Blocky vs Traefik
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?
Blocky
Fast DNS proxy and ad-blocker for local networks
VS
Traefik
Cloud-native reverse proxy and load balancer
| Feature | Blocky | Traefik |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,844 | ★ 64,330 |
| First released | 2019 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Pi-hole, AdGuard Home | HAProxy, AWS ELB |
Why pick each one
Choose Blocky if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.8k GitHub stars
Choose Traefik if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 64.3k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Blocky or Traefik better?
Neither is universally better. Traefik has the larger community, while Blocky is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Blocky and Traefik free and open-source?
Yes. Blocky is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Traefik under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Blocky and Traefik with Docker?
Blocky: yes. Traefik: yes.