headscalevsThoughtDAG
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| headscale | ThoughtDAG | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 51/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #25 of 69 in AI Chat |
| GitHub stars | 45 171 | 719 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 064 | +3 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 10 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | v0.5.26 · 25 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Main language | Go | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
headscale scores 82/100 against 51/100 for ThoughtDAG, so it is the safer default.
ThoughtDAG ships more often: 10 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.
If you want the quickest setup, ThoughtDAG is easier to run; headscale needs more configuration.
headscale is growing faster right now (+1 064 stars in 30 days).
headscale details →ThoughtDAG details →