headscalevsnetdata
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| headscale | netdata | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 87/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #4 of 104 in Monitoring & observability |
| GitHub stars | 45 143 | 81 201 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 073 | +567 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 16 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | v2.12.2 · 23 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Go |
Which one should you pick?
netdata scores 87/100 against 82/100 for headscale, so it is the safer default.
netdata ships more often: 16 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.
If you want the quickest setup, netdata is easier to run; headscale needs more configuration.
headscale details →netdata details →