How ORBTR stacks up
against the alternatives
ORBTR is SD-WAN + ZTNA + MDM + RMM in one agent. Networking vendors (Fortinet, Cloudflare, Zscaler, Tailscale, ZeroTier) bolt on posture checks. MDM vendors (Jamf, Kandji, Intune) bolt on connectivity. RMM vendors (NinjaOne, Atera, ConnectWise) bolt on remote access. ORBTR was built from day one as a single agent that does all four — with a mesh-first architecture, zero gateway appliances, and unlimited users on every plan.
Networking at a glance
How ORBTR compares against SD-WAN, ZTNA, and mesh-VPN competitors.
| Capability | ORBTR | FortiZTNA | Microsoft Intune + Entra |
Cloudflare Zero Trust |
Tailscale | ZeroTier | Zscaler ZPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Mesh P2P | Hub & spoke | Cloud proxy | Cloud proxy | Mesh P2P | Mesh P2P | Cloud proxy |
| Gateway appliance required | No | Yes (FortiGate) | Connector agent | Connector tunnel | No | No | Yes (App Connector) |
| Device management | MDM + RMM (built-in) | FortiClient EMS | Intune (full) | Basic posture | — | — | Basic posture |
| Network layers | L3 – L7 | L3 – L7 | L7 only | L4 – L7 | L3 | L2 – L3 (TAP) | L7 only |
| Direct P2P connections | ✓ | — | — | — | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Setup difficulty | Simple | Complex (appliance) | Moderate (AAD req.) | Moderate | Simple | Simple | Complex (connector) |
| Policy propagation via mesh | ✓ | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Cross-platform agent | macOS · Linux · Win | macOS · Linux · Win | All + mobile | All + mobile | All + mobile | All + mobile | All + mobile |
| Encrypted transport | Noise + Ed25519 | IPSec / SSL | TLS | WireGuard / TLS | WireGuard | Curve25519 + Salsa20 | TLS |
| Pricing model | Per device, unlimited users | Per appliance + user | Per user (M365) | Per seat | Per user | Per node | Per user |
| Users included | Unlimited (all plans) | Per license | Per E3/E5 seat | 50 free, then per seat | Per user | 1 admin (free), per seat (paid) | Per user |
| Networks included | Unlimited | Per VDOM license | Per policy | Per tunnel | 1 tailnet (free), 3+ (paid) | 1 (free), more on paid | Per policy |
| Free tier | 9 devices forever | — | — | 50 users | 100 devices | 10 nodes · 1 network · 1 admin | — |
MDM & RMM at a glance
How ORBTR compares against dedicated MDM (Jamf, Kandji) and RMM (NinjaOne, Atera, ConnectWise) tools — with mesh networking and zero-trust built into the same agent.
| Capability | ORBTR | Jamf Pro |
Kandji | NinjaOne | Atera | ConnectWise Automate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary category | MDM + RMM + Mesh VPN | MDM (Apple) | MDM (Apple) | RMM | RMM + PSA | RMM |
| Platform coverage | macOS · Linux · Win | macOS · iOS only | macOS · iOS only | Win · macOS · Linux | Win · macOS · Linux | Win · macOS · Linux |
| Networking included | Mesh VPN + ZTNA | — | — | — | — | — |
| Device inventory (HW / OS / network / software) | Full | Full (Apple) | Full (Apple) | Full | Full | Full |
| Remote script execution | ScriptPacks (agent-native) | Policies + scripts | Custom scripts | Automation library | Shared script library | Scripting engine |
| Policy engine | Scope hierarchy (tenant/network/group/device) | Smart Groups | Assignment Maps | Policies + folders | Automation profiles | Templates + patch policies |
| Policy propagation | Mesh gossip (offline capable) | Cloud-only | Cloud-only | Cloud-only | Cloud-only | Cloud / on-prem controller |
| Agent updates + rollback | Atomic swap + health-probe rollback | Managed by MDM | Auto-updates | Auto-updates | Auto-updates | Scheduled push |
| Patch management | Roadmapped (Pro) | Via policies | Auto Apps | Built-in patching | OS + third-party | Patch Manager |
| Remote access | In progress (Pro, WebRTC) | — | Via Splashtop | Built-in TeamViewer / Splashtop | Built-in (Splashtop) | ScreenConnect |
| Audit log | Full (JSON / CSV export) | Change management log | Activity log | Activity log | Activity log | Activity log |
| Pricing model | Per device, unlimited users | Per device (contract) | Per device | Per device | Per technician | Per device (contract) |
| Users included | Unlimited (all plans) | Per license | Per license | Per admin | Per technician (billed) | Per license |
| Free tier | 9 devices forever | — | — | — | — | — |
Mesh-first vs hub-and-spoke
Most enterprise products route all traffic through a central gateway. ORBTR connects devices directly.
Distributed mesh
Devices connect peer-to-peer over an encrypted VL1 overlay. No single point of failure, no bandwidth bottleneck, and no gateway appliance to manage. Relay nodes provide fallback only when direct paths fail.
- ✓ Direct device-to-device connections
- ✓ No central choke point
- ✓ Sub-5ms P2P latency
- ✓ Operates during control plane outages
Hub-and-spoke / cloud proxy
Traffic is routed through a central gateway or cloud proxy — adding latency, creating a single point of failure, and requiring dedicated hardware or connector agents at every site.
