OpenWAvsTailscale
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| OpenWA | Tailscale | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 77/100 | 84/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 19 in API Management | #1 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 16 340 | 38 231 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +334 | +1 426 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 14 |
| Latest release | v0.26.0 · 28 Oct 2026 | v1.104.4 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Main language | Typescript | Go |
Which one should you pick?
Tailscale scores 84/100 against 77/100 for OpenWA, so it is the safer default.
Tailscale ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for OpenWA.
If you want the quickest setup, OpenWA is easier to run; Tailscale needs more configuration.
Tailscale is growing faster right now (+1 426 stars in 30 days).
OpenWA details →Tailscale details →
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