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Networking · head to head

Headscale vs Nebula

Headscale logo

Headscale

Networking

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Nebula logo

Nebula

Networking

Certificate based overlay network from Slack, with identity and firewall rules carried in the certificate

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Nebula the open source project has no user interface, no enrolment workflow and no revocation service, so certificate issuing, distribution and expiry become scripts you write and then have to keep working.
  • They diverge on capability: Headscale covers Self hosted control server, Nebula covers Certificate carried identity.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Headscale and Nebula actually diverge.

Attributes where Headscale and Nebula differ
AttributeHeadscaleNebula
PlatformsLinux, DockerLinux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Open source, no licence fee), free tier (Yes), 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 Nebula

  • Certificate carried identity
  • Group based host firewall
  • Lighthouse discovery
  • Noise protocol encryption
  • Unsafe routes
  • Managed option

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 Nebula
  • A homelab or personal fleet where paying per user for a hosted control plane is not worth itnot Nebula
  • Air gapped or restricted environments that cannot reach an external coordination servicenot Nebula
  • Keeping the Tailscale client experience while removing the vendor from the trust pathnot Nebula

Nebula

  • Flattening a network across several clouds and datacentres without VPC peering or route tablesnot Headscale
  • Very large fleets where a central policy service on the connection path is unacceptablenot Headscale
  • Environments that already run an internal certificate authority and want the network to use itnot Headscale
  • Replacing per host iptables rules with policy written against roles that follow the hostnot 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.

Nebula

  • The open source project has no user interface, no enrolment workflow and no revocation service, so certificate issuing, distribution and expiry become scripts you write and then have to keep working.
  • Revoking a compromised host means distributing a blocklist entry to every other host and reloading them, which is a fleet wide operation rather than a click, and easy to get wrong under pressure.
  • Changing a host group membership means reissuing and redeploying its certificate, so policy changes are a deployment rather than a configuration edit.
  • There is no identity provider integration or single sign on in the open source version, so it maps well to servers and badly to a fleet of user laptops.
  • NAT traversal is best effort and hosts behind symmetric NAT need a relay configured deliberately, so connectivity failures show up as intermittent rather than immediate and are awkward to diagnose.

Pricing, plan by plan

Headscale

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

Nebula

Free
  • NebulaFree
    • Full functionality under the MIT licence
    • No host limit
    • You operate the certificate authority and lighthouses
  • Defined Networking$undefined/month
    • Hosted control plane and enrolment
    • Managed certificate lifecycle and revocation
    • Policy and DNS interface

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 Nebula if

  • You need certificate carried identity.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD.
  • You also want group based host firewall.
Nebula review

Questions people ask

Is Headscale or Nebula better?
Neither clearly leads. Headscale starts at Free and Nebula at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Headscale or Nebula?
Headscale starts at Free and Nebula at Free.
Does Headscale or Nebula run on more platforms?
Headscale runs on Linux, Docker. Nebula runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, FreeBSD.
Can I use Headscale for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Nebula is typically brought in for.
What can Headscale do that Nebula cannot?
Headscale covers Self hosted control server, Access control policies, User separation, Pre-authentication keys. Nebula covers Certificate carried identity, Group based host firewall, Lighthouse discovery, Noise protocol encryption.

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.

Nebula: Does it use WireGuard?

No. Nebula predates the common WireGuard mesh tools and uses the Noise protocol framework with its own certificate format.

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.

Nebula: Can I run it without Defined Networking?

Yes, entirely. Defined Networking sells the control plane conveniences, not the network itself.

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.

Nebula: How do I revoke a host?

Add its certificate fingerprint to the blocklist in the configuration of the other hosts and reload them. There is no online revocation check.

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.

Nebula: Is it a good fit for laptops?

Less so than the identity provider based tools. There is no single sign on, so every laptop needs a certificate issued and renewed by whatever process you build.

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