Let’s get one thing straight up front: Yuxinan is a multi-site networking product from Siwenlide, and we are a stakeholder in this article. So this article does no rankings; it answers just one question that many people search for but few explain clearly: is there really such a thing as free multi-site networking? Yes, and from more than one vendor — but each vendor’s idea of “free” is completely different. Pick the wrong approach and the free tier will feel painfully hard to use. All the information below is taken from the vendors’ public pages as of October 2026, so you can check it as you read.
The conclusion in one sentence: the free tier is enough to “prove the link works,” but not enough to “run a business on.” Decide first whether you want to “expose one service on your internal network” or “connect two entire networks together” — these two things are constantly conflated, and that conflation is the root of most complaints that “the free plan doesn’t work.”
1. First, be clear: which kind of “free” do you want
What the market calls “free multi-site networking” actually comes in two approaches:
- Internal network tunneling (port mapping): map out one service running on one machine — an ERP web page, a NAS, a database port — so that this single service can be reached from outside. This is the approach Peanut Shell takes.
- Whole-network interconnection (networking): connect two LANs in full, so that a branch office computer can reach headquarters’ POS, inventory, surveillance and printers as if it were sitting in the same office. This is the approach Pgy and Yuxinan take.
If what you want is “every store’s POS system connected to headquarters in real time,” that is whole-network interconnection; using a tunneling tool to do networking work means mapping one port and then another and another, and you will soon feel that “the free tier is really hard to use.”
2. The three free tiers side by side (as published on their official sites, October 2026)
| Item | Yuxinan Free Trial Edition | Pgy Trial Edition | Peanut Shell Trial Edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | ?0, forever, activated on registration | ?0, free download | ?0, free download |
| Approach | Whole-network interconnection | Whole-network interconnection | Internal network tunneling (single service) |
| Sites you can connect | 2 endpoints | 3 trial licenses | 2 mappings |
| Bandwidth | 2 Mbps relay; P2P direct connections are not rate-limited | P2P direct connections not rate-limited; relay bandwidth is shared | 1 Mbps per mapping |
| Traffic | Unlimited | Unlimited | Limited to 1 GB per month |
| Hardware | The endpoint allowance includes hardware; the box is plug-and-play | Mainly software; the router must be bought separately | Software only |
| Best for | Two stores that want POS and surveillance up and running first, without touching any configuration | Those with an always-on computer on hand who want to try three-endpoint software interconnection first | Temporarily exposing one internal system to outside access |
The above is taken from each vendor’s public pricing page as of October 2026 (Pgy Trial Edition: 3 trial licenses, shared relay bandwidth, telecom line; Peanut Shell Trial Edition: 2 mappings, 1 Mbps per mapping, 1 GB of traffic per month). The official websites prevail.
3. What the free tier can do
Based on our own experience and customer trials, the free tier is sufficient in these scenarios:
- Two stores sharing POS and membership systems: POS is a small-packet workload, so 2 Mbps of relay bandwidth is rarely saturated, and P2P direct connections are not rate-limited at all;
- The owner checking store surveillance from home: previews use the sub-stream, and the free tier’s bandwidth is plenty;
- Remote access to headquarters’ NAS and ERP: one person checking accounts and transferring files from outside — entirely sufficient;
- Pre-launch validation: during a new store’s fit-out, use the free tier to get the link working, so you feel confident on opening day.
Conversely, the free tier cannot hold up in these scenarios: opening a third store (over the endpoint allowance), surveillance that needs long main-stream uploads (over the bandwidth and traffic limits), or a business that cannot tolerate one minute of POS downtime (the free tier carries no service guarantee).
4. Three ceilings — hit one and it’s time to upgrade
- The endpoint ceiling. The free tier gives you 2–3 sites; the moment a third store opens, you have to pay. That is by design, not a malfunction.
- The bandwidth/traffic ceiling. The hardest is Peanut Shell’s 1 GB per month — add surveillance to POS and you hit the wall within days; next is “shared bandwidth,” where no speed is promised at peak times.
- The feature ceiling. Free tiers generally do not offer Layer 2 networking, keep audit logs for only 7 days, and carry no SLA; when something goes wrong, support queues behind paying customers.
5. Beyond the free tier, what does it cost (first year, 5 stores, list prices)
| Option | First-year cost | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Yuxinan Enterprise Basic | ?980/year, includes 5 endpoints (hardware counts toward the quota), 5 Mbps relay | The appliance is plug-and-play, with zero configuration for store staff; additional endpoints cost ?196 each per year |
| Pgyun · software client | ?740/year (business edition client licence 148×5) | Each store needs an always-on computer to run the client; if the computer shuts down or staff reinstall the system, the link goes down |
| Pgyun · router | ?1,640/year (business edition hardware licence 328×5), router hardware purchased separately | The licence is tied to the device; replacing the unit consumes a device-change allowance |
| Oray Peanut Shell Standard | ?1,299/year (3 mappings × 10 Mbps) | This is port tunnelling, not networking: fine for “exposing the head office ERP web page to each store”, but not for full network interconnection |
Competitor prices are taken from each vendor’s public website pages in October 2026 and are subject to the official sites; they do not constitute a quotation commitment. Pgyun’s hardware licence at ?328/year/unit and client licence at ?148/year/unit are its published business edition prices.
Once you read this table clearly, the conclusion is actually quite plain: the Pgyun software option is nominally the cheapest, but the price is an always-on computer in every store and the maintenance it brings; among options that include hardware and work as soon as you plug them in on site, ?980/year is currently the lowest publicly listed tier. Whether a store has a computer that is “always on and never tampered with” is the dividing line between these two choices.
Six: How to choose
- One or two stores, get it running first: pick one free edition to try, and don’t rush to buy any hardware. If you want to trial “hardware + network” without even buying an appliance, Yuxinan is currently the only free edition whose endpoint quota includes hardware.
- No always-on computer in the store, and staff should not touch any configuration: go straight to a paid edition that includes hardware; the free edition and software options will both cost you more in day-to-day maintenance.
- Just temporarily exposing one system to the outside: the Oray Peanut Shell trial edition is enough, but keep an eye on the 1 GB monthly traffic limit.
- Committed to long-term operation with more stores to come: don’t compare prices month by month; calculate the total over “number of stores × three years”. The method and the full books for 30 stores are in the real cost of chain store networking.
Yuxinan’s six pricing tiers and feature boundaries are published long-term on its official site: the Yuxinan product site; for an item-by-item comparison of the three paid options, see which multi-site networking provider is best; for the one-year total cost method, see how much multi-site networking costs per year.
FAQ
Q: Is the free edition secure? Will you take my data?
A: Networking traffic is encrypted end to end, and private keys never leave your devices. The free and paid editions use the same encryption and the same infrastructure; the differences are only in endpoint count, bandwidth and service guarantees, not in security level.
Q: Will the free edition start charging me after a while?
A: The Yuxinan free trial edition is free forever and activated on registration; there is no “trial expires and automatically converts to paid”. Other vendors’ free policies are subject to their own current announcements; checking the terms before registering is the safest approach.
Q: What is the difference between P2P direct connection and relay?
A: A direct connection transfers point to point between two devices, with no speed limit and low latency; when it cannot be established, traffic goes through a relay server, with bandwidth depending on your plan. For small-packet services such as POS and membership systems, either is sufficient; surveillance backhaul depends far more on direct connections.
Q: Is the free edition enough for surveillance backhaul?
A: It is enough for previews over the sub-stream, but not for long-duration backhaul of multiple main streams. For stores with many cameras, we recommend configuring “sub-stream for preview, main stream only on playback”, which can save more than half the bandwidth.
Pricing basis: Yuxinan official site public prices as of October 2026; competitor information is taken from each vendor’s public website pages from the same period, subject to the official sites, and does not constitute a quotation commitment.
