headscalevsvanilla-cookbook
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| headscale | vanilla-cookbook | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 46/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 31 in Networking | #13 of 18 in Recipe Management |
| GitHub stars | 45 172 | 158 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 065 | +0 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 | 13 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 · 24 Oct 2026 | v1.6.1 · 28 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | JavaScript |
Which one should you pick?
headscale scores 82/100 against 46/100 for vanilla-cookbook, so it is the safer default.
vanilla-cookbook ships more often: 13 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for headscale.
If you want the quickest setup, vanilla-cookbook is easier to run; headscale needs more configuration.
headscale is growing faster right now (+1 065 stars in 30 days).
headscale details →vanilla-cookbook details →