Headscale vs Teleport
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
Teleport
Identity-aware access for infrastructure
| Feature | Headscale | Teleport |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 42,612 | ★ 20,780 |
| First released | 2020 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Tailscale | Cisco AnyConnect, AWS Systems Manager |
Why pick each one
Choose Teleport if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 20.8k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Headscale or Teleport better?
Headscale is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Teleport if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Headscale and Teleport free and open-source?
Yes. Headscale is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Teleport under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Headscale and Teleport with Docker?
Headscale: yes. Teleport: yes.