Rayfish
Ranked 6 of 12 mesh VPNs by recommenders
Free peer-to-peer mesh VPN that people like for having no central server to trust; critics note it still needs a coordination server and is not production ready.
Free peer-to-peer mesh VPN that people like for having no central server to trust; critics note it still needs a coordination server and is not production ready.
19 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 58%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Peer-to-peer with no central server
“There is no central control plane that brokers your traffic or holds the keys to your network.”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust” “I just build rayfish because I want truly decentralized networks.”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust” “Rayfish is p2p no central coordination needed.”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust” Alternative to Tailscale, compatible with it
“it is compatible with tailscale nowadays so you can run both tailscale and rayfish”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “Tailcat – Like netcat, but over Tailscale’s data plane” “Great work. I'm currently using tailscale and would love to have another option!”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust” “This is very cool - I will likely see if I can use it in place of tailscale”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust” Cool project that fits a need
“this is a very cool project and one that is the obvious next step with iroh”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust” “I think it is a good product many people like me will enjoy”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust” “It is a cool project and fits a real need.”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Only weeks old, hype-style marketing
“there aren't enough trust signals for me for this project yet”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust” “Going from starting the project two weeks ago to already having a flashy marketing site is another tell”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust” “They can be spotted a mile away. Check the repo - 2 weeks to complete!”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust” - Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust”
Hard membership revocation and deniability
“I like the project though. What's the sigh to, out of curiosity, just because this makes revocation hard?”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust” “which makes membership deniability non-trivial which I don't love”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust” Still needs a coordination server
“a coordination server is necessary which kinda somewhat defeats the "mesh" claim”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust” “It is wrong to describe these P2P products as server-less.”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Rayfish, Peer-to-peer mesh VPN with no server to trust”
Other mesh VPNs people recommend
The four most recommended other mesh VPNs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 12 mesh VPNs, rankedWhat people said
28 of the 29 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it is compatible with tailscale nowadays so you can run both tailscale and rayfish”
“I think it is a good product many people like me will enjoy”
“It is a cool project and fits a real need.”
“rayfish is NOT production ready. For home servers might be ok.”
“Now you get a VPN for free, no strings attached”
“Rayfish is p2p no central coordination needed.”
“I just build rayfish because I want truly decentralized networks.”
“I use the product of course. Contributions are always welcome.”
“a coordination server is necessary which kinda somewhat defeats the "mesh" claim”
“Rayfish appears to be a Claude coded wrapper over Iroh”
“cool to see this here, looking forward to play with it”
“why not just make it a normal download from the website”
“This is cool, I'd like to try it”
“They can be spotted a mile away. Check the repo - 2 weeks to complete!”
“It's rather telling 2 weeks from repository commencement to release.”
“It is wrong to describe these P2P products as server-less.”
“there aren't enough trust signals for me for this project yet”
“Going from starting the project two weeks ago to already having a flashy marketing site is another tell”
“which makes membership deniability non-trivial which I don't love”
“I like the project though. What's the sigh to, out of curiosity, just because this makes revocation hard?”
“I like the project though”
“I truly loathe how all of the HN spambots promoting shovelware include a stupid call-to-action for feedback/discussion.”
“Looks like no support for Windows :(”
“this is a very cool project and one that is the obvious next step with iroh”
“all it does is download a binary and stick it in a folder is wild”
“This is very cool - I will likely see if I can use it in place of tailscale”
“Great work. I'm currently using tailscale and would love to have another option!”
“There is no central control plane that brokers your traffic or holds the keys to your network.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.