
Headscale
Self-hosted Tailscale control server
The Lens
It replaces Tailscale's coordination server while using the same WireGuard-based protocol and official Tailscale clients.
Completely free and open source under BSD-3. You get the full mesh networking experience: devices register with your Headscale server, get assigned IP addresses, and establish direct WireGuard connections to each other. Supports ACLs (access control lists), DNS, MagicDNS, OIDC authentication, and pre-auth keys. No paid tier. The project is community-driven.
Homelabbers: this is one of the most popular self-hosted networking tools for a reason. Small teams: works great for connecting office and remote resources. Growing teams: evaluate if self-hosting the control plane saves enough over Tailscale's $6/user/mo. Large orgs: probably want Tailscale's managed offering for support and compliance.
The catch: you lose Tailscale's managed features: their admin dashboard, team management, device posture checks, and the convenience of zero-config. Headscale requires you to run and maintain the control server. Setup is straightforward (single binary + SQLite), but debugging mesh networking issues without Tailscale's support team is on you. Also, DERP relay servers (for when direct connections fail) need separate setup or you rely on Tailscale's public ones.
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Free vs Self-Hosted vs Paid
fully free### Fully Free
Headscale is 100% free and open source under BSD-3-Clause. No paid tier, no managed offering.
### Self-Hosted Setup
Single binary or Docker. SQLite database (default) or Postgres. Minimal resource requirements; runs on a Raspberry Pi. Needs a publicly accessible server for the coordination endpoint. Uses official Tailscale clients on endpoints. Configuration via YAML file.
### What You Get for $0
- WireGuard mesh networking with NAT traversal - ACLs for access control - DNS and MagicDNS - OIDC authentication - Pre-auth keys for automated enrollment - Multiple users/namespaces - API for automation
### The Math
Headscale: $0 + a $5/mo VPS for the control server. Tailscale free: 3 users, 100 devices. Tailscale Personal Pro: $6/user/mo. For a team of 20: Tailscale at $120/mo vs Headscale at $5/mo. The trade-off is ops time vs monthly cost.
### Verdict
Free and fully functional. If you're comfortable self-hosting, the savings over Tailscale's paid plans are significant. Use Tailscale's free tier first to validate the workflow, then migrate to Headscale if cost or control matters.
Free. Saves $6/user/mo vs Tailscale paid plans. Trade-off is self-hosting ops vs managed convenience.
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