# checkmate vs netbird

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

| | checkmate | netbird |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 72/100 | 81/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #15 of 104 in Monitoring & observability | #2 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 11 002 | 30 290 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +119 | +822 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 15 | 40 ✓ |
| Latest release | v3.13.1 · 22 Oct 2026 | v0.81.5 · 26 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Other |
| Main language | Typescript | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

netbird scores 81/100 against 72/100 for checkmate, so it is the safer default.

netbird ships more often: 40 stable releases in the past year, against 15 for checkmate.

If you want the quickest setup, checkmate is easier to run; netbird needs more configuration.

netbird is growing faster right now (+822 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [checkmate](https://selfhost.directory/project/checkmate) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/checkmate.md)
- [netbird](https://selfhost.directory/project/netbird) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/netbird.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/checkmate-vs-netbird