# headscale vs TailGuard

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

| | headscale | TailGuard |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 48/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #37 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 45 144 ✓ | 611 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 074 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 10 ✓ |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 ✓ | v1.104.2 · 21 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Main language | Go | Shell |

## Which one should you pick?

headscale scores 82/100 against 48/100 for TailGuard, so it is the safer default.

TailGuard ships more often: 10 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.

headscale is growing faster right now (+1 074 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [headscale](https://selfhost.directory/project/headscale) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/headscale.md)
- [TailGuard](https://selfhost.directory/project/tailguard) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/tailguard.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/headscale-vs-tailguard