# headscale vs Lemmy

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

| | headscale | Lemmy |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 75/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #3 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums |
| GitHub stars | 45 144 ✓ | 14 651 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 074 ✓ | +44 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 ✓ | 3 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | 0.19.21 · 26 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Rust |

## Which one should you pick?

headscale scores 82/100 against 75/100 for Lemmy, so it is the safer default.

headscale ships more often: 7 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Lemmy.

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)
- [Lemmy](https://selfhost.directory/project/lemmy) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/lemmy.md)

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