# Hermes-Secure-Email-Gateway vs Tailscale

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

| | Hermes-Secure-Email-Gateway | Tailscale |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 48/100 | 84/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #49 of 78 in Security | #1 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 141 | 38 263 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +0 | +1 421 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 20 ✓ | 14 |
| Latest release | v261026 · 24 Oct 2026 | v1.104.4 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Main language | JavaScript | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Tailscale scores 84/100 against 48/100 for Hermes-Secure-Email-Gateway, so it is the safer default.

Hermes-Secure-Email-Gateway ships more often: 20 stable releases in the past year, against 14 for Tailscale.

If you want the quickest setup, Tailscale is easier to run; Hermes-Secure-Email-Gateway needs more configuration.

Tailscale is growing faster right now (+1 421 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Hermes-Secure-Email-Gateway](https://selfhost.directory/project/hermes-secure-email-gateway) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/hermes-secure-email-gateway.md)
- [Tailscale](https://selfhost.directory/project/tailscale) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/tailscale.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/hermes-secure-email-gateway-vs-tailscale