headscalevsOrca
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| headscale | Orca | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 91/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #1 of 209 in AI Agents |
| GitHub stars | 45 143 | 108 815 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 073 | +8 908 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 15 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | v1.4.243 · 28 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Main language | Go | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Orca scores 91/100 against 82/100 for headscale, so it is the safer default.
Orca ships more often: 15 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.
If you want the quickest setup, Orca is easier to run; headscale needs more configuration.
Orca is growing faster right now (+8 908 stars in 30 days).
headscale details →Orca details →