headscalevsSure
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| headscale | Sure | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 74/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #4 of 62 in Personal Finance |
| GitHub stars | 45 145 | 10 711 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 075 | +687 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 15 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | v0.7.5-hotfix.3 · 24 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Ruby |
Which one should you pick?
headscale scores 82/100 against 74/100 for Sure, so it is the safer default.
Sure ships more often: 15 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.
If you want the quickest setup, Sure is easier to run; headscale needs more configuration.
headscale details →Sure details →