Apollo vs Headscale
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?
Apollo
Self-hosted game and desktop streaming host
VS
Headscale
Open-source self-hosted Tailscale control server
| Feature | Apollo | Headscale |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | GPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | C++ | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 10,488 | ★ 42,612 |
| First released | 2024 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Steam Remote Play, Parsec | Tailscale |
Why pick each one
Choose Apollo if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Mature project with 10.5k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
Frequently asked questions
Is Apollo or Headscale better?
Neither is universally better. Headscale has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Apollo and Headscale free and open-source?
Yes. Apollo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Headscale under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apollo and Headscale with Docker?
Apollo: check the project docs for container support. Headscale: yes.