Anubis vs CrowdSec
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?
Anubis
Proof-of-work proxy to block AI scraper bots
VS
CrowdSec
Collaborative open-source intrusion prevention system
| Feature | Anubis | CrowdSec |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 21,230 | ★ 14,461 |
| First released | 2025 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Cloudflare Bot Management | Cloudflare WAF, Fail2ban |
Why pick each one
Choose Anubis if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 21.2k GitHub stars
Choose CrowdSec if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 14.5k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Anubis or CrowdSec better?
Anubis is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider CrowdSec if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Anubis and CrowdSec free and open-source?
Yes. Anubis is licensed under MIT and CrowdSec under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Anubis and CrowdSec with Docker?
Anubis: yes. CrowdSec: yes.