I’ve used it for a year or two and it’s one of my favorite tools. Everything just works. It’s as close to magic as I’ve found.

Are you saying that you have tried it and it doesn't work, or that you're looking for alternatives before you use it? (If the latter, try Nebula, or if the ends are static and you control enough of the network stack you could just do plain wireguard)

No, I hadn't tried it. WOW. It just works. Zero hiccups in the transition. No need to look further.

I can now toss code for variant SSH config files, I no longer need port forwarding rules on each router, and I no longer need my DynDNS subscription.

??? My NY computers are inside a university IP space, which simplifies library access. It would be very convenient to sometimes access the web from CA as if I'm using one of my NY computers. I can't determine if/how Tailscale supports this. ???

ZeroTier and Nebula are the only modern alternatives I personally know about.

https://www.zerotier.com

https://github.com/slackhq/nebula

Disclosure: I wrote and founded ZeroTier. Listed Nebula too for neutrality and completeness.