headscalevslivekit
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| headscale | livekit | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 80/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #2 of 118 in Media Server |
| GitHub stars | 45 162 | 21 913 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 055 | +814 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 19 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | v1.13.11 · 25 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Go |
Which one should you pick?
headscale scores 82/100 against 80/100 for livekit, so it is the safer default.
livekit ships more often: 19 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.
If you want the quickest setup, headscale is easier to run; livekit needs more configuration.
headscale details →livekit details →