# headscale vs meridian

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

| | headscale | meridian |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 52/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #31 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 45 140 ✓ | 499 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 070 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 18 ✓ |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | v4.0.0b8 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Main language | Go | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

headscale scores 82/100 against 52/100 for meridian, so it is the safer default.

meridian ships more often: 18 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.

headscale is growing faster right now (+1 070 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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