# Alternatives to Headscale Headscale is an open-source coordination/control server that is API-compatible with the official Tailscale client apps, letting teams self-host their own control plane while keeping the same mobile and desktop clients. It's maintained independently of Tailscale Inc. and is the most common route to avoiding vendor lock-in on the SaaS coordination service. Supports ACLs, OIDC/SSO login, and MagicDNS-style device naming through the Tailscale client ecosystem. Headscale ranks #4 of 11 in Mesh VPNs, with an Alt Score of 81. It is licensed under BSD-3-Clause, free from Free and available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. 11 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/headscale/ Category: Mesh VPNs ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Headscale is for self-hosters, hobbyists, and small organizations who want to run their own coordination (control) server for Tailscale clients instead of using Tailscale Inc.'s managed service. It targets a single tailnet suitable for personal use or a small open-source organization rather than large enterprise deployments. - **What you get**: Headscale re-implements the Tailscale control server: node registration, MagicDNS with extra DNS records, subnet routers and exit nodes with double opt-in approval (optionally automated via autoApprovers), ACL/Grants-based policy control, an embedded DERP relay for NAT traversal, and OpenID Connect (OIDC) based single sign-on with domain/user/group filters. It is released under the BSD-3-Clause license with no paid tier. - **How it works**: A headscale binary or container runs as a service (recommended on Linux via DEB package or systemd) and standard Tailscale clients on Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android point their login-server at the headscale instance to register. Headscale exchanges WireGuard public keys between registered nodes, computes and distributes the network map, and enforces access policy, DNS, and routing according to its configuration file and policy file. ## Profile - **License**: BSD-3-Clause (verified 2026-07-30) - **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-30) - **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-07-30) - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-30) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [NetBird](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/netbird.md) | 93 | BSD-3-Clause | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 2 | [ZeroTier](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zerotier.md) | 93 | MPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 3 | [Firezone](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/firezone.md) | 85 | Apache-2.0 + Elastic License 2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 4 | [Netmaker](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/netmaker.md) | 78 | Apache-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 5 | [OpenZiti](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/openziti.md) | 78 | Apache-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 6 | [Tailscale](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/tailscale.md) | 78 | BSD-3-Clause | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 7 | [Defguard](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/defguard.md) | 70 | AGPL-3.0 (core), Proprietary (enterprise module) | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 8 | [Nebula](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/nebula.md) | 70 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | | 9 | [innernet](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/innernet.md) | 62 | MIT | Linux, macOS | | 10 | [WireGuard](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/wireguard.md) | 40 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | Mesh VPNs checklist | Headscale | NetBird | ZeroTier | Firezone | Netmaker | OpenZiti | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | Free | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | OSS + paid hosting | | Starts at | Free | Free | Free | $5/user/mo | $2/connection/month | Free | | License | BSD-3-Clause | BSD-3-Clause | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 + Elastic License 2.0 | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 | | Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | | WireGuard-based | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | | Self-hostable control plane | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | | NAT traversal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Exit nodes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | ACLs / access rules | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | | SSO integration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Device limit (free tier) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | | MagicDNS-style naming | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | Yes | | Subnet routing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Open source clients | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | | Audit published | ? | ? | Yes | Partial | ? | Yes | | Mobile support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ## Sources Sources for Headscale. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **License**: BSD-3-Clause — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “BSD 3-Clause License” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: v0.29.3 is tagged 'Latest' on the GitHub releases page, published 2026-07-29; GitHub commits API shows commits as recent as 2026-07-28. Actively maintained. - Quote: “released this 29 Jul 12:51” - **Pricing model**: Free — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: No pricing page exists. Headscale is a free, self-hosted open-source project (BSD-3-Clause); there is no paid tier or commercial offering mentioned anywhere in the docs or repo. - Quote: “Headscale aims to implement a self-hosted, open source alternative to the Tailscale control server.” - **Starts at**: Free — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Same basis as pricing_model: no paid tier exists, the project is free/self-hosted only. - Quote: “Headscale aims to implement a self-hosted, open source alternative to the Tailscale control server.” - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Client support table on this page lists 'Yes' for Linux, Windows, Android, macOS, iOS (also OpenBSD, FreeBSD, tvOS, which are outside this catalog's platform vocabulary). - Quote: “We aim to support the last 10 releases of the Tailscale client on all provided operating systems and platforms.” - **WireGuard-based**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Quote is from headscale's own README section explaining the Tailscale architecture that headscale implements the control server for; headscale coordinates WireGuard key exchange between clients. - Quote: “Tailscale is a modern VPN built on top of Wireguard.” - **Self-hostable control plane**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Headscale aims to implement a self-hosted, open source alternative to the Tailscale control server.” - **NAT traversal**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “it also uses STUN (udp/3478) to help clients discover their public IP addresses and perform NAT traversal” - **Exit nodes**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Exit nodes can be used to route all Internet traffic for another Tailscale node.” - **ACLs / access rules**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Headscale implements a large portion of Tailscale's policy features, most notably access control based on ACLs and Grants or Tailscale SSH.” - **SSO integration**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Headscale supports authentication via external identity providers using OpenID Connect (OIDC).” - **Device limit (free tier)**: No — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Headscale imposes no hard device/node limit; it has a single free self-hosted tier (no tiers at all). The FAQ's scaling section notes practical performance limits depend on deployment size and node ch - Quote: “Headscale is not enterprise software and our focus is homelabbers and self-hosters.” - **MagicDNS-style naming**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Headscale allows to set extra DNS records which are made available via MagicDNS.” - **Subnet routing**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Subnet routers may be used to connect an existing network such as a virtual private cloud or an on-premise network with your tailnet.” - **Open source clients**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Command-line clients and most platform clients are open source, but the GUI clients for Windows and macOS/iOS are proprietary per headscale's own README. - Quote: “Everything in Tailscale is Open Source, except the GUI clients for proprietary OS (Windows and macOS/iOS), and the control server.” - **Mobile support**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Android Yes (see docs for more information)” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/