# Pulse vs Tailscale

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

| | Pulse | Tailscale |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 71/100 | 84/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #2 of 19 in Infrastructure Monitoring | #1 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 6 975 | 38 252 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +231 | +1 410 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 43 ✓ | 14 |
| Latest release | helm-chart-6.6.0 · 25 Oct 2026 | v1.104.4 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Main language | Go | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Tailscale scores 84/100 against 71/100 for Pulse, so it is the safer default.

Pulse ships more often: 43 stable releases in the past year, against 14 for Tailscale.

If you want the quickest setup, Pulse is easier to run; Tailscale needs more configuration.

Tailscale is growing faster right now (+1 410 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Pulse](https://selfhost.directory/project/pulse) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/pulse.md)
- [Tailscale](https://selfhost.directory/project/tailscale) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/tailscale.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/pulse-vs-tailscale