- × All traffic hairpins through a gateway
- × Latency scales with distance to gateway
- × Gateway outage = total outage
- × Appliance licensing, patching, capacity planning
Competitor deep-dives
ORBTR vs Fortinet FortiZTNA
FortiZTNA requires a FortiGate appliance at every network edge plus FortiClient EMS for endpoint management. It's powerful but hardware-bound — capacity planning, firmware patching, and appliance licensing dominate the operational cost.
ORBTR replaces the appliance stack with a lightweight agent and distributed Edge Endpoints. The same agent handles device management, mesh networking, and L3–L7 policy — with zero hardware to rack.
ORBTR vs Microsoft Intune + Entra Private Access
Microsoft's story spans Intune for device management and Entra Private Access (formerly Azure AD App Proxy) for zero-trust networking. Together they're comprehensive — if you're all-in on Microsoft 365 and Azure AD.
ORBTR is platform-agnostic. It doesn't depend on a directory provider, runs on any OS without Azure AD, and provides direct device-to-device networking instead of routing everything through Microsoft's cloud proxy. For mixed environments or teams that don't want vendor lock-in, it's a lighter path.
ORBTR vs Cloudflare Zero Trust
Cloudflare Zero Trust (WARP + Access + Gateway) leverages Cloudflare's global edge network to proxy traffic and enforce policy at L4–L7. It excels at web application access but treats device management as a posture check, not a first-class concern.
ORBTR provides both networking and full device management in one agent — jobs, scripts, inventory, remote access — not just posture signals. And traffic flows device-to-device, not through a cloud proxy.
ORBTR vs Tailscale
Tailscale is the closest architectural peer — a WireGuard-based mesh VPN that enables direct P2P connections. It's excellent for developer access and simple networking.
Where ORBTR diverges: it adds full device management (jobs, scripts, policy bundles, inventory, remote access), L3–L7 Virtual Wire networking with per-flow policy and DNS enforcement beyond Tailscale's L3, and mesh-based policy propagation that works offline. Tailscale is a mesh VPN; ORBTR is a mesh VPN + device management platform.
ORBTR vs ZeroTier
ZeroTier is an open-source virtual network platform that creates flat L2 Ethernet networks across devices. It's developer-friendly, supports P2P connections, and offers a generous free tier — making it popular for homelab and small-team use cases.
ORBTR goes further: full device management (jobs, scripts, inventory, remote access), L3–L7 Virtual Wire networking with per-flow transport policy and DNS enforcement, mesh-based policy propagation, and enterprise controls. ZeroTier provides L2 Ethernet bridging that ORBTR doesn't; ORBTR provides L4–L7 policy, device management, and enterprise controls that ZeroTier doesn't.
ORBTR vs Zscaler Private Access
ZPA is a pure cloud-proxy ZTNA — all traffic routes through Zscaler's cloud, with App Connectors deployed at each application site. It's mature and well-suited for large enterprises with complex web app access patterns.
ORBTR takes a fundamentally different approach: direct mesh connections, no App Connectors, and full device management built in. For teams that want both networking and endpoint control without a cloud proxy tax, ORBTR is the simpler path.
ORBTR vs Jamf Pro
Jamf Pro is the deepest Apple MDM on the market — DEP/ABM enrolment, Configuration Profiles, Smart Groups, Self Service, Auto App updates. If every device you manage is a Mac or an iPad, it's excellent. But it stops at Apple, and it has no answer for networking, Windows, or Linux.
ORBTR covers macOS, Linux, and Windows with the same agent, adds mesh VPN + ZTNA that Jamf doesn't try to provide, and propagates policy via mesh gossip — so devices keep enforcing even when the control plane is offline. For mixed fleets, ORBTR replaces Jamf + a separate networking stack.
ORBTR vs NinjaOne
NinjaOne is a modern, MSP-friendly RMM — patch management, automation library, integrated remote access via TeamViewer/Splashtop, and a clean UI. It's a strong RMM. But it's cloud-only, has no networking layer of its own, and treats device management as the whole job.
ORBTR gives you the RMM primitives — inventory, ScriptPacks, agent updates with rollback, audit — and folds them into a mesh VPN + ZTNA fabric so the same agent handles connectivity, not just monitoring. Policies propagate via mesh gossip and keep enforcing during control plane outages. Patch management and full WebRTC remote access are on the Pro roadmap.
Where ORBTR stands apart
No gateway appliances
No hardware to rack, patch, or capacity-plan. The agent is the entire data plane — Edge Endpoints provide relay only when direct P2P fails.
One agent, both jobs
Device management and zero-trust networking in a single binary. No pairing FortiClient with FortiGate, no coupling Intune with Entra.
L3 – L7 Virtual Wire
Encrypted mesh overlay at L3, per-flow transport policy at L4, Noise-encrypted sessions at L5, and a full DNS policy engine at L7 — all agent-native with no gateway appliance.
Offline-resilient mesh
Policies propagate via mesh gossip. Devices keep working during control plane outages — something cloud-proxy architectures fundamentally cannot do.
Transparent pricing
Per-device, not per-user or per-appliance. Unlimited users on every plan — add your whole org at no extra cost. Free tier forever with 9 devices. No bundled licensing, no FortiCare renewals, no M365 E5 upsell.
No vendor lock-in
Works with any identity provider, any OS, any cloud. No Azure AD requirement, no Cloudflare dependency, no Fortinet hardware stack.