Cockpit 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?
Cockpit
Web-based graphical interface for Linux servers
VS
Headscale
Open-source self-hosted Tailscale control server
| Feature | Cockpit | Headscale |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | JavaScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,842 | ★ 42,612 |
| First released | 2014 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Webmin | Tailscale |
Why pick each one
Choose Cockpit if…
- Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 14.8k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Cockpit or Headscale better?
Neither is universally better. Headscale has the larger community, while Cockpit is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Cockpit and Headscale free and open-source?
Yes. Cockpit is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and Headscale under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cockpit and Headscale with Docker?
Cockpit: check the project docs for container support. Headscale: yes.