Headscale
Open-source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server.
- Proxy & VPN
- Go
- BSD-3-Clause
- Docker
- Actively maintained
GitHub stats
- GitHub stars
- 44,378
- Forks
- 2,604
- Open issues
- 76
- Commits, last 12 months
- 1,060
- Last commit
- Oct 6, 2026
- Latest release
- v0.29.4Sep 23, 2026
- Created
- Jun 21, 2020
Data from the GitHub API, refreshed daily.
About Headscale
Open-source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server. Headscale is open source under the BSD-3-Clause license and written mainly in Go, so you can read the code, run it on your own hardware and keep full control of your data.
The project has 44,378 stars and 2,604 forks on GitHub, with 1,060 commits over the last year. It ships a Docker image, which makes it a good fit for a small VPS or a home server running Docker Compose.
Topics
- tailscale
- tailscale-control-server
- wireguard
- tailscale-server
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What is Headscale?
Headscale is a free, open-source app you can host on your own server, listed in our Proxy & VPN category. Open-source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server. The source code lives at github.com/juanfont/headscale, where it has 44,378 stars.
Is Headscale free and open source?
Yes. Headscale is open-source software released under the BSD-3-Clause license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.
Can I run Headscale with Docker?
Yes. Headscale provides a Docker image, so you can run it on any Linux server with Docker and Docker Compose installed. The project README lists the image name and the environment variables to set.
What are the best alternatives to Headscale?
Popular open-source alternatives to Headscale include frp, NetBird and wg-easy. Headscale itself is a self-hosted alternative to Tailscale.
Is Headscale actively maintained?
The most recent commit to Headscale was on Oct 6, 2026 with 1,060 commits in the past twelve months. The latest release is v0.29.4, published Sep 23, 2026. Check the open issues on GitHub to gauge how quickly maintainers respond.