gluetunvsheadscale
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| gluetun | headscale | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 75/100 | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #5 of 56 in VPN | #1 of 31 in Networking |
| GitHub stars | 15 906 | 45 143 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +308 | +1 073 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 8 | 7 |
| Latest release | v3.41.3 · 30 Jul 2026 | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Main language | Go | Go |
Which one should you pick?
headscale scores 82/100 against 75/100 for gluetun, so it is the safer default.
gluetun ships more often: 8 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.
headscale is growing faster right now (+1 073 stars in 30 days).
gluetun details →headscale details →
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