# headscale vs Standard Notes

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | headscale | Standard Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 70/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #8 of 81 in Notes & Editors |
| GitHub stars | 45 145 ✓ | 6 685 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 075 ✓ | +53 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 ✓ | 5 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 ✓ | @standardnotes/mobile@3.202.11 · 23 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

headscale scores 82/100 against 70/100 for Standard Notes, so it is the safer default.

headscale ships more often: 7 stable releases in the past year, against 5 for Standard Notes.

If you want the quickest setup, headscale is easier to run; Standard Notes needs more configuration.

headscale is growing faster right now (+1 075 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [headscale](https://selfhost.directory/project/headscale) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/headscale.md)
- [Standard Notes](https://selfhost.directory/project/standard-notes) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/standard-notes.md)

---
Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/headscale-vs-standard-notes