with CrowdStrike, Microsoft Intune, SentinelOne, pfSense, OPNsense, and more. MSPs can manage multiple customer environments securely from a unified dashboard.

Use NetBird for secure remote access, zero-config VPN replacement, Zero Trust enforcement, dynamic posture checks, centralized management, detailed logging and many more features.

  • Requestly Requestly
    Requestly //
    2025-02-12
  • Requestly Rest Client
    Rest Client //
    2025-02-12
  • Requestly HTTP Interceptor
    HTTP Interceptor //
    2025-02-12
  • Requestly API Mocking
    API Mocking //
    2025-02-12
  • Requestly Requestly
    Requestly //
    2025-02-12

Requestly is a modern and powerful companion for API Development and Testing. It is an open-source tool purpose-built to speed up and simplify API development workflow for developers and QAs. It is a combination of API Client and HTTP Interceptor that helps create and share API Contracts, testing APIs, and easily mock and integrate them into web and mobile apps.

NetBird

Website
netbird.io
$ Details
freemium $5.0 / Monthly (Per user)
Platforms
Linux MacOS Windows Android iOS Servers Docker
Release Date
2022 April
Startup details
Country
Germany
State
Berlin
City
Berlin
Founder(s)
Mikhail Bragin, Maycon Santos
Employees
10 - 19

Requestly

$ Details
freemium
Platforms
Google Chrome Firefox Edge Safari Brave Opera Vivaldi Android Windows Linux Mac OSX MacOS
Release Date
2021 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
California
Founder(s)
Sachin Jain, Sagar Soni, Sahil Gupta
Employees
20 - 49

NetBird features and specs

  • Easy Setup
    NetBird offers a straightforward setup process, which allows users to quickly configure and deploy a secure network without needing extensive technical knowledge.
  • Enhanced Security
    The platform provides robust security features, such as end-to-end encryption and zero-trust architecture, to ensure safe and secure communications across devices and networks.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    NetBird is designed to work across various operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Linux, and more, providing flexibility and interoperability for users with different devices.
  • Scalability
    NetBird allows for easy scaling to accommodate growing networks or expanding user bases, making it suitable for both small teams and larger enterprises.
  • Open-Source
    As an open-source solution, NetBird invites contributions from the community, which can lead to continuous improvements and transparency of its code base.
  • Zero bottlenecks
    Traffic flows directly between peers, eliminating the latency and bandwidth limits caused by routing through a central gateway.
  • Multi-Tenant Management for MSPs
    Manage all customer networks securely from one unified dashboard

Possible disadvantages of NetBird

  • Dependency on Internet Connection
    The performance of NetBird can be hindered by poor or unstable internet connections, potentially impacting network speed and reliability.
  • Potential Learning Curve
    While the setup is generally user-friendly, users without prior experience in networking may encounter a learning curve when navigating certain advanced features or integrations.
  • Limited Support Resources
    As a relatively new or niche solution, NetBird might not have an extensive library of support resources, tutorials, or community forums compared to more established networking tools.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Although NetBird is cross-platform, there could be occasional compatibility issues with specific hardware or software configurations that require troubleshooting.
  • Resource Intensity
    Running NetBird's security protocols can consume considerable system resources, which might be a concern for users with older or less powerful devices.

Requestly features and specs

  • Redirect URL
  • Block Network Requests
  • Modify Request & Response Header
  • Modify Response
  • Supercharge Selenium
  • Session Replay
  • Modify Query Params
  • Team Workspace
  • API Client
  • API Mocks
  • GraphQL Support
  • Zero Setup
  • Auto Capture Sessions
  • Network Logs
  • Console Logs

Analysis of Requestly

Overall verdict

  • Requestly is generally regarded as a good tool due to its comprehensive functionalities and ease of use. Its ability to seamlessly manage network requests makes it suitable for both beginners and experienced developers.

Why this product is good

  • Requestly is widely considered a valuable tool because it offers robust and flexible features for intercepting and modifying network requests. Developers and QA testers appreciate it for its ability to simulate and debug API calls efficiently. It is particularly useful for testing changes without altering the codebase and for working with web applications in development and production environments.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking to debug and test API endpoints.
  • Quality Assurance (QA) teams that require reliable testing tools for web applications.
  • Technical professionals who manage network traffic and need to modify or redirect requests effortlessly.
  • Anyone involved in web development who needs to simulate network conditions or test application behavior under different scenarios.

NetBird videos

Get Started with NetBird: Build your Secure P2P Overlay Network

More videos:

  • Tutorial - NEW Netbird Control Center - Remote Access, Beautifully Visualized
  • Demo - NetBird Explained: Architecture for Simple and Secure Remote Access

Requestly videos

Get Started with Requestly

More videos:

  • Demo - Session Replays by Requestly
  • Tutorial - Modify API Response using Requestly Chrome Extension
  • Tutorial - How to load local JS file in production sites for faster debugging (Map Local Tool)
  • Tutorial - Report Quality Bugs with Video, Network logs, Console logs & Environment details

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to NetBird and Requestly)
VPN
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Cloud VPN
100 100%
0% 0
Testing
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing NetBird and Requestly.

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

Requestly's answer:

  • Verizon
  • AT&T
  • Adobe
  • Salesforce
  • Telegraph
  • Intuit
  • Verizon

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

NetBird's answer

NetBird serves anyone who wants to securely connect devices, users, and applications anywhere in the world without the complexity of traditional VPNs.

Itโ€™s built for DevOps engineers, IT and security professionals, and MSPs managing distributed infrastructure across cloud, hybrid, or on-prem environments.

Requestly's answer:

Front-end developers, QAs, PMs, Digital Marketers

What makes your product unique?

NetBird's answer

NetBird is unique because it creates direct, peer-to-peer encrypted connections using WireGuardยฎ, removing the bottlenecks of traditional VPNs. Itโ€™s open-source and self-hostable, giving full control and transparency to users. With identity-based access control and seamless IdP integration, it fully embraces Zero Trust principles. Its decentralized, high-performance architecture ensures scalability, resilience, and simplicity for modern, distributed teams and for MSPs.

Requestly's answer:

Requestly is an open-source API development and testing tool that combines the capabilities of an API Client and HTTP Interceptor, making it a better alternative to Postman + Charles Proxy. It simplifies API mocking, request modification, and debugging with an intuitive no-code interface, enabling developers and QAs to test APIs efficiently.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

NetBird's answer

Choose NetBird for its peer-to-peer WireGuardยฎ architecture that delivers faster, more resilient connections without VPN bottlenecks. Itโ€™s open-source and self-hostable, giving you full transparency and control over your network. With built-in Zero Trust, IdP integration, and simple management, NetBird combines security, speed, and ease of use better than traditional VPNs.

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare NetBird and Requestly

NetBird Reviews

Self Hosting Like Its 2025
If youโ€™re familiar with Tailscale, youโ€™ll find yourself at ease with NetBird. It acts as a VPN server that handles a WireGuard network on your behalf, significantly reducing complexity. You have the option to self-host or take advantage of their generous free tier on the cloud.
Source: kiranet.org

Requestly Reviews

Comparing Charles Proxy, Fiddler, Wireshark, and Requestly
On the pricing front, Requestly strikes a balance between affordability and functionality. It is an open-source tool, offering freemium to individual developers and affordable pricing plans for team collaboration. We have also clearly differentiated how Requestly differs from Wireshark and other web debugging tools like Proxyman, Modheader, and HTTP ToolKit separately.
Source: dev.to

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Requestly should be more popular than NetBird. It has been mentiond 35 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

NetBird mentions (19)

  • How I Ditched Datadog and Built a Self-Hosted Monitoring Stack on a $5 VPS
    NetBird creates a WireGuard mesh between your machines. The key feature is Network Routing โ€” one peer acts as a gateway for a whole subnet. So your monitoring stack lives on 172.19.0.0/16, and any connected peer can reach Grafana at http://172.19.0.3:3000 without exposing anything to the internet. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (May 2026)
    NetBird | Berlin, Germany | ONSITE & Remote for some roles | Full-time | https://netbird.io We build open source secure remote access for teams and infrastructure. 25k+ stars, Series A. Our mission: make secure connectivity simple and accessible for everyone. Looking for people excited about the product, startup pace, and growth. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Budget Friendly ISO27001/SOC2 Compliant Environments for AWS
    Some Cloud Native tools have appeared to replace both SSH access and VPNs, among them it is worth mentioning Netbird and Teleport. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Tailscale Peer Relays is now generally available
    Https://netbird.io/ is open source, with a freemium hosted option. Works for us and I find it easier to configure than tailscale for routing rules. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Tailscale Peer Relays is now generally available
    > Also, sometimes it seems like I get rate limited on Tailscale. As I understand it if everything is working properly you should end up with a peer to peer wireguard connection after initial connection using tailscales infrastructure. ie, there should be nothing to rate limit. There are exceptions depending on your network environment where you need one of the relays noted in this post. As for opensource... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
View more

Requestly mentions (35)

  • Why You Need a Local-First API Client (With Hands-On Example)
    If you want to try a local-first workflow, you can start using Requestly here: https://requestly.com. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • How to use Cursor to Generate API Testcases in Requestly
    Thatโ€™s where automation changes the game. By pairing Cursor, an AI-powered coding assistant, with Requestly's local-first API testing and mocking platform, you can offload the grunt work of writing tests to AI while keeping execution secure and reproducible on your own system. In this article, weโ€™ll walk through how to set up Cursor with Requestly, generate test cases automatically, and run them end-to-end so that... - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • These 20 Awesome API Clients Will Change How You Work with APIs
    Requestly is a versatile browser extension and web client used to intercept, mock, and debug APIs in real-timeโ€”perfect for frontend developers. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Best Tools for GraphQL Development in 2025
    Requestly is a powerful tool for modifying GraphQL responses, intercepting requests, and debugging API interactions. It allows developers to tweak request bodies, capture GraphQL traffic, and share sessions for easier debugging and collaboration. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • How Not to Use AI in Software Development
    Learn more at https://requestly.com/. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing NetBird and Requestly, you can also consider the following products

TailScale - Private networks made easy Connect all your devices using WireGuard, without the hassle. Tailscale makes it as easy as installing an app and signing in.

Postman - The Collaboration Platform for API Development

ZeroTier - Extremely simple P2P Encrypted VPN

Proxyman.io - Proxyman is a high-performance macOS app, which enables developers to view HTTP/HTTPS requests from apps and domains.

WireGuard - Fast, Modern, Secure VPN Tunnel

ngrok - ngrok enables secure introspectable tunnels to localhost webhook development tool and debugging tool.