Is Headscale or Ivanti better?

Neither clearly leads. Headscale starts at Free and Ivanti at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Headscale or Ivanti?

Headscale has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Headscale and On request for Ivanti.

Does Headscale or Ivanti run on more platforms?

Headscale runs on Linux, Docker. Ivanti runs on Web.

Can I use Headscale for free?

Yes. Headscale has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Ivanti starts at On request.

What is Headscale best used for?

Headscale is most often used for running a mesh network where no third party may hold the device registry, a homelab or personal fleet where paying per user for a hosted control plane is not worth it, air gapped or restricted environments that cannot reach an external coordination service, keeping the tailscale client experience while removing the vendor from the trust path. Of those, running a mesh network where no third party may hold the device registry and a homelab or personal fleet where paying per user for a hosted control plane is not worth it are not what Ivanti is typically brought in for.

What can Headscale do that Ivanti cannot?

Headscale covers Self hosted control server, Access control policies, User separation, Pre-authentication keys.

Networking · head to head

Headscale vs Ivanti

Headscale

Networking

Open source reimplementation of the Tailscale coordination server for a single organisation

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Ivanti

Networking

Security, service management, and unified endpoint management

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Headscale has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Headscale the clients are proprietary software maintained by a company with no obligation to Headscale, so a client update can change protocol behaviour and break your control server until volunteers catch up.; Ivanti no pricing information published - enterprise custom pricing required
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Headscale and Ivanti actually diverge.

Attributes where Headscale and Ivanti differ
Attribute	Headscale	Ivanti
Starting price	Free	On request
Pricing model	Open source, no licence fee	quote
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Linux, Docker	Web

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Networking).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Headscale

Self hosted control server
Access control policies
User separation
Pre-authentication keys
Subnet routers and exit nodes
Own or shared DERP

Only in Ivanti

Nothing recorded that Headscale does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Headscale

Running a mesh network where no third party may hold the device registrynot Ivanti
A homelab or personal fleet where paying per user for a hosted control plane is not worth itnot Ivanti
Air gapped or restricted environments that cannot reach an external coordination servicenot Ivanti
Keeping the Tailscale client experience while removing the vendor from the trust pathnot Ivanti

Ivanti

Controlling device compliance and patches for remote workforcesnot Headscale
Automating service ticketing and change processes at enterprise scalenot Headscale
Enforcing device compliance before network access in regulated industriesnot Headscale
Prioritizing vulnerability patches by risk levelnot Headscale
Enabling passwordless zero-trust access without VPN infrastructurenot Headscale

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Headscale

The clients are proprietary software maintained by a company with no obligation to Headscale, so a client update can change protocol behaviour and break your control server until volunteers catch up.
Features that live on the vendor side, including the admin console, Funnel and app connectors, do not exist here and cannot be added, so feature comparisons against Tailscale are misleading.
There is no official web interface, so day to day administration is a command line tool or one of several unofficial front ends of varying quality and maintenance.
It is deliberately single tenant, so a managed service provider cannot use one deployment to serve several customer networks.
Upgrades have required database migrations and policy format changes between releases, and with no support contract a failed migration on the control server is your problem alone.

Ivanti

no pricing information published - enterprise custom pricing required

Pricing, plan by plan

Headscale

Free

HeadscaleFree
- Full functionality, no node limit
- Official Tailscale clients on every platform
- No vendor account required

Ivanti

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Ivanti review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Headscale if

You need self hosted control server.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux, Docker.
You also want access control policies.

Headscale review

Choose Ivanti if

Nothing in the data separates Ivanti from Headscale on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Ivanti review

Questions people ask

Is Headscale or Ivanti better?: Neither clearly leads. Headscale starts at Free and Ivanti at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Headscale or Ivanti?: Headscale has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Headscale and On request for Ivanti.
Does Headscale or Ivanti run on more platforms?: Headscale runs on Linux, Docker. Ivanti runs on Web.
Can I use Headscale for free?: Yes. Headscale has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Ivanti starts at On request.
What is Headscale best used for?: Headscale is most often used for running a mesh network where no third party may hold the device registry, a homelab or personal fleet where paying per user for a hosted control plane is not worth it, air gapped or restricted environments that cannot reach an external coordination service, keeping the tailscale client experience while removing the vendor from the trust path. Of those, running a mesh network where no third party may hold the device registry and a homelab or personal fleet where paying per user for a hosted control plane is not worth it are not what Ivanti is typically brought in for.
What can Headscale do that Ivanti cannot?: Headscale covers Self hosted control server, Access control policies, User separation, Pre-authentication keys.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Headscale: Is Headscale made by Tailscale?

No. It is an independent community project. Tailscale acknowledges it but does not support it, and the clients it relies on are the vendor ones.

Ivanti: How much does Ivanti cost?

Ivanti does not publish pricing on their website. As an enterprise solution, pricing is customized based on organizational needs. Contact Ivanti through their website to request a demo and pricing information.

Source

Headscale: What do I lose compared with the hosted service?

The admin console, the vendor relay network unless you use the public DERP servers, and hosted only features such as Funnel and app connectors.

Headscale: Can I still use the public relay servers?

Yes, the default configuration can use them, though many self hosters run their own DERP to remove that dependency.

Headscale: Is it suitable for a company network?

For a technical team, yes. There is no vendor to escalate to, so it needs someone on staff who is willing to own the control server.

Headscale vs Ivanti

Headscale

Ivanti

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Headscale

Only in Ivanti

What people use each for

Headscale

Ivanti

Where each one falls short

Headscale

Ivanti

Pricing, plan by plan

Headscale

Ivanti

Which should you pick?

Choose Headscale if

Choose Ivanti if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Headscale

More on Ivanti

Keep looking

Other head to heads