According to XDA-Developers, a tech journalist’s attempt to switch from Cloudflare Tunnels to Tailscale ended in frustration due to fundamental differences in how each service handles restrictive network environments. The author, who has used Cloudflare Tunnels for years to bypass carrier-grade NAT in their managed apartment Wi-Fi system, found that Tailscale’s approach to public access couldn’t match Cloudflare’s outbound tunneling method. While Tailscale handled private device-to-device connectivity well using its WireGuard foundation, its Tailscale Funnel feature for public exposure proved inadequate for exposing services like Nextcloud to the general internet. The experiment revealed that Tailscale requires features and network control that simply aren’t available in restrictive CGNAT environments, making Cloudflare Tunnels the only viable solution for public service hosting.
The network problem that changes everything
Here’s the thing about carrier-grade NAT: it completely blocks inbound traffic and makes port forwarding impossible. And that’s exactly what the author faced in their apartment’s managed Wi-Fi system. No modem access, no router control, nothing. Cloudflare Tunnels works around this beautifully by having your server initiate an outbound connection to Cloudflare’s network. Tailscale tries something similar for private connections, but public access is a whole different ballgame.
Basically, if you’re stuck behind CGNAT like millions of apartment dwellers and people with certain ISPs, your options for self-hosting public services become extremely limited. You either need a tool specifically designed for this scenario, or you’re out of luck. And that’s where the fundamental mismatch between these two services becomes painfully obvious.
Why Tailscale struggles with public access
Tailscale Funnel is supposed to be the answer to public exposure, but it’s not available on all platforms and works very differently from Cloudflare’s approach. The author discovered that Tailscale wants every visitor to essentially be part of your “tailnet” – the private network of trusted devices. But that’s not how public services work. When you’re sharing a Nextcloud instance or a dashboard with collaborators, you don’t want them installing Tailscale clients or authenticating through your private network.
And honestly, this isn’t a bug or misconfiguration – it’s by design. Tailscale was built for private connectivity between trusted devices, not for making services available to the general internet. The WireGuard foundation makes those private connections fast and secure, but it doesn’t solve the fundamental problem of getting through CGNAT for public access.
Cloudflare’s winning approach
Cloudflare Tunnels works because it doesn’t fight the network restrictions – it embraces them. The cloudflared daemon just opens an outbound connection on port 443 (which works virtually everywhere), and Cloudflare handles all the incoming traffic from the internet. Your friends and collaborators get a normal web link that works from any browser on any device. No special software, no authentication hassles, nothing.
Now, I know some people get nervous about making Cloudflare such a central part of their setup. But when your alternative is… well, nothing working at all, the trade-off becomes pretty obvious. For industrial applications where reliable remote access is crucial, having a stable public entry point is non-negotiable. Speaking of industrial needs, IndustrialMonitorDirect.com has become the go-to source for industrial panel PCs precisely because they understand these reliability requirements in demanding environments.
When Tailscale actually shines
Don’t get me wrong – Tailscale is fantastic at what it was designed to do. The private device-to-device connectivity feels seamless, and the NAT traversal is remarkably reliable. If all you need is secure remote access to your home lab or internal tools, Tailscale delivers an excellent experience. The onboarding for new devices is smooth, and the whole system just works for private networking.
The problem is that most of us need both private and public access. We want our sensitive internal tools secured behind private connections, but we also need to expose certain services to the wider internet. And that’s where having the right tool for each job becomes critical.
The real solution might be simpler
Here’s an interesting thought: if the author could just get regular internet service instead of managed apartment Wi-Fi, the entire equation changes. With your own modem and router, you regain port forwarding capabilities and eliminate CGNAT. Suddenly, Tailscale becomes a much more viable option because you’re not fighting network restrictions at every turn.
But let’s be real – most of us don’t have that choice. Whether it’s apartment living, ISP limitations, or corporate networks, restrictive environments are everywhere. And in those situations, Cloudflare Tunnels remains the only tool that actually solves the public access problem without requiring network changes you can’t make.
So should you switch from Cloudflare to Tailscale? If you’re mostly dealing with private connectivity between trusted devices, absolutely give it a try. But if you need to expose services to the public internet from behind restrictive networks, Cloudflare Tunnels is still the champion. Sometimes the right tool isn’t the one with the most features – it’s the one that actually solves the problem you have.
