Pangolin
Pangolin (Fossorial Inc.) is an open-source zero-trust remote access platform built on WireGuard that provides unified, identity-based access to SSH, web apps, databases, and APIs for self-hosting enthusiasts, DevOps/SRE teams, and enterprises, monetizing via a dual-licensing model with a free Community Edition and a paid Enterprise Edition.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2025
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Pangolin does
Pangolin (legally Fossorial Inc.) is an open-source zero-trust remote access platform that provides unified, identity-based access to infrastructure across on-premises, cloud, and edge environments. The platform is built on the WireGuard VPN protocol and supports access to SSH, web applications, RDP, databases, and APIs through either peer-to-peer tunnels or clientless browser-based sessions. Pangolin verifies identity and context at every access request, positioning itself as an alternative to traditional VPNs and Cloudflare Tunnels, and serves self-hosting enthusiasts, DevOps/SRE teams, and enterprise organizations that need secure remote access without exposing ports or relying on legacy VPN complexity. Native clients are available across macOS, iOS, Windows, Linux, and Android, and the project has accumulated 21.4k GitHub stars and over 1,000,000 deployments worldwide.
The company operates a dual-licensing business model. The Pangolin Community Edition is free and distributed under the AGPL-3.0 license for non-commercial users and businesses earning less than $100,000 in annual revenue, serving as the primary acquisition channel through open-source distribution on GitHub and self-serve downloads. The Pangolin Enterprise Edition, offered under the Fossorial Commercial License, adds commercial features, scalability options, and professional support for organizations above the $100K revenue threshold. Pangolin is ISO 27001 certified and operates a public Trust Center, supporting enterprise procurement requirements.
Pangolin employs 1-10 people and is based in San Francisco. The company was co-founded by Milo Schwartz (CEO) and Owen Schwartz (CTO) and has raised approximately $5.2 million across a 2025 Y Combinator round ($500K) and a larger October 2025 seed round ($4.7M) led by Chemistry with participation from 468 Capital, Blast. Club, Pioneer Fund, Transpose Platform Management, and Y Combinator. Distribution is product-led and community-led, relying on GitHub visibility, developer documentation, the FLOSS Weekly podcast feature, and direct self-serve downloads rather than a traditional field sales motion.
Pangolin firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Pangolin
- Legal name
- Fossorial Inc.
- Website
- https://digpangolin.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2025
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Pangolin (Fossorial Inc.) is an open-source zero-trust remote access platform built on WireGuard that provides unified, identity-based access to SSH, web apps, databases, and APIs for self-hosting enthusiasts, DevOps/SRE teams, and enterprises, monetizing via a dual-licensing model with a free Community Edition and a paid Enterprise Edition.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Pangolin industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Zero Trust Network Access Software
- akta.pro primary industry
- Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) / Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) (HDADABAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Remote Access & Privileged Access for OT (ZTA/PAM for Vendors) (HDADAJAG), Access Management & Policy Enforcement (Zero Trust) (BPAMAEAH), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (HDADAAAC), Network Security Services (Firewall/VPN/ZTNA/SASE Integration) (BPAEAEAG)
Keywords
Where Pangolin is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Pangolin business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Community Edition (Free): Free open-source version under AGPL-3.0 license for non-commercial users and businesses earning under $100,000 in annual revenue. Serves as the primary acquisition channel for the freemium model.
- Enterprise Edition (Paid): Commercial version under Fossorial Commercial License adding enterprise features, scalability options, and professional support. Targets businesses earning over $100,000 annually. Represents the primary revenue generation stream.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Community Edition - Free for non-commercial and qualifying businesses |
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise Edition - Commercial features with professional support |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Pangolin product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Pangolin provides an open-source zero trust remote access platform built on the WireGuard protocol that delivers unified, identity-based access to infrastructure resources including SSH, web apps, RDP, databases, and APIs. Access is delivered via peer-to-peer tunnels or clientless browser access across on-prem, cloud, and edge environments, eliminating traditional VPN friction. The company sells the product under a dual-licensing model: a free Community Edition under AGPL-3.0 and a commercial Enterprise Edition under the Fossorial Commercial License.
Product overview
Pangolin is an open-source, zero trust remote access platform built on WireGuard. The company operates a dual-licensing model consisting of the Community Edition (free, open-source under AGPL-3.0 for non-commercial and small revenue businesses) and the Enterprise Edition (commercial license with additional features, scalability, and professional support). The platform provides unified, identity-based remote access to infrastructure across on-prem, cloud, and edge environments with peer-to-peer tunnels and clientless browser access.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Pangolin Community Edition: Free open-source version under AGPL-3.0 license, available for non-commercial users and businesses earning under $100,000 in annual revenue.
