Fleetvsheadscale
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Fleet | headscale | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 67/100 | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 11 in Device Management | #1 of 31 in Networking |
| GitHub stars | 7 073 | 45 166 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +4 | +1 059 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 4 | 7 |
| Latest release | fleet-v4.94.0 · 28 Oct 2026 | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | Other | BSD-3-Clause |
| Main language | Go | Go |
Which one should you pick?
headscale scores 82/100 against 67/100 for Fleet, so it is the safer default.
headscale ships more often: 7 stable releases in the past year, against 4 for Fleet.
If you want the quickest setup, headscale is easier to run; Fleet needs more configuration.
headscale is growing faster right now (+1 059 stars in 30 days).
Fleet details →headscale details →
Swap a project
Keep Fleet, compare it with
Keep headscale, compare it with