# Tailcat

13 Hacker News commenters recommended Tailcat and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Open-source netcat-style tool that streams over Tailscale's WireGuard data plane without root or kernel routes. Critics note it still relies on Tailscale code, so vendor lock-in remains.

## Why people recommend it

- Open source, no proprietary vendor parts (4 comments): "True appriciated of open source this, combine the tailscale open source client core with this" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49486553)) "That is not forced to use any vendor-specific systems to function." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49453666)) "It's just open source code, not a hosted service." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49453657))
- Replaces stunnel-style WireGuard streaming (2 comments): "this also adds a CLI tool + library to do streams over WireGuard w/o installing kernel routings, requiring root, etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49453701)) "Looks like a Wireguard stunnel replacement, which is very useful!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49454043))
- Easy setup with README examples (2 comments): "There's an example in the README how to do exactly that" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49454656)) "super sick, already setup a derp server" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49457685))

## What people warn about

- Still tied to Tailscale vendor code (2 comments): "Neat idea in its core but its still tailscale underneath" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49456802)) "installing vendor-specific dependency forks/clones means that there is an additional vendor lock-in" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49454894))

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Tailcat", https://hackerapproved.com/p/tailcat/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).