NATSvsnetbird
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| NATS | netbird | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 | 81/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 12 in Message Broker | #2 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 20 954 | 30 308 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +192 | +840 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 18 | 40 |
| Latest release | v2.14.9 · 26 Oct 2026 | v0.81.5 · 26 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Other |
| Main language | Go | Go |
Which one should you pick?
netbird scores 81/100 against 80/100 for NATS, so it is the safer default.
netbird ships more often: 40 stable releases in the past year, against 18 for NATS.
netbird is growing faster right now (+840 stars in 30 days).
NATS details →netbird details →
Swap a project
Keep NATS, compare it with
Keep netbird, compare it with