Headscale vs Neutrinet
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
Neutrinet
Auto renewal for the Neutrinet vpn-certificates
| Feature | Headscale | Neutrinet |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0-or-later |
| Language | Go | |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 42,612 | — |
| First released | 2020 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Tailscale | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Neutrinet if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0-or-later license
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Headscale or Neutrinet better?
Neither is universally better. Headscale has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Headscale and Neutrinet free and open-source?
Yes. Headscale is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Neutrinet under AGPL-3.0-or-later. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Headscale and Neutrinet with Docker?
Headscale: yes. Neutrinet: check the project docs for container support.