Cockpit vs Teleport
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
Teleport
Identity-aware access for infrastructure
| Feature | Cockpit | Teleport |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,842 | ★ 20,780 |
| First released | 2014 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Webmin | Cisco AnyConnect, AWS Systems Manager |
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
Choose Teleport if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 20.8k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Cockpit or Teleport better?
Neither is universally better. Teleport 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 Teleport free and open-source?
Yes. Cockpit is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and Teleport under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cockpit and Teleport with Docker?
Cockpit: check the project docs for container support. Teleport: yes.