Home Assistant running on your local network is great — but you also want to check your cameras, unlock the door, or trigger an automation when you are away from home. Tailscale gives you secure, private remote access without port forwarding, dynamic DNS, or a Nabu Casa subscription.
What Is Tailscale?
Tailscale is a VPN service that creates a private, encrypted network between your devices. Unlike traditional VPNs, it uses WireGuard under the hood and implements a mesh topology — your phone connects directly to your Home Assistant hub, not through a central server. The free tier allows up to 100 devices, which is far more than any home setup needs.
Step 1: Install Tailscale on Home Assistant
- In Home Assistant, go to Settings → Add-ons → Add-on Store
- Search for “Tailscale” and install the Tailscale add-on
- Start the add-on and open the Web UI
- Follow the login link to authenticate with your Tailscale account (create one at tailscale.com — free)
- Your Home Assistant host will appear in your Tailscale network with an IP address like
100.x.x.x
Step 2: Install Tailscale on Your Phone
Download Tailscale from the App Store or Google Play. Log in with the same Tailscale account. Your phone is now on the same private network as Home Assistant.
Step 3: Connect from Anywhere
In the Home Assistant Companion app on your phone, add your Tailscale IP as an external URL. Go to Home Assistant app → Settings → Companion App → Home Assistant URL, and set External URL to http://100.x.x.x:8123. Now when you are away from home and Tailscale is running on your phone, the app connects to Home Assistant via the encrypted Tailscale tunnel.
Step 4: Enable Tailscale Magic DNS
Enable Tailscale MagicDNS in the Tailscale admin console. This gives your Home Assistant host a hostname like homeassistant.tailnet-name.ts.net that you can use instead of the IP address. Enable HTTPS in the Tailscale add-on settings for a valid SSL certificate on this domain.
Tailscale vs Nabu Casa
Tailscale (Free): Remote access, free for up to 100 devices, device-to-device routing, no Google/Alexa integration, no public webhooks.
Nabu Casa ($6.50/month): Remote access, simpler setup, Google/Alexa integration, webhooks, traffic through Nabu Casa servers.
Nabu Casa is still worth considering if you want Google Home or Alexa integration, as those require a publicly accessible URL that Tailscale does not provide. For pure remote access, Tailscale is superior and free.
Using Tailscale for Frigate Camera Access
With Tailscale running, you can access Frigate web interface from anywhere: http://100.x.x.x:5000. View live camera feeds and recorded clips from your phone without any of your video data passing through external servers.
Exit nodes: routing all your traffic home
Beyond reaching Home Assistant, Tailscale can act as a full VPN back to your house by designating your home server (or router, if it supports Tailscale) as an exit node. On public Wi-Fi at a coffee shop or airport, enabling the exit node routes your entire phone’s internet traffic through your home connection — genuinely useful beyond just smart home access, and something Nabu Casa’s remote access doesn’t offer at all.
Sharing access without sharing your whole network
If you want a family member or a house-sitter to reach Home Assistant remotely without giving them access to every device on your Tailscale network, use ACLs (Access Control Lists) in the Tailscale admin console to scope their access to just the Home Assistant host and port. This is the local-first equivalent of a guest account — full control without an all-or-nothing tradeoff.
Battery impact, honestly
Running Tailscale continuously in the background does use some battery — typically a few percent more drain per day on a phone, comparable to any always-on VPN. For most people this is a non-issue; if it matters to you, Tailscale can be toggled on only when you’re actually away from home rather than left running permanently, at the cost of remembering to enable it.
Free guide — no signup
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