Audience
System administrators and hobbyist self-hosters wanting a tool to build and control a secure, self-managed VPN/mesh network using Tailscale clients
About Headscale
Headscale is an open-source, self-hosted implementation of the control server used by the Tailscale network, enabling users to keep full ownership of their private tailnets while using Tailscale clients. It supports registering users and nodes, issuing pre-authentication keys, advertising subnet-routes and exit-node capabilities, enforcing access-control lists, and integrating with OIDC/SAML identity providers for user authentication. The server is deployable via Debian/Ubuntu packages or standalone binaries, configurable through a YAML file, and managed via its CLI or REST API. Headscale tracks each node, route, and user in its database, supports route approval workflows, and enables features such as subnet routing, exit node designation, and node-to-node mesh within the tailnet. Being self-hosted, it gives organizations and hobbyists full control over their private network endpoints, encryption keys, and traffic flows, rather than depending on a commercial control plane.
Other Popular Alternatives & Related Software
HoneyWire
HoneyWire is an open-source deception platform deploying canary tripwires across internal networks to detect lateral movement and intrusion activity.
How it works:
- TUI wizard instantly deploys lightweight, distroless "HoneyWires" onto any Linux host.
- Synthetic services run silently with zero reason for legitimate users or scanners to interact with them.
- If an attacker touches a HoneyWire, a high-fidelity alert routes directly to the centralized Hub.
Deployment Types:
- Web Router Decoy: Emulates admin router logins to trap web reconnaissance.
- Canary TCP Tarpit: Binds to critical ports to log payloads and slow attacks.
- File Canary (FIM): Monitors files to flag unauthorized access to decoy assets.
- ICMP Canary: Detects stealthy ping sweeps and raw network mapping.
- Network Scan Detector: Catches port scanning across local subnets.
The Hub:
A self-hosted, Web-UI control center managing node configurations, fleet, and alert routing, with frictionless UX.
Learn more about HoneyWire
azerioid
azerioid Stack Manager is a self-hosted server control panel built entirely in Laravel and Livewire. One command bootstraps the panel itself (Caddy + PHP + SQLite), then everything else — web servers (Caddy, Apache, Nginx), databases (MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MongoDB), Redis, Node.js, and background process management via Supervisor — is installed on demand from the dashboard, no third-party base stack required.
Each virtual host can independently run a different web server engine behind a single Caddy front door, with automatic Let's Encrypt HTTPS, a scoped web terminal and file manager per site, per-database remote-access control, and a full CLI with feature parity to the UI. It's been verified end-to-end on Ubuntu, Debian, and Enterprise Linux (with SELinux enforcing) across real servers.
Learn more about azerioid
Amazon Virtual Private Cloud
Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) is a service that lets you launch AWS resources in a logically isolated virtual network that you define. You have complete control over your virtual networking environment, including selection of your own IP address range, creation of subnets, and configuration of route tables and network gateways. You can use both IPv4 and IPv6 for most resources in your virtual private cloud, helping to ensure secure and easy access to resources and applications. As one of AWS's foundational services, Amazon VPC makes it easy to customize your VPC's network configuration. You can create a public-facing subnet for your web servers that have access to the internet. It also lets you place your backend systems, such as databases or application servers, in a private-facing subnet with no internet access.
Learn more about Amazon Virtual Private Cloud
Pangolin
Pangolin is an open source, identity-aware tunneled reverse-proxy platform that lets you securely expose applications from any location without opening inbound ports or requiring a traditional VPN. It uses a distributed architecture of globally available nodes to route traffic through encrypted WireGuard tunnels, enabling devices behind NATs or firewalls to serve applications publicly via a central dashboard. Through the unified dashboard, you can manage sites and resources across your infrastructure, define granular access-control rules (such as SSO, OIDC, PINs, geolocation, and IP restrictions), and monitor real-time health and usage metrics. The system supports self-hosting (Community or Enterprise editions) or a managed cloud option, and works by installing a lightweight agent on each site while using the central control server to handle ingress, routing, authentication, and failover.
Learn more about Pangolin
Pricing
Starting Price:
Free
Free Version:
Free Version available.
Company Information
Juan Font
Netherlands
headscale.net/stable/
Videos and Screen Captures
Other Useful Business Software
Our Free Plans just got better! | Auth0
You asked, we delivered! Auth0 is excited to expand our Free and Paid plans to include more options so you can focus on building, deploying, and scaling applications without having to worry about your security. Auth0 now, thank yourself later.
Product Details
Platforms Supported
Cloud
Training
Documentation
Support
Online
Headscale Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What kinds of users and organization types does Headscale work with?
Headscale works with these users and organization types: Mid Size Business, Small Business, Enterprise, Freelance, Nonprofit, Government, and Startup.
Q: What languages does Headscale support in their product?
Headscale supports these languages: English.
Q: What kind of support options does Headscale offer?
Headscale offers support via online.
Q: What other applications or services does Headscale integrate with?
Headscale integrates with: Debian, Ubuntu, and YAML.
Q: Does Headscale have an API?
Yes, Headscale has an API.
Q: What type of training does Headscale provide?
Headscale provides training in the form of documentation.
Q: How much does Headscale cost?
Pricing for Headscale starts at Free.
