# Headscale

> BSD-3 self-hosted Tailscale control server

**Category:** DevOps  
**Pricing:** open-source  
**URL:** https://headscale.net  
**GitHub:** https://github.com/juanfont/headscale  
**Added:** 2026-09-04

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## The Hook

Headscale is the control plane you run when Tailscale clients are fine but Tailscale Inc coordination is not.

## What's Good

BSD-3-Clause. Implements Tailscale control-server API. Official Tailscale clients talk to your coordination server. ACLs, tags, ephemeral nodes for CI. Small Go binary ops footprint.

## The Catch

Control server only — not a userspace WireGuard client replacement. Not associated with Tailscale Inc as a product. You operate DERP/coordination yourself; MagicDNS/feature parity lags Tailscale SaaS at the edges.

## Verdict

BSD-3 Tailscale-compatible control plane. Self-host; clients stay Tailscale.