Bowtie Zero Trust Network Access vs Firezone: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

Bowtie Zero Trust Network Access: ZTNA platform with direct device-to-resource encrypted access via WireGuard. built by Bowtie. Core capabilities include Direct device-to-resource encrypted tunneling without backhauling through middleman networks, On-device policy enforcement for authentication, encryption, and access control, Distributed Secure Web Gateway (SWG) with on-device web filtering..

Firezone: Open-source WireGuard-based ZTNA platform for secure resource access. built by Firezone. Core capabilities include WireGuard-based encrypted tunneling (3-4x faster than OpenVPN), Policy-based zero-trust access controls with conditional access (location, time of day), Automatic user/group sync with OIDC-compatible identity providers..

Both serve the Zero Trust Network Access market but differ in approach, feature depth, and target audience.

Bowtie Zero Trust Network Access differentiates with Direct device-to-resource encrypted tunneling without backhauling through middleman networks, On-device policy enforcement for authentication, encryption, and access control, Distributed Secure Web Gateway (SWG) with on-device web filtering. Firezone differentiates with WireGuard-based encrypted tunneling (3-4x faster than OpenVPN), Policy-based zero-trust access controls with conditional access (location, time of day), Automatic user/group sync with OIDC-compatible identity providers.

Bowtie Zero Trust Network Access is developed by Bowtie. Firezone is developed by Firezone. Vendor maturity, funding stage, and team size can be important factors when evaluating long-term viability and support quality.

Bowtie Zero Trust Network Access and Firezone serve similar Zero Trust Network Access use cases: both are Zero Trust Network Access tools, both cover ZTNA, Wireguard. Review the feature comparison above to determine which fits your requirements.