# ESPHome vs Tailscale

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

| | ESPHome | Tailscale |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 78/100 | 84/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #4 of 104 in Home Automation | #1 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 11 978 | 38 263 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +256 | +1 421 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 46 ✓ | 14 |
| Latest release | 2026.10.1 · 27 Oct 2026 | v1.104.4 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | Other | BSD-3-Clause |
| Main language | C | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Tailscale scores 84/100 against 78/100 for ESPHome, so it is the safer default.

ESPHome ships more often: 46 stable releases in the past year, against 14 for Tailscale.

Tailscale is growing faster right now (+1 421 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [ESPHome](https://selfhost.directory/project/esphome) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/esphome.md)
- [Tailscale](https://selfhost.directory/project/tailscale) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/tailscale.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/esphome-vs-tailscale