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FastDog vs Tailscale Funnel
Tailscale Funnel shares a service on a device in your tailnet with the public internet. FastDog puts a self-hosted app on your own domain. They overlap for "make this app on my box reachable over HTTPS," and differ a lot after that.
Short version
- Pick Tailscale Funnel if you already use Tailscale, a
*.ts.netaddress is fine, and it’s personal or non-commercial use on the free Personal plan. - Pick FastDog if you have an ordinary HTTP(S) app (no WebSockets, no long or streaming requests, uploads under 50 MiB) and need it on your own domain, with your current DNS host, connected by your AI assistant.
Side by side
| Tailscale Funnel | FastDog | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Beta, available on all plans [1]. | New. Open sign-up since Oct 19, 2026. |
| Price | Personal plan $0, for non-commercial use, up to 6 users. Standard $8 per user per month, Premium $18 per user per month [2]. Signing up with a custom (work) domain starts a 14-day Enterprise trial [2]. | Hobby $9/mo, Pro $29/mo, Agency $149/mo. Free for 7 days on one hostname, no card. |
| Address | Only DNS names in your tailnet’s domain (tailnet-name.ts.net) [1]. |
Your own domain or subdomain. |
| Ports | Funnel listens only on 443, 8443, and 10000, over TLS-encrypted connections only [1]. | Standard HTTPS on your hostname. |
| Bandwidth | Traffic is subject to non-configurable bandwidth limits [1]. | Fair use applies. |
| Protocols | HTTPS reverse proxy, file serving, and a TCP forwarder (raw or TLS-terminated) for things like SSH or RDP [3]. UDP: not stated on the pages we checked. | HTTP(S) only. No TCP or UDP. |
| WebSockets | Not stated on the pages we checked. | Not supported. An upgrade request returns 400. |
| Request timeout and streaming | Not stated on the pages we checked. | 30-second timeout. No streaming responses or server-sent events (SSE). |
| Upload size | No limit stated on the pages checked; bandwidth limits apply [1]. | 50 MiB. Larger requests return HTTP 413. |
| Encryption path | Funnel relay servers don’t decrypt traffic. TLS ends on your device [1]. | TLS ends at the FastDog edge, which forwards through the tunnel to your app. |
| Requirements | Tailscale v1.38.3+, MagicDNS, HTTPS enabled, and a funnel node attribute in the tailnet policy. Only platforms that run the Tailscale CLI [1]. |
Docker without sudo (recommended) or the Linux systemd installer, plus two DNS records. |
| Private access too | Yes. Serve and the rest of Tailscale cover private access inside your tailnet [1]. | No. FastDog publishes hostnames publicly. |
| AI assistant setup | (Not compared here.) | "Copy prompt for your AI assistant" and /llms.txt. On the trial, you add the hostname and DNS records in the portal, then the prompt’s 1-hour, connect-only token lets the assistant connect it. With an API key (the trial gets one, for its one website), it does the whole setup. |
Where Tailscale Funnel is better
- Free for personal use, and it comes with a full private network (tailnet) and SSH.
- End-to-end TLS to your device. Tailscale’s relays can’t read the traffic [1].
- More protocols: a TCP forwarder for SSH, RDP, and other TCP services [3], where FastDog is HTTP(S) only.
- Mature networking company, with a broad platform.
- Great for sharing something quickly if you’re already on Tailscale.
tailscale funnel 3000is one command [1].
Where FastDog is different
- Your own domain. Funnel is
*.ts.netonly [1]. - Commercial use from $9/mo without per-user pricing.
- No tailnet required. One agent container and two DNS records.
- AI setup with scoped keys. A 1-hour, connect-only token from the portal prompt, account-scoped API keys on the trial and paid plans (30 days by default, 90 at most; a trial key expires at the trial end), and an agent key saved on your server that you can rotate or revoke.
Sources (checked Oct 22, 2026)
- Tailscale Funnel docs (page says "Last validated Jan 20, 2026"): https://tailscale.com/kb/1223/funnel
- Tailscale pricing: https://tailscale.com/pricing
tailscale funnelcommand reference ("Last validated Jan 26, 2026"): https://tailscale.com/kb/1311/tailscale-funnel
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