Headscale Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

Headscale hosting on xCloud gives you a self-hosted VPN control server for a private tailnet, without assembling the domain, certificate and storage yourself. Deploy Headscale from the OneClick catalog and xCloud starts the pinned single container with embedded SQLite and publishes the Control Server URL over HTTPS. Devices then join with the standard Tailscale clients, and their traffic never passes through your server.

Deploy your Headscale

No terminal
No technical skills needed
No lock-in, cancel anytime

What is Headscale?

Headscale is an open source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server, so self-hosted Headscale means you run the coordination point for your own private network. Its README explains that the control server exchanges WireGuard public keys between nodes, assigns their IP addresses, creates the boundaries between users and exposes advertised routes. It is built as a replacement for Tailscale's hosted control server, for one tailnet suited to personal use or a small organisation, and is licensed under BSD-3-Clause.

On xCloud this template deploys Headscale v0.29.5 as the official image, pinned by digest, in a single container with embedded SQLite. The headscale_data volume holds the database and the server's private keys, and HTTPS is on your domain. There is no web console: you administer it with the headscale command in the container, and devices join with a pre-auth key or administrator approval.

From Sign-Up to a Live Headscale Install In Just 3 Easy Steps

Self-hosting a Tailscale-compatible control server normally means a domain, a certificate and careful key management before a single device can join. This is the same result without assembling any of it.

Step 01
Sign Up
Create your xCloud account, pick Headscale from the OneClick catalog, and choose a domain carefully — enrolled devices store it, so changing it later means re-enrolling them.
Step 02
We Deploy It For You
One click. We bring up the pinned Headscale v0.29.5 image with embedded SQLite, and publish the Control Server URL over HTTPS on your domain.
Step 03
Create A User And Enrol Devices
Create a user and a pre-auth key with the headscale command in the container, as shown in the post-install message, then run tailscale up --login-server https://<your domain> --authkey <key> on each device.

Everything Headscale Does, On Your Own Server

Headscale runs in full here — the same self-hosted control-plane coordination as any Tailscale-compatible server, on infrastructure you control.

Self-Hosted Control Plane For A WireGuard Mesh
A self-hosted control plane for a private WireGuard mesh network, using the official Tailscale clients.
Direct Device-To-Device Connections
Devices connect to each other directly or through relays; device traffic does not pass through the control server.
Pre-Auth Keys Or Admin Approval To Join
Join devices with short-lived pre-auth keys or administrator approval — a wrong key was confirmed not to enrol in QA.
Single Container, Embedded SQLite
No database or cache sidecar — just one container with an embedded SQLite database.
Very Light Footprint
About 14 MiB of RAM measured with two enrolled clients.
Restart-Safe Devices And Keys
Users, device keys and the database live in a persistent volume; enrolled devices came back online with the same keys and IPs after a container restart in QA.

Everything You Need To Run Your Private Networking 24/7

Managed hosting for Headscale, so the parts that keep it online are not your problem.

Headscale v0.29.5 deployed instantly
Embedded SQLite, no sidecar database
Pre-auth key or admin-approval enrolment
Restart-safe device keys and IPs
Free SSL certificate
Server backups and snapshots
Server security updates included
30+ server locations
Unused balance refunded

What You Can Do With Headscale

Connect your devices into one private network
A self-hoster enrols laptops, phones and servers with the standard Tailscale clients, pointing them at their own Control Server URL so the tailnet is coordinated by a server they control.
Reach a home lab from anywhere
A hobbyist advertises routes from a machine at home and joins a phone to the same tailnet, so the lab is reachable without opening ports to the internet on the home router.
Run a tailnet for a small team
A small open-source group creates a user per member, issues short-lived pre-auth keys to enrol devices, and sets an access policy before adding devices it does not fully trust.
Keep device coordination off a hosted service
An organisation that prefers to coordinate its devices itself runs the control server on a Cloud VPS it rents, while the devices keep connecting to each other directly.

Headscale vs Alternatives

Tailscale: Tailscale is the hosted service whose control server Headscale re-implements. Headscale's README scopes it to a single tailnet for personal use or a small organisation, run on a server you control.
NetBird: NetBird is a separate mesh VPN with its own control plane and clients. This template runs Headscale, which uses the standard Tailscale clients, so choose it when your devices already run those.
WireGuard: WireGuard is the VPN protocol Headscale's network is built on, and it has its own OneClick page. Headscale adds a control server that exchanges keys and assigns IP addresses for you.
ZeroTier: ZeroTier is a separate virtual-network product with its own clients. This template is for the Tailscale clients, coordinated by a control server you rent and a single container on a Cloud VPS.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

Dedicated Cloud VPS sizes, pre-configured for Headscale hosting. Pick the one that fits, and resize any time.

Cloud VPS 6 GB

Cloud VPS 16 GB

More enrolled devices, more headroom.

$59.99per month

16 GB RAM
6 vCPU cores
200 GB NVMe SSD
30 TB
Unlimited

Get started

Cloud VPS 24 GB

Headscale alongside a whole self-hosted stack.

$84.99per month

24 GB RAM
8 vCPU cores
300 GB NVMe SSD
30 TB
Unlimited

Get started

Every size is a dedicated Cloud VPS we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Billed monthly with no lock-in — delete the server and the unused balance comes back to your account.

Docker hosting

Already Have a Server? Bring Your Own

Connect any VPS — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Hetzner or bare metal — and deploy Headscale on it through the same panel, for a per-server management fee instead of a Cloud VPS rental.

Free

Start your journey without cost.

$0forever

1 server
10 sites

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Starter

Professional

The same platform, discounted at 6–10 servers.

$4per server / month

6–10 servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
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Agency

The same platform, discounted at 11+ servers.

$3per server / month

11+ servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

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Priced per connected server, so your rate adjusts automatically as you add or remove servers. You pay your own provider for the server itself.

Self-managed hosting

Ready To Own Your Tailnet?

Headscale on xCloud runs on a dedicated Cloud VPS that we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Deploy faster. Own the server. Stay in control.

Fast Provisioning
Deploy faster using an xCloud Managed Server built with optimized stacks and high-speed SSDs.
Enterprise-grade security
Protect your infrastructure with a free SSL certificate and more advanced security features at no additional cost.
Intuitive Control Panel
From Server creation to application deployment, everything can be managed from our intuitive control panel.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

Is Headscale a replacement for the Tailscale control server?

Yes, that is its design goal: an open source, self-hosted alternative to Tailscale's control server, for self-hosters and small organisations. It implements one tailnet, not a multi-tenant service. This page makes no claim of feature parity with Tailscale's hosted offering.

Is Headscale free?

Yes. Headscale carries the BSD 3-Clause licence, whose file is linked here at the pinned v0.29.5 tag. xCloud bills for the Cloud VPS under it, not for Headscale, and there is no per-device charge from Headscale itself.

Can you run Headscale with Docker?

Yes, and this Headscale Docker hosting template does it for you: the official image, pinned by digest, as one container under Docker Compose on your Cloud VPS, behind HTTPS on your domain. It is your own server, not a Headscale cloud service, and the image has no shell or curl.

Does Headscale have a web interface?

No. This template has no web console: Headscale is a control server managed with the headscale command-line tool inside the container, plus an optional REST API. Treat access to the container host as the administrator boundary, and never put Basic Auth in front of the domain.

How do I add a device to Headscale?

Create a user and a pre-auth key with the headscale command in the container, then run tailscale up --login-server with your domain and --authkey on the device. Without a key, approve the device with headscale auth register. Treat pre-auth and API keys like passwords.

Can Headscale host more than one tailnet?

No. Upstream's README says Headscale implements a narrow scope, a single tailnet, suited to personal use or a small open-source organisation. You can create several users inside that tailnet. With no access policy set, every device can reach every other, so define a policy first.

Is Headscale affiliated with Tailscale?

No. Headscale is a separate open source project, and no affiliation, partnership or endorsement is claimed between it, xCloud and Tailscale Inc. This is your own control server on a Cloud VPS, not Tailscale's hosted service or any Headscale cloud, and devices use the standard clients.

How much RAM does Headscale need?

The template manifest asks for 128 MB of RAM, 1 CPU core and 2 GB of disk as a floor; about 14 MiB was measured with two enrolled clients. Headscale only coordinates the tailnet and does not carry device traffic. This page sells the 6 GB tier, which is far above that floor.

What should I back up for Headscale?

Put the headscale_data volume in every backup; it holds the SQLite database, the control-protocol private key and, if you enable it, the relay key. Stop the container before copying so the database and its log files stay consistent. Losing the volume means every device must enrol again.

Backups in xCloud

Does Headscale work with the official Tailscale clients?

Yes. Devices run the standard Tailscale clients and point them at your Control Server URL instead of Tailscale's hosted service. Choose the domain carefully, because enrolled devices store it and changing it later means re-enrolling every device. The optional STUN port is off until you enable the relay.

How do I upgrade Headscale?

Upgrades are not automatic. The template pins Headscale v0.29.5 by digest and a catalog re-sync affects new installs only. Back up the headscale_data volume, read the upstream release notes, then bump the readable tag and digest together on your own schedule.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. There is no lock-in — cancel any time. Hosting is billed monthly and charged for what you actually use, so when you delete the server the unused balance is refunded to your account, less up to 10% in payment-processing fees.