Caddy Security vs Pomerium
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Caddy Security
Authentