OpenZiti is a free, open-source zero trust networking platform for teams that want to connect applications and services without exposing them to the internet. Instead of trusting IP addresses, it gives every user, device and service a cryptographic identity and only lets authorised identities reach the services they are allowed to use.
The project gives teams what they need to build an encrypted overlay network, for new applications and existing ones alike. Every connection is authenticated, authorised and encrypted end to end. OpenZiti is sponsored and maintained by NetFoundry and published on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 licence.
At A Glance
| Vendor | NetFoundry (sponsor and maintainer of OpenZiti) |
|---|---|
| Category | Open-source zero trust networking overlay |
| Identities covered | User, Device and Service identities, each backed by an X509 certificate |
| Deployment | Self-hosted open-source components on Linux, Docker and Kubernetes |
| Agentic AI | ziti-mcp-server, MCP Gateway and an open-source AI enclave |
| Licence | Apache 2.0 |
What OpenZiti Does
Traditional networks decide who can connect based on where traffic comes from, and anything reachable on the network can be scanned and attacked. OpenZiti’s position is that “IPs are not identities”. It makes “identity, not IP, the core of your network”: services stop listening for inbound connections, become invisible to scanners, and can only be reached by identities that policy allows.
The result is zero trust networking without a VPN. Three patterns are documented: zero trust application access (ZTAA), where the application itself holds the identity and encryption runs process to process; zero trust host access (ZTHA); and zero trust network access (ZTNA). All three apply a deny-by-default firewall.
Products
OpenZiti Platform
The core repository contains everything needed to run a fully zero trust, programmable network. It is written mainly in Go. The controller handles configuration, identity, authentication and authorisation, while edge routers form the encrypted data plane. The OpenZiti Fabric routes traffic over the best available path, and a private, authenticated DNS resolves service names to overlay tunnels rather than to IP addresses. Data in transit is protected with libsodium-based cryptography.
Edge Client SDKs
The SDKs are for developers who want zero trust built into the application itself, so it carries its own identity and does not depend on the host network being trustworthy. They cover:
- Go, Python, C, Java, Android (Kotlin), JavaScript with a Node.js variant, C# and iOS (Swift)
- A Tunneler SDK, built on the C SDK, used to create tunnelling applications such as
ziti-edge-tunnel - Access to the C SDK from other languages through a foreign function interface
Tunnelers
Tunnelers bring zero trust to applications that cannot be changed. They run on the host, pick up traffic bound for Ziti services and send it across the overlay. Versions exist for Windows, Android, macOS, iOS, Linux, Docker and Kubernetes, and an NGINX module covers web workloads.
Zrok
zrok is an open-source, zero trust peer-to-peer tunnelling and ingress tool that runs on OpenZiti. It lets people share applications, files and web content privately or publicly, and can be used as SaaS or self-hosted. A single binary scales from large public instances down to a Raspberry Pi.
How It Works
An OpenZiti network has three parts: the controller, edge routers and endpoints. Every connection uses mutual TLS, with each side presenting an X509 certificate tied to its identity.
| Component | What it does |
|---|---|
| Controller | The central coordination point for the whole network, holding configuration and deciding who is authenticated and authorised. |
| Routers | Relay traffic between endpoints as a mesh, monitor latency, pick the fastest path and fail over automatically. A router placed inside a trusted network can reach existing services there. |
| Endpoints | Applications either embed an SDK or rely on a tunneler on the host. |
| Policies | Decide which identities can reach which services, and through which edge routers. |
When a tunneler starts, it sets up a Ziti nameserver and IP routes on the host operating system and updates them whenever policies change, so traffic for a Ziti service travels over the overlay instead of the underlay network. Linux deployment guides cover the controller and router, and quickstarts walk through a first network.
Identities And Systems Covered
| Identity types | User, Device and Service. All three have identical properties; the type only signals intent. |
|---|---|
| Certificates | Issued by the controller’s own PKI or by a third-party PKI, and each certificate belongs to exactly one identity. |
| One-time token enrolment | The controller issues a single-use JWT that expires 24 hours after the identity is created. |
| Third-party CA enrolment | Clients can enrol with certificates they already hold, or auto-enrol, which suits provisioning large numbers of devices. |
| Identity file | Enrolment produces a permanent identity file holding the private key, which must stay on the device it was issued to. |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Docker and Kubernetes. |
Agentic AI Capabilities
Ziti-Mcp-Server
ziti-mcp-server is a Model Context Protocol server that lets AI agents work with the Ziti Management API. It runs locally between an MCP client and a Ziti controller, keeps credentials on the user’s machine and exposes 209 tools for identities, services, routers, policies, configurations and fabric operations. It is released under Apache 2.0.
MCP Gateway
MCP Gateway is a “Zero trust gateway for MCP servers” built on OpenZiti and zrok. It puts several MCP servers behind one connection, namespaces their tools and filters them per backend. It has three components: mcp-tools, mcp-gateway and mcp-bridge.
AI Enclave
NetFoundry’s open-source secure AI enclave extends OpenZiti with zero trust gateways for MCP servers and large language models. A commercial cloud version is in limited early access.
Company Background
| Sponsor | NetFoundry created OpenZiti and zrok and sponsors the project. |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | NetFoundry is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. |
| Leadership | Galeal Zino, Founder and CEO of NetFoundry. |
| Funding | NetFoundry raised a reported 12 million dollars in a round led by SYN Ventures in April 2025. |
| Customers | NetFoundry reports serving eight of the ten largest US banks, two of the five largest Fortune 500 companies and critical infrastructure on three continents. |
| Commercial model | Network-as-a-service, on-premises licensed software and an OEM model for providers embedding zero trust in their own products. |
Note: This overview is compiled from OpenZiti’s publicly available information as of 3 November 2026. It is provided for information only. NHI Mgmt Group does not endorse any vendor, and nothing on this page represents the opinions of NHI Mgmt Group.