headscalevstiledesk
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| headscale | tiledesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 51/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #46 of 110 in Chat |
| GitHub stars | 45 144 | 324 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 074 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 1 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | 1.2.1 · 6 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Main language | Go | Mustache |
Which one should you pick?
headscale scores 82/100 against 51/100 for tiledesk, so it is the safer default.
headscale ships more often: 7 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for tiledesk.
If you want the quickest setup, headscale is easier to run; tiledesk needs more configuration.
headscale is growing faster right now (+1 074 stars in 30 days).
headscale details →tiledesk details →