Backstagevsheadscale
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Backstage | headscale | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 79/100 | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #8 of 166 in Developer Tools | #1 of 31 in Networking |
| GitHub stars | 34 740 | 45 165 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +58 | +1 058 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 14 | 7 |
| Latest release | v1.57.0-next.0 · 27 Oct 2026 | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Main language | Typescript | Go |
Which one should you pick?
headscale scores 82/100 against 79/100 for Backstage, so it is the safer default.
Backstage ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.
If you want the quickest setup, headscale is easier to run; Backstage needs more configuration.
headscale is growing faster right now (+1 058 stars in 30 days).
Backstage details →headscale details →