SHSelfHostIndex

Algo VPN vs Headplane

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
AL Algo VPN Set up a personal IPsec and WireGuard VPN in minutes VS HE Headplane Advanced web UI and control panel for Headscale
FeatureAlgo VPNHeadplane
CategoryRemote Access & VPNRemote Access & VPN
LicenseAGPL-3.0MPL-2.0
LanguagePythonTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB128 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcedocker
GitHub stars★ 30,350★ 2,831
First released20162024
ReplacesNordVPNTailscale Admin Console

Why pick each one

Choose Algo VPN if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Mature project with 30.4k GitHub stars
  • Written in Python
Algo VPN details

Choose Headplane if…

  • Released under the MPL-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
Headplane details

Frequently asked questions

Is Algo VPN or Headplane better?

Neither is universally better. Algo VPN has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Algo VPN and Headplane free and open-source?

Yes. Algo VPN is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Headplane under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Algo VPN and Headplane with Docker?

Algo VPN: check the project docs for container support. Headplane: yes.

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