Headplane vs NetBird
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
NetBird
Connect devices into a secure WireGuard-based overlay network
| Feature | Headplane | NetBird |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,831 | ★ 28,139 |
| First released | 2024 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Tailscale Admin Console | Tailscale, ZeroTier |
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)
Choose NetBird if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 28.1k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Headplane or NetBird better?
Neither is universally better. NetBird 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 NetBird free and open-source?
Yes. Headplane is licensed under MPL-2.0 and NetBird under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Headplane and NetBird with Docker?
Headplane: yes. NetBird: yes.