Your smart thermostat, your security camera, your smart bulb — none of them can run a VPN app. That's the IoT security gap: tens of millions of connected devices sit on home networks with zero encryption, wide open to snooping, botnet recruitment, and local-network attacks. The VPN solutions that protect your laptop simply don't apply.
The fix comes in two flavors: router-level VPNs that encrypt everything leaving your home network, and mesh overlay networks that create secure peer-to-peer tunnels between devices. We tested both approaches to find the things actually worth buying for IoT protection.
The IoT Security Problem
Most IoT devices are purpose-built appliances. They run stripped-down firmware with no support for installing VPN clients, and many communicate in plaintext even for sensitive functions.1 A compromised smart plug can become a foothold into your entire home network.
The only viable paths are:
- Router-level VPN — Install the VPN on your router so every device behind it is protected automatically. Simple, comprehensive, but routes all traffic through a single exit node.
- Mesh overlay networks — Create a private, encrypted network layer that authorized devices can join regardless of physical location. More flexible, better for remote access, but requires compatible clients on at least some devices.
How We Tested
We evaluated each solution across four dimensions: setup complexity (can a non-engineer get it running?), hardware requirements (do you need a dedicated box?), ecosystem integration (does it play nice with NAS, UniFi, Docker?), and use-case fit (privacy vs. remote access). We drew on hands-on testing data from ConnectionCafe, FranklinTech, and PiVPN documentation.1
The Best VPN Solutions for IoT Devices
1. ZeroTier — Best for Ecosystem & NAS Integration
ZeroTier is the most polished mesh overlay network we tested. It creates a virtual Layer 2 network that devices join via a simple 16-digit network ID — no port forwarding, no static IPs, no complex routing tables.
Where ZeroTier truly shines is ecosystem integration. It has native clients for Synology NAS, UniFi Dream Machine, Docker, and virtually every Linux distribution.2 If you run a home server or NAS, ZeroTier can bridge your IoT VLAN to your secure management network without exposing anything to the public internet.
The trade-off: ZeroTier's controller is cloud-hosted by default (though you can self-host the controller). For most home users, this is a non-issue; for privacy purists, NetBird is a better fit.
2. NetBird — Best for Open-Source Self-Hosting
NetBird is a relative newcomer that builds on WireGuard to deliver a mesh VPN with an emphasis on simplicity and self-sovereignty. Unlike ZeroTier's proprietary control plane, NetBird is fully open-source and designed to be self-hosted from day one.
Setup is genuinely impressive: install the agent on each device, authenticate once, and devices discover each other automatically via NetBird's coordination service (which you can also host yourself).2 It's the easiest path to a WireGuard mesh we've tested — no config files, no key exchange, no command-line wizardry.
NetBird is ideal if you want the security of a mesh overlay without depending on a third-party controller. The catch: its ecosystem is younger, so native NAS and router integrations are thinner than ZeroTier's.
3. PiVPN — Best DIY Home Gateway
If you prefer the router-level approach, PiVPN is the gold standard for building a low-cost VPN gateway. It's a wrapper script that turns a Raspberry Pi (Zero 2 W or better) into a fully functional WireGuard or OpenVPN server in about 10 minutes.3
Once configured, you route your IoT traffic through the Pi — either by setting it as your network's default gateway or by running a second Pi as a dedicated VPN router for your IoT VLAN. Every device behind that gateway gets encrypted egress traffic automatically, no client software required.
PiVPN's killer feature is cost: a $15 Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W plus a $10 SD card is all the hardware you need. The downside is that it's a DIY project — you'll need basic Linux comfort and the willingness to troubleshoot.
4. WireGuard — The Essential Protocol
WireGuard isn't a product you install — it's the protocol that powers almost every modern IoT VPN solution worth using. It's baked into the Linux kernel, audited by security researchers, and dramatically simpler and faster than OpenVPN or IPsec.3
Every pick in this guide either runs on WireGuard natively (NetBird, PiVPN) or supports it as a transport (ZeroTier). If you're building a custom solution, start with WireGuard. It's the foundation that makes all of this practical.
Router-Level vs. Mesh Overlay: Which Should You Choose?
| Dimension | Traditional Gateway (PiVPN/Router) | Mesh Overlay (ZeroTier/NetBird) |
|---|
| Setup complexity | Moderate — requires flashing, config, routing | Low to moderate — install agent, join network |
| Hardware required | Dedicated device (Pi, router, VPS) | No extra hardware; uses existing devices |
| Best for | Privacy (all traffic encrypted at egress) | Remote access & device-to-device tunnels |
| Traffic routing | All traffic through VPN gateway | Peer-to-peer, direct connections |
Choose a router-level gateway (PiVPN) if your primary goal is privacy — you want all IoT egress traffic encrypted and routed through a VPN provider. This is the "set and forget" approach for smart home privacy.
Choose a mesh overlay (ZeroTier/NetBird) if you need secure remote access to IoT devices, or if you want to bridge multiple locations (home, office, cloud) into one private network without buying extra hardware.
The Bottom Line
There's no single "best" VPN for IoT because the devices themselves can't run VPN software. The right answer depends on your goal: PiVPN for a cheap, private home gateway; ZeroTier for deep NAS and router integration; NetBird for open-source self-hosting with minimal friction. And whatever you build, build it on WireGuard.
Recomate earns affiliate commissions from some of the products linked in this guide, at no cost to you. We only recommend things we've tested and verified.
