Headscale, the open-source alternative to Tailscale's control server, continues to gain adoption among self-hosters and small organizations while navigating persistent security questions from its community. As a self-hosted implementation of Tailscale's control server technology, Headscale enables users to create private networks without relying on Tailscale's proprietary service.
Growing Production Adoption
Headscale appears to be moving beyond experimental deployments, with users reporting successful production implementations. The project's ability to provide Tailscale's core functionality in a self-hosted package has attracted organizations looking to maintain control over their network infrastructure while benefiting from Tailscale's elegant approach to virtual networking.
Love headscale, we just took it to production and it's been great
This sentiment reflects a growing confidence in Headscale's stability for critical infrastructure needs. Another user mentioned they've been successfully running Headscale for half a year, noting they have no idea how I lived without a tailscale network before, highlighting the transformative nature of the technology for network management.
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| A screenshot of the Headscale GitHub repository, reflecting its growing adoption and successful production use |
Security Concerns Persist
Despite its growing adoption, security remains a significant concern within the Headscale community. Some users express hesitation about trusting Headscale as a core infrastructure component without more formal security audits. The project's ability to bypass firewalls using NAT traversal—while valuable for connectivity—raises questions about whether it provides sufficient security controls to compensate for the network boundaries it crosses.
One particularly vocal community member noted they periodically check the project for progress on security features like Tailnet lock and formal security audits, expressing concern that these critical security elements haven't advanced significantly. This highlights the tension between Headscale's impressive technical capabilities and the security governance expected for infrastructure software.
The Tailscale Connection
Interestingly, the project now has a connection to Tailscale itself, with one of Headscale's maintainers being employed by Tailscale with permission to contribute to the project during work hours. While this might suggest some level of tacit approval from Tailscale, community members correctly point out that maintainer's employment != security audit, emphasizing that this relationship doesn't substitute for formal security validation.
Future Viability Concerns
Some users express concern about Headscale's long-term viability, particularly its dependence on official Tailscale clients maintaining the ability to set custom control servers. As one commenter noted, The moment the inevitable enshitification will start at Tailscale, this feature will go away, reflecting anxiety about potential future restrictions if Tailscale's business model or ownership changes.
Headscale represents an interesting case study in open-source infrastructure software: technically impressive and increasingly trusted for production use, yet still navigating questions about security governance and long-term sustainability. For self-hosters and organizations valuing control over their network infrastructure, Headscale offers compelling functionality, provided they're comfortable with the current security posture and future uncertainty.
Reference: headscale