Headplane vs Headscale-Admin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Headplane | Headscale-Admin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Svelte |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,024 | ★ 1,112 |
| First released | 2024 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Tailscale Admin Console | Tailscale Admin Console |
What are Headplane and Headscale-Admin?
Headplane
Headplane is a feature-rich web user interface for managing a self-hosted Headscale coordination server, including ACL editing and machine management. It runs as a small container alongside Headscale.
- Headscale management UI
- ACL editor
- Machine controls
- Docker deployment
Headscale-Admin
Headscale Admin is a web-based management interface for Headscale, the open-source self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server. It provides user, node and route management.
- Headscale web UI
- Node and user management
- Route control
- Lightweight
Headplane vs Headscale-Admin: key differences
Headplane is written in TypeScript, while Headscale-Admin is built with Svelte. Licensing differs — MPL-2.0 for Headplane versus GPL-3.0 for Headscale-Admin. Headplane has the considerably larger community, at 3,024 GitHub stars versus 1,112.
Why pick each one
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 (3k GitHub stars)
Choose Headscale-Admin if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Headplane or Headscale-Admin better?
Neither is universally better. Headplane has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Headplane and Headscale-Admin free and open-source?
Yes. Headplane is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Headscale-Admin under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Headplane and Headscale-Admin with Docker?
Headplane: yes. Headscale-Admin: yes.