Headscale vs innernet
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?
Headscale
Open-source self-hosted Tailscale control server
VS
innernet
Private network system using WireGuard
| Feature | Headscale | innernet |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 42,612 | ★ 5,520 |
| First released | 2020 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Tailscale | Tailscale |
Why pick each one
Choose innernet if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 5.5k GitHub stars
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Headscale or innernet better?
Headscale is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider innernet if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Headscale and innernet free and open-source?
Yes. Headscale is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and innernet under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Headscale and innernet with Docker?
Headscale: yes. innernet: check the project docs for container support.