# Blackbox exporter vs Tailscale

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Blackbox exporter | Tailscale |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 70/100 | 84/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #3 of 51 in Monitoring & observability | #1 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 5 922 | 38 221 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +16 | +1 416 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 14 ✓ |
| Latest release | v0.29.1 · 21 Oct 2026 | v1.104.4 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Main language | Go | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Tailscale scores 84/100 against 70/100 for Blackbox exporter, so it is the safer default.

Tailscale ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Blackbox exporter.

If you want the quickest setup, Blackbox exporter is easier to run; Tailscale needs more configuration.

Tailscale is growing faster right now (+1 416 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Blackbox exporter](https://selfhost.directory/project/blackbox-exporter) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/blackbox-exporter.md)
- [Tailscale](https://selfhost.directory/project/tailscale) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/tailscale.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/blackbox-exporter-vs-tailscale