headscalevsOTOBO
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| headscale | OTOBO | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 54/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #5 of 9 in Helpdesk |
| GitHub stars | 45 154 | 338 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 047 | +0 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 2 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | rel-11_0_15 · 4 Feb 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Perl |
Which one should you pick?
headscale scores 82/100 against 54/100 for OTOBO, so it is the safer default.
headscale ships more often: 7 stable releases in the past year, against 2 for OTOBO.
If you want the quickest setup, headscale is easier to run; OTOBO needs more configuration.
headscale is growing faster right now (+1 047 stars in 30 days).
headscale details →OTOBO details →