Headscale vs Tailscale

Self-host swap-in for Tailscale. · Self-host Tailscale · Headscale on os-alt

Headscale is one of the open-source self-host replacements for Tailscale — license BSD-3-Clause, 20min (single Go binary + reverse proxy) to stand up, and $5 vps — coordination only, traffic is peer-to-peer. Compare against Tailscale's Free for personal (3 users / 100 devices); $6/user/mo for Premium below.

	Headscaleopen-source	Tailscalepaid SaaS
Category	Mesh VPN / zero-config networking	Mesh VPN / zero-config networking
License / pricing	`BSD-3-Clause`	Free for personal (3 users / 100 devices); $6/user/mo for Premium
Starting price	$0 self-host	$6/user/mo
GitHub	juanfont/headscale ★ 38.3k · last commit todayalive	closed source
Setup time	20min (single Go binary + reverse proxy)	SaaS — sign up + bill
Monthly cost	$5 VPS — coordination only, traffic is peer-to-peer.	from $6/user/mo (Free for personal (3 users / 100 devices); $6/user/mo for Premium)

Switching from Tailscale to Headscale

Stand up Headscale at a public hostname. On each Tailscale client: `tailscale up --login-server=https://your-headscale.example`. The clients stay the same; only the control server changes. ACL/SSO replacements need to be set up (Headscale supports OIDC).

Good fit for: Teams that already love Tailscale UX but don't want a SaaS dependency.
Weak at: No web admin UI in core — third-party UIs (headplane, headscale-ui) fill the gap.

Other open-source self-host alternatives to Tailscale

Netbird
BSD-3-Clause30min docker-compose (management + signal + relay)$5-10 VPS for the management plane.
Innernet
MIT20min (single Rust binary per host)$5 VPS for the coordination server.

In a terminal? npx os-alt tailscale prints Tailscale's self-host options — how the CLI works →

FAQ

Is Headscale a free alternative to Tailscale?

Yes — Headscale is open source under BSD-3-Clause. Self-host cost: $5 VPS — coordination only, traffic is peer-to-peer.. Tailscale starts at $6/user/mo (Free for personal (3 users / 100 devices); $6/user/mo for Premium).

How long does Headscale take to set up vs Tailscale?

Self-hosting Headscale: 20min (single Go binary + reverse proxy). Tailscale is a hosted SaaS — sign up and you're in.

What is Headscale good at, and what is it weak at?

Good fit for: Teams that already love Tailscale UX but don't want a SaaS dependency.. Weak at: No web admin UI in core — third-party UIs (headplane, headscale-ui) fill the gap..