Software Alternatives & Startups
Register | Login

Headscale VS Cloudways

Compare Headscale VS Cloudways and see what are their differences

Headscale

An open source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server

Rating
0 reviews
Alternatives Is it good?
Cloudways

Cloudways is a managed hosting platform for PHP based application including WordPress, Magento, WooCommerce or a custom-built site.Experience fast performance, reliability, security with 24/7 support.

Rating
5.0 · 1 review
Pricing
Free trial $10 / Monthly
Alternatives Is it good?
Taverlo
Check your business domain’s public DMARC and SPF records free. Ongoing monitoring is free for one domain; $29/month covers up to five. sponsored
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Headscale seems to be more popular. It has been mentioned 61 times since March 2021.

social mentions
61 vs 0
VPN popularity
100% vs 0%
alternatives listed
52 vs 240+

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Headscale
Cloudways
Website github.com cloudways.com
Pricing —
Free trial $10 / Monthly Official pricing
Platforms —
PHP Laravel Wordpress Magento Woocomerce More.. +3
Company — 2012
Listed in
VPN Cloud VPN Security & Privacy Localhost Tools +1
Cloud Computing Cloud Hosting Web Hosting Dedicated Cloud Hosting Hosting Managed Hosting +3

About Headscale and Cloudways

In their own words, as submitted to SaaSHub.

Headscale
Cloudways

No description of Headscale yet.

Cloudways is built for speed, flexibility, and simplicity. Experience 65% faster performance with our new NGINX stack and let Cloudways Copilot save time on hosting maintenance. Host unlimited websites on a single plan with no visitor limits, and scale effortlessly with five leading cloud...

Read more about Cloudways

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Headscale 5 features
Cloudways 7 features
  • Open Source
    Headscale is open-source, meaning it is free to use, modify, and distribute. This promotes transparency and encourages community collaboration.
  • Tailscale Compatibility
    Headscale is designed to be compatible with the Tailscale client, allowing users to leverage their existing Tailscale configurations in an alternative backend.
  • Self-Hosted
    Headscale allows users to self-host their own coordination server, providing greater control over their network and data privacy.
  • Community Support
    Being an open-source project, Headscale benefits from community-driven support and contributions, which may lead to rapid feature development and issue resolution.
  • Scalability
    Users can scale their deployments according to their needs without being restricted by commercial licensing models.

Possible disadvantages

  • Technical Expertise Required
    Implementing and maintaining a self-hosted solution like Headscale requires a certain level of technical knowledge and expertise, potentially limiting its accessibility to less technical users.
  • Limited Official Support
    Being a community-driven project, Headscale may not have the same level of official support or comprehensive documentation as some commercial alternatives.
  • Configuration Complexity
    Configuring and managing a self-hosted Headscale server can be more complex compared to using managed solutions like Tailscale, potentially posing a challenge for some users.
  • Feature Parity
    While Headscale aims to be compatible with Tailscale, there may be some features or updates that are not immediately available or fully supported.
  • Development Reliance
    As an independent project, Headscale's development relies heavily on community contributions, which can affect the speed of updates or new feature integrations.
  • Scale of Resources
  • Staging Environment
  • Restore Server and Apps
  • Github deployment
  • 1-Click Free SSL Installation
  • Multiple PHP Versions
  • Pay as you go

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Headscale
Cloudways

No analysis of Headscale yet.

Overall verdict

  • Cloudways is considered a strong option for those seeking managed hosting solutions that are both powerful and adaptable. It stands out due to its competency in handling different cloud platforms and ease of use, making it a notable choice for small to medium-sized businesses that seek efficient and scalable web hosting services.

Why this product is good

  • Cloudways is often praised for its flexibility and managed hosting services, which cater to various needs, such as developers who prefer a platform that supports multiple cloud infrastructures. It offers features like automated backups, managed security, staging areas for testing changes, and reliable customer support. Users appreciate its performance optimization and scalability, which are crucial for websites with varying traffic demands.

Recommended for

    Cloudways is recommended for developers, digital agencies, small to medium-sized businesses, and anyone looking for a balance between control and management in cloud hosting. It's particularly suited for users who require the flexibility to choose their cloud provider without managing the underlying server infrastructure directly.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Headscale 2 videos + Add
Cloudways 5 videos + Add

Testing out headscale locally for homelab setup

More videos

  • - Tutorial: Using Tailscale Overlay Network VPN with the Self Hosted Headscale Controller

Cloudways Review 2 Years Later & Cloudways Setup Tutorial - WordPress Cloud Hosting Provider

More videos

  • - How to Host a Laravel Project On Cloudways
  • - 👉CloudWays Review 2023 | Watch This Before Buying!
  • - I Found my DREAM WordPress Host! | Cloudways Review
  • - Cloudways Review - Is Cloudways Worth It?

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Headscale
Cloudways
100% 100%
VPN
0% 0%
0% 0%
Web Hosting
100% 100%
100% 100%
Cloud VPN
0% 0%
0% 0%
Cloud Hosting
100% 100%

User comments

Share your experience with using Headscale and Cloudways. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Log in or Post with

Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Headscale no reviews yet
Cloudways 5.0 · 1 review

We have no reviews of Headscale yet. Be the first one to post

View more

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Headscale 61 mentions
Cloudways 0 mentions
  • Put SSH Behind Tailscale and Close Port 22
    You can own the control plane. If that worries you, run Headscale, an open source implementation of the Tailscale control server, or use NetBird as an alternative mesh. More work, less reliance on one company. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • TS-2026-009: Insecure argument handling in Tailscale SSH permitted root access
    > Did you try Headscale? https://github.com/juanfont/headscale or netbird? Am aware of them but IIRC they are both unaudited which kind of brings us back to square one ? We would still end up running them at arms-length as we do with... - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • TS-2026-009: Insecure argument handling in Tailscale SSH permitted root access
    Did you try Headscale? https://github.com/juanfont/headscale or netbird? The latter has been great for me. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago

View more

Tracking Cloudways since Mar 2021.

Alternatives to Headscale and Cloudways

When comparing Headscale and Cloudways, you can also consider the following products.

Loading...