# Firefly vs Tailscale

> Two self-hosted [VPN projects](https://selfhost.directory/vpn), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Firefly | Tailscale |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 40/100 | 84/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #49 of 56 in VPN | #1 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 486 | 38 231 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +1 426 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 0 | 14 ✓ |
| Latest release | — | v1.104.4 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | — | BSD-3-Clause |
| Main language | Dockerfile | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Tailscale scores 84/100 against 40/100 for Firefly, so it is the safer default.

Tailscale ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Firefly.

Tailscale is growing faster right now (+1 426 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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