AdGuard Home vs Envoy
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
AdGuard Home
Network-wide DNS ad and tracker blocker
VS
Envoy
Cloud-native high-performance edge and service proxy
| Feature | AdGuard Home | Envoy |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 35,977 | ★ 28,735 |
| First released | 2018 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Pi-hole, NextDNS | Nginx, HAProxy |
Why pick each one
Choose AdGuard Home if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 36k GitHub stars
Choose Envoy if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 28.7k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is AdGuard Home or Envoy better?
AdGuard Home is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Envoy if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are AdGuard Home and Envoy free and open-source?
Yes. AdGuard Home is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Envoy under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AdGuard Home and Envoy with Docker?
AdGuard Home: yes. Envoy: yes.