headscalevsOpenWA
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| headscale | OpenWA | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 77/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #2 of 19 in API Management |
| GitHub stars | 45 143 | 16 340 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 073 | +334 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 3 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | v0.26.0 · 28 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Main language | Go | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
headscale scores 82/100 against 77/100 for OpenWA, so it is the safer default.
headscale ships more often: 7 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for OpenWA.
If you want the quickest setup, OpenWA is easier to run; headscale needs more configuration.
headscale is growing faster right now (+1 073 stars in 30 days).
headscale details →OpenWA details →