Headscale
Headscale is an open-source, self-hosted app in the Proxy & VPN category, licensed BSD-3-Clause and written mainly in Go. It is a self-hosted alternative to Tailscale and ships a Docker image. It has 45,047 GitHub stars and its last commit was on Oct 26, 2026 (data as of Oct 26, 2026).
- Proxy & VPN
- Go
- BSD-3-Clause
- Docker
- Active
GitHub stats
- GitHub stars
- 45,047
- Forks
- 2,618
- Open issues
- 73
- Commits, last 12 months
- 1,196
- Last commit
- Oct 26, 2026
- Latest release
- v0.29.6Oct 24, 2026
- Created
- Jun 21, 2020
- License
- BSD-3-ClauseOpen source
Data as of from the GitHub API. Report an error
Project health
ActiveActive: last commit Oct 26, 2026, 1,196 commits in 12 months.
- Regular releases7 releases in 12 months
- Welcomes contributors9 open good-first-issue or help-wanted issues and a contributing guide
| Last commit | Oct 26, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Commits, last 12 months | 1,196 |
| Latest release | v0.29.6 (Oct 24, 2026) |
| Releases, last 12 months | 7 |
| Releases, all time | 143 |
| Open issues | 73 |
| Open pull requests | 64 |
| Good first issues | 4 |
| Contributing guide | Yes |
| Security policy | No |
| Created | Jun 21, 2020 |
Health as of , from the GitHub API. A label describes activity, not quality or security. How we label project health · Report a data error
About Headscale
Open-source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server.
Description written by appsgit. Source code: github.com/juanfont/headscale.
Topics
- tailscale
- tailscale-control-server
- wireguard
- tailscale-server
Open-source alternative to
Headscale can replace these commercial products. Compare every option on each page.
Repository preview
From the blog
Articles about Headscale
Comparisons, rankings and guides on the appsgit blog that cover Headscale.
- Guides
How to start self-hosting in 2026: a beginner's roadmap (hardware, Docker, reverse proxy, backups)
How to start self-hosting in 2026: pick hardware or a VPS, install Docker, add a reverse proxy with HTTPS, reach it remotely and back it up, step by step.
6 min read
- Roundups
r/selfhosted's most recommended apps, ranked by GitHub data
The apps r/selfhosted recommends again and again, from Immich and Jellyfin to Vaultwarden and Paperless-ngx, ranked with real GitHub stars and commit activity.
6 min read
- Alternatives
Self-hosted Tailscale: Headscale, NetBird and the open-source mesh VPN options
Can you run Tailscale self-hosted? Headscale, NetBird, wg-easy, Pangolin and Firezone compared: licences, features, requirements, and when the free plan wins.
6 min read
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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 self-hosted 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 26, 2026 with 1,196 commits in the past twelve months. The latest release is v0.29.6, published Oct 24, 2026. It had 73 open issues on GitHub. appsgit's project-health label for it is "Active" as of Oct 26, 2026.