# Pulse vs setup-ipsec-vpn

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

| | Pulse | setup-ipsec-vpn |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 71/100 | 78/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #2 of 19 in Infrastructure Monitoring | #3 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 6 975 | 28 884 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +231 | +318 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 43 ✓ | 0 |
| Latest release | helm-chart-6.6.0 · 25 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | MIT | Other |
| Main language | Go | Shell |

## Which one should you pick?

setup-ipsec-vpn scores 78/100 against 71/100 for Pulse, so it is the safer default.

Pulse ships more often: 43 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for setup-ipsec-vpn.

## Details

- [Pulse](https://selfhost.directory/project/pulse) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/pulse.md)
- [setup-ipsec-vpn](https://selfhost.directory/project/setup-ipsec-vpn) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/setup-ipsec-vpn.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/pulse-vs-setup-ipsec-vpn