# headscale vs hestia

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

| | headscale | hestia |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 68/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #2 of 10 in Control Panel |
| GitHub stars | 45 144 ✓ | 4 552 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 074 ✓ | +46 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 11 ✓ |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 ✓ | 1.10.5 · 14 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Shell |

## Which one should you pick?

headscale scores 82/100 against 68/100 for hestia, so it is the safer default.

hestia ships more often: 11 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.

headscale is growing faster right now (+1 074 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [headscale](https://selfhost.directory/project/headscale) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/headscale.md)
- [hestia](https://selfhost.directory/project/hestia) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/hestia.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/headscale-vs-hestia