Tailscalevsunleash
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Tailscale | unleash | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 84/100 | 75/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 56 in VPN | #1 of 8 in Feature Flags |
| GitHub stars | 38 257 | 13 912 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 415 | +86 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 14 | 15 |
| Latest release | v1.104.4 · 27 Oct 2026 | v8.3.0 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Tailscale scores 84/100 against 75/100 for unleash, so it is the safer default.
unleash ships more often: 15 stable releases in the past year, against 14 for Tailscale.
If you want the quickest setup, unleash is easier to run; Tailscale needs more configuration.
Tailscale is growing faster right now (+1 415 stars in 30 days).
Tailscale details →unleash details →
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