# awl vs headscale

> Two self-hosted [Tailscale alternatives](https://selfhost.directory/alternative-to/tailscale), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | awl | headscale |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 52/100 | 82/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #31 of 56 in VPN | #1 of 31 in Networking |
| GitHub stars | 716 | 45 140 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +1 070 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 7 |
| Latest release | v0.20.0 · 24 Oct 2026 | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | MPL-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Main language | Go | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

headscale scores 82/100 against 52/100 for awl, so it is the safer default.

headscale is growing faster right now (+1 070 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [awl](https://selfhost.directory/project/awl) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/awl.md)
- [headscale](https://selfhost.directory/project/headscale) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/headscale.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/awl-vs-headscale