Ciliumcilium/cilium
eBPF-based networking and securityEnterpriseInfra & DevOpsSecurity & identityDocker / self-host★ 26kApache-2.0commit 20 hours ago82worth
Open-source alternatives to Headscale
24 projects in the catalog share a category with Headscale (Infra & DevOps or Security & identity). They are ranked by how closely their categories, platforms and GitHub topics match, then by worth score. Of these, 21 run with Docker, 17 have a permissive license and 24 had a commit in the last 90 days.
Compare at a glance
| Project | Runs on | Self-host with Docker | License | Stars | Last commit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headscale (this project) | Docker / self-host | Yes | BSD-3-Clause | 44k | |
| Cilium | Docker / self-host | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 26k | |
| Pangolin | Docker / self-host | Yes | Custom (read before use) | 23k | |
| NetBird | Docker / self-host | Yes | Custom (read before use) | 30k | |
| Tailscale | Desktop, CLI | Not listed | BSD-3-Clause | 37k | |
| acme.sh | CLI | Not listed | GPL-3.0 | 48k | |
| Certbot | CLI | Not listed | Custom (read before use) | 33k | |
| Uptime Kuma | Docker / self-host | Yes | MIT | 92k | |
| Traefik | Docker / self-host, CLI | Yes | MIT | 65k | |
| Gitea | Web, Docker / self-host | Yes | MIT | 58k | |
| Moby | Docker / self-host, CLI | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 72k | |
| Prometheus | Docker / self-host | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 66k | |
| etcd | Docker / self-host | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 52k | |
| Coolify | Web, Docker / self-host | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 63k | |
| Argo CD | Docker / self-host | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 24k | |
| Grafana | Web, Docker / self-host | Yes | AGPL-3.0 | 77k | |
| Kubernetes | Docker / self-host, CLI | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 128k | |
| Netdata | Docker / self-host | Yes | GPL-3.0 | 81k | |
| Trivy | Docker / self-host, CLI | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 38k | |
| RustFS | Docker / self-host | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 34k | |
| Floci | Docker / self-host | Yes | MIT | 26k | |
| Argo Workflows | Docker / self-host | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 17k | |
| Keycloak | Docker / self-host | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 37k | |
| Vaultwarden | Docker / self-host | Yes | AGPL-3.0 | 68k | |
| Caddy | Docker / self-host, CLI | Yes | Apache-2.0 | 76k |
Self-hosted Docker apps (21)
Pangolinfosrl/pangolin
Secure access to apps and infrastructurePersonalEnterpriseInfra & DevOpsSecurity & identityDocker / self-host★ 23kcommit 2 days ago78worth
NetBirdnetbirdio/netbird
WireGuard overlay network with SSOEnterpriseInfra & DevOpsSecurity & identityDocker / self-host★ 30kcommit 22 hours ago75worth
Uptime Kumalouislam/uptime-kuma
Fancy self-hosted uptime monitoringPersonalInfra & DevOpsDocker / self-host★ 92kMITcommit 5 days ago90worth
Traefiktraefik/traefik
Cloud-native reverse proxy and load balancerPersonalEnterpriseInfra & DevOpsDocker / self-hostCLI★ 65kMITcommit 4 days ago89worth
Giteago-gitea/gitea
Painless self-hosted Git servicePersonalEnterpriseDeveloper toolsInfra & DevOpsWebDocker / self-host★ 58kMITcommit 17 hours ago89worth
Mobymoby/moby
The open-source project behind Docker EngineEnterpriseInfra & DevOpsDocker / self-hostCLI★ 72kApache-2.0commit 2 days ago89worth
Prometheusprometheus/prometheus
Monitoring system and time series databaseEnterpriseInfra & DevOpsDocker / self-host★ 66kApache-2.0commit yesterday89worth
etcdetcd-io/etcd
Reliable distributed key-value storeEnterpriseDatabases & backendsInfra & DevOpsDocker / self-host★ 52kApache-2.0commit 2 days ago89worth
Coolifycoollabsio/coolify
Self-hostable Heroku, Netlify and Vercel alternativePersonalInfra & DevOpsWebDocker / self-host★ 63kApache-2.0commit yesterday88worth
Argo CDargoproj/argo-cd
GitOps continuous delivery for KubernetesEnterpriseInfra & DevOpsDocker / self-host★ 24kApache-2.0commit yesterday87worth
Grafanagrafana/grafana
Dashboards for metrics, logs and tracesEnterpriseData & analyticsInfra & DevOpsWebDocker / self-host★ 77kAGPL-3.0commit 21 hours ago86worth
Kuberneteskubernetes/kubernetes
Production-grade container orchestrationEnterpriseInfra & DevOpsDocker / self-hostCLI★ 128kApache-2.0commit 20 hours ago86worth
Netdatanetdata/netdata
Real-time full-stack monitoringPersonalEnterpriseInfra & DevOpsDocker / self-host★ 81kGPL-3.0commit 19 hours ago86worth
Trivyaquasecurity/trivy
Find vulnerabilities, misconfigurations and secretsEnterpriseSecurity & identityDocker / self-hostCLI★ 38kApache-2.0commit 2 days ago85worth
RustFSrustfs/rustfs
High-performance S3-compatible object storagePersonalEnterpriseDatabases & backendsInfra & DevOpsDocker / self-host★ 34kApache-2.0commit 16 hours ago85worth
Flocifloci-io/floci
Free local AWS emulatorPersonalEnterpriseDeveloper toolsInfra & DevOpsDocker / self-host★ 26kMITcommit 16 hours ago85worth
Argo Workflowsargoproj/argo-workflows
Workflow engine for KubernetesEnterpriseAutomationInfra & DevOpsDocker / self-host★ 17kApache-2.0commit 3 days ago85worth
Keycloakkeycloak/keycloak
Identity and access management for apps and servicesEnterpriseSecurity & identityDocker / self-host★ 37kApache-2.0commit yesterday84worth
Vaultwardendani-garcia/vaultwarden
Lightweight Bitwarden-compatible password serverPersonalSecurity & identityDocker / self-host★ 68kAGPL-3.0commit last week84worth
Caddycaddyserver/caddy
Web server with automatic HTTPSPersonalEnterpriseInfra & DevOpsDocker / self-hostCLI★ 76kApache-2.0commit 17 hours ago84worth
Desktop apps (1)
Tailscaletailscale/tailscale
Easy WireGuard mesh VPNPersonalEnterpriseInfra & DevOpsSecurity & identityDesktopCLI★ 37kBSD-3-Clausecommit yesterday86worth
Command-line tools (2)
acme.shacmesh-official/acme.sh
Pure shell ACME client for TLS certificatesPersonalEnterpriseInfra & DevOpsSecurity & identityCLI★ 48kGPL-3.0commit 2 weeks ago84worth
Certbotcertbot/certbot
Get Let's Encrypt certificatesPersonalEnterpriseInfra & DevOpsSecurity & identityCLI★ 33kcommit 3 days ago74worth