Headscale vs SelfPrivacy

Comparing two open source alternatives to ExpressVPN and NordVPN. Use the comparison below to decide which one fits your needs.

Headscale

BSD-3-Clause license

Headscale is an open-source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server. Build your own private WireGuard mesh VPN without a vendor lock-in.

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SelfPrivacy

GPL-3.0

Free app that turns a Hetzner or DigitalOcean VPS into your own private cloud, deploying email, Nextcloud, VPN, and more from Android or desktop.

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Side-by-side comparison

	Headscale	SelfPrivacy
License	BSD-3-Clause license	GPL-3.0
Self-hostable	Yes	Yes
GitHub Stars	43,582	9
Forks	2,558	15
Open Issues	145	80
Last Commit	Sep 4, 2026	Sep 3, 2026
First Released	Jun 21, 2020	Dec 1, 2020
Categories	Virtual Private Network	Personal Cloud PaaS & Deployment Tools
Tags	#VPN #wireguard #tailscale	#selfhosting #privacy

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