Calibrevsheadscale
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Calibre | headscale | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 19 in Ebook Management | #1 of 31 in Networking |
| GitHub stars | 26 274 | 45 165 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +265 | +1 058 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 18 | 7 |
| Latest release | v9.17.0 · 23 Oct 2026 | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | GPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Main language | Python | Go |
Which one should you pick?
Calibre scores 83/100 against 82/100 for headscale, so it is the safer default.
Calibre ships more often: 18 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.
If you want the quickest setup, Calibre is easier to run; headscale needs more configuration.
headscale is growing faster right now (+1 058 stars in 30 days).
Calibre details →headscale details →
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