What is LAN Orangutan used for?

LAN Orangutan is a lightweight self-hosted network scanner for homelabs that discovers devices with nmap, lets you label them, and integrates with Tailscale through a web dashboard or CLI. It is a good fit for keeping an inventory of homelab devices and spotting unknown devices on a home network.

Is LAN Orangutan open source?

Yes. LAN Orangutan is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at 291-Group/LAN-Orangutan and is written mainly in Go.

Is LAN Orangutan free?

Yes. LAN Orangutan is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host LAN Orangutan?

Yes. LAN Orangutan can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What are some alternatives to LAN Orangutan?

Similar open-source tools in the Networking & VPN category include NetAlertX, WatchYourLAN and Nginx Proxy Manager. SaaS products in the same category include Tailscale, Akamai and Amazon CloudFront.

Is LAN Orangutan actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to LAN Orangutan was on 9 August 2026, and the latest release is v3.3.8, published on 9 August 2026. The project has 1k stars on GitHub.

LAN Orangutan: open-source networking & VPN

About LAN Orangutan

LAN Orangutan is a self-hosted network discovery tool built for people running homelabs. It scans your networks, finds the devices on them and lets you label, group and annotate each one so you can keep track of what is connected. It was built by 291 Group and is written in Go.

Device discovery relies on nmap, and scans show live progress that you can cancel. The web dashboard supports light and dark modes and is protected by a password you set the first time you open it, and a full command-line interface offers JSON output. It supports several networks at once and can connect, disconnect and discover peers on a Tailscale network from inside the app.

It ships as a single binary with no dependencies for Linux, macOS and Windows, and as a Docker image on Docker Hub and the GitHub Container Registry. The Docker setup needs host networking so the container can see devices on the LAN, which works only on Linux; on macOS and Windows you run the binary directly. The licence is MIT.

Key features

nmap-based device discovery
Labels, groups and notes for devices
Multiple network support
Tailscale peer discovery and control
Web dashboard with password protection
CLI with JSON output
Single binary for Linux, macOS and Windows

Good fit for

→Keeping an inventory of homelab devices
→Spotting unknown devices on a home network

Built with: Go
Tags: network-scanner; homelab; nmap; tailscale; self-hosted; network-monitoring; go; cli; docker

LAN Orangutan: questions and answers

What is LAN Orangutan used for?: LAN Orangutan is a lightweight self-hosted network scanner for homelabs that discovers devices with nmap, lets you label them, and integrates with Tailscale through a web dashboard or CLI. It is a good fit for keeping an inventory of homelab devices and spotting unknown devices on a home network.
Is LAN Orangutan open source?: Yes. LAN Orangutan is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at 291-Group/LAN-Orangutan and is written mainly in Go.
Is LAN Orangutan free?: Yes. LAN Orangutan is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host LAN Orangutan?: Yes. LAN Orangutan can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What are some alternatives to LAN Orangutan?: Similar open-source tools in the Networking & VPN category include NetAlertX, WatchYourLAN and Nginx Proxy Manager. SaaS products in the same category include Tailscale, Akamai and Amazon CloudFront.
Is LAN Orangutan actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to LAN Orangutan was on 9 August 2026, and the latest release is v3.3.8, published on 9 August 2026. The project has 1k stars on GitHub.