Cardea 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?
Cardea
SSH bastion server with access control, session recording, and
VS
Headscale
Open-source self-hosted Tailscale control server
| Feature | Cardea | Headscale |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | EUPL-1.2 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 34 | ★ 42,612 |
| First released | 2026 | 2020 |
| Replaces | — | Tailscale |
Why pick each one
Choose Cardea if…
- Released under the EUPL-1.2 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Cardea 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 Cardea and Headscale free and open-source?
Yes. Cardea is licensed under EUPL-1.2 and Headscale under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cardea and Headscale with Docker?
Cardea: yes. Headscale: yes.