Tailscale has a novel business model, and it needs a name. If we gave it a name, we might see more companies operating like tailscale. For the uninitiated, Tailscale makes it super easy to connect to your devices from anywhere, host and share services with family and friends. It has some great integrations too, like Mullvad VPN for a one-click selection of exit-nodes all around the world. Unlike a traditional SaaS, Tailscale's business has centralized only that which benefits from centralization. They don't seek to own your data, and the network itself is run by you. The client code is open-source. Tailscale's proprietary code is the control plane that handles authentication (login) and access control between users and devices. Tailscale gets a lot of flak for not being fully open-source. They are capitalizing on the hard work put into Wireguard! On the other hand, people (and especially businesses) don't pay for things if they don't have to. By setting up a toll-booth, tailscale has funneled a large amount of money and improvements back into Wireguard. The open-source pay-nothing frame is valid for sure -- and I've steeped in that full-control anti-capitalist scene for most of my life. But, supposing that you *do* want to engage in commerce, I think Tailscale's business model is great: - They don't really hold any user data (private by default) - They don't provide infrastructure (expensive) - They have aligned incentives (monthly subscription) - They have network effects - **Their profits go back to improving the open source tools (Wireguard, Let's Encrypt)** I think they still have a ways to go in terms of minimizing lock-in (Headscale is a valid alternative, but I think migration is not straightforward), but overall I wish there were more businesses that sold control plane services. **Tailscale is a Thin-SaaS** A Thin-SaaS is a control-plane-only business: * It has a network of users who want to collaborate in a particular domain * It models the different roles and responsibilities of those users * It coordinates open-source data-plane software on behalf of those users A Thin-SaaS is incentivized to have a symbiotic relationship with the commons - a relationship where the company's success directly nourishes the open ecosystem it depends on.