# headscale vs Terraforming Mars

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

| | headscale | Terraforming Mars |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 62/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #4 of 14 in Gaming |
| GitHub stars | 45 160 ✓ | 961 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 053 ✓ | +9 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 ✓ | 0 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

headscale scores 82/100 against 62/100 for Terraforming Mars, so it is the safer default.

headscale ships more often: 7 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Terraforming Mars.

headscale is growing faster right now (+1 053 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [headscale](https://selfhost.directory/project/headscale) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/headscale.md)
- [Terraforming Mars](https://selfhost.directory/project/terraforming-mars) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/terraforming-mars.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/headscale-vs-terraforming-mars