# headscale vs MQTTX Web

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

| | headscale | MQTTX Web |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 67/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #3 of 10 in IoT |
| GitHub stars | 45 131 ✓ | 5 086 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 061 ✓ | +22 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 ✓ | 3 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | v1.13.2 · 26 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

headscale scores 82/100 against 67/100 for MQTTX Web, so it is the safer default.

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

If you want the quickest setup, MQTTX Web is easier to run; headscale needs more configuration.

headscale is growing faster right now (+1 061 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [headscale](https://selfhost.directory/project/headscale) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/headscale.md)
- [MQTTX Web](https://selfhost.directory/project/mqttx-web) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/mqttx-web.md)

---
Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/headscale-vs-mqttx-web