frp 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?
frp
Fast reverse proxy to expose local servers behind NAT
VS
Headplane
Advanced web UI and control panel for Headscale
| Feature | frp | Headplane |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 108,622 | ★ 2,831 |
| First released | 2016 | 2024 |
| Replaces | ngrok | Tailscale Admin Console |
Why pick each one
Choose frp if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 108.6k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
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)
Frequently asked questions
Is frp or Headplane better?
Neither is universally better. frp has the larger community, while Headplane is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are frp and Headplane free and open-source?
Yes. frp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Headplane under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run frp and Headplane with Docker?
frp: yes. Headplane: yes.