Headplane 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?
Headplane
Advanced web UI and control panel for Headscale
VS
Headscale
Open-source self-hosted Tailscale control server
| Feature | Headplane | Headscale |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MPL-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,831 | ★ 42,612 |
| First released | 2024 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Tailscale Admin Console | Tailscale |
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 (2.8k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Headplane or Headscale better?
Neither is universally better. Headscale 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 Headplane and Headscale free and open-source?
Yes. Headplane is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Headscale under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Headplane and Headscale with Docker?
Headplane: yes. Headscale: yes.