beamvsTailscale
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| beam | Tailscale | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 61/100 | 84/100 |
| Rank in category | #29 of 125 in AI | #1 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 1 834 | 38 215 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +47 | +1 410 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 364 | 14 |
| Latest release | gateway-0.1.837 · 26 Oct 2026 | v1.104.4 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Main language | Go | Go |
Which one should you pick?
Tailscale scores 84/100 against 61/100 for beam, so it is the safer default.
beam ships more often: 364 stable releases in the past year, against 14 for Tailscale.
If you want the quickest setup, Tailscale is easier to run; beam needs more configuration.
Tailscale is growing faster right now (+1 410 stars in 30 days).
beam details →Tailscale details →
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