- Pangolin Enterprise Edition
Products and services
- Pangolin Community Edition Free, open-source zero trust remote access platform based on WireGuard, available under AGPL-3.0 license for non-commercial users and businesses earning under $100,000 in annual revenue. Provides unified identity-based access to SSH, web apps, RDP, databases, and APIs via peer-to-peer tunnels or clientless browser access across on-prem, cloud, and edge environments.
- Pangolin Enterprise Edition Commercial version of Pangolin offered under the Fossorial Commercial License, adding enterprise features, scalability options, and professional support to the open-source Community Edition. Targets businesses earning over $100,000 in annual revenue that require enterprise-grade zero trust remote access with professional support and commercial licensing.
Companies that use Pangolin
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Pangolin technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Pangolin partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- WireGuardcorePangolin is built on the WireGuard VPN protocol, an open-source VPN technology known for its speed, simplicity, and security. WireGuard serves as the foundational technology layer enabling Pangolin's zero trust remote access capabilities.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Pangolin competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Tailscale: Tailscale is a WireGuard-based zero-trust mesh VPN serving developers and enterprises. It is the most direct competitor to Pangolin, with overlapping target users (DevOps/SRE), technology (WireGuard), and pricing model (free personal/OSS plus paid business plans).
- Netbird: Netbird is an open-source WireGuard-based zero-trust network access platform with self-hosted and managed offerings. It directly competes with Pangolin on technology stack (WireGuard), open-source model, and target persona (DevOps/SRE).
- ZeroTier: ZeroTier provides peer-to-peer SDN/mesh networking for infrastructure access. It overlaps Pangolin's decentralized network access, multi-platform client support, and developer-led adoption model.
- Twingate: Twingate is a zero-trust network access vendor targeting enterprises replacing legacy VPNs. It is comparable to Pangolin on product category (ZTNA), target market (DevOps and enterprise IT), and commercial motion (free tier plus paid enterprise).
Broad incumbents
- Cloudflare Tunnels / Cloudflare Access: Cloudflare offers free Tunnels and a paid Zero Trust Access product that overlaps Pangolin's tunneling and identity-based access capabilities. As a broad incumbent with a global edge network and free tier, it is the most powerful pricing competitor in the same product category.
- Zscaler Private Access: Zscaler is a leading SASE/ZTNA platform sold to large enterprises. It is comparable to Pangolin at the ZTNA product layer (identity-based application access without VPNs), though it operates as a broad incumbent rather than a developer-led OSS company.
- Cloudflare Zero Trust: Cloudflare's broader Zero Trust platform (Access, Gateway, CASB, DLP) competes at the enterprise ZTNA layer with Pangolin's identity-based application access, while offering a much larger security portfolio.
- Okta: Okta is a leading identity and access management platform whose SSO and adaptive MFA underpin enterprise zero-trust strategies. It is adjacent to Pangolin, which relies on identity providers for its access decisions, and could move further into network access over time.
- Cisco Duo: Cisco Duo is a broad-incumbent MFA and zero-trust access product that competes in the same identity-aware application access category as Pangolin, particularly for enterprise customers standardizing on Cisco security stacks.
- Google BeyondCorp Enterprise: BeyondCorp Enterprise is Google's cloud-delivered zero-trust access product. It is comparable to Pangolin at the ZTNA product layer (identity- and context-aware application access without VPN) but is delivered as part of Google's broader enterprise security portfolio.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Pangolin social profiles
Digital presencePangolin compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Pangolin financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Pangolin leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Pangolin funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors6 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Pangolin M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Pangolin
What does Pangolin do?
Pangolin provides an open-source zero trust remote access platform built on the WireGuard protocol that delivers unified, identity-based access to infrastructure resources including SSH, web apps, RDP, databases, and APIs. Access is delivered via peer-to-peer tunnels or clientless browser access across on-prem, cloud, and edge environments, eliminating traditional VPN friction. The company sells the product under a dual-licensing model: a free Community Edition under AGPL-3.0 and a commercial Enterprise Edition under the Fossorial Commercial License.
Is Pangolin a public or private company?
Pangolin is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Pangolin founded?
Pangolin was founded in 2025. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Pangolin based?
Pangolin is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Pangolin make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Community Edition (Free) is the primary driver. The others are enterprise Edition (Paid).
Who are Pangolin's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Tailscale, Netbird, ZeroTier and Twingate. Broad incumbents are Cloudflare Tunnels / Cloudflare Access, Zscaler Private Access, Cloudflare Zero Trust, Okta, Cisco Duo and Google BeyondCorp Enterprise.
Does Pangolin have an API?
No public API is recorded for Pangolin.
What industry is Pangolin in?
Pangolin's product category is Zero Trust Network Access Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDADABAC, Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) / Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), with a secondary code of HDADAJAG, Remote Access & Privileged Access for OT (ZTA/PAM for Vendors).