headscalevspenpot
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| headscale | penpot | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 84/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #1 of 30 in Collaboration |
| GitHub stars | 45 148 | 61 801 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 078 | +1 489 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 12 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | 2.18.5 · 26 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MPL-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Clojure |
Which one should you pick?
penpot scores 84/100 against 82/100 for headscale, so it is the safer default.
penpot ships more often: 12 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.
If you want the quickest setup, headscale is easier to run; penpot needs more configuration.
headscale details →penpot details →