headscalevsNomad
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| headscale | Nomad | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 76/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #2 of 11 in Container Orchestration |
| GitHub stars | 45 143 | 17 047 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 073 | +78 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 17 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | v2.1.0 · 28 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Other |
| Main language | Go | Go |
Which one should you pick?
headscale scores 82/100 against 76/100 for Nomad, so it is the safer default.
Nomad ships more often: 17 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.
headscale is growing faster right now (+1 073 stars in 30 days).
headscale details →Nomad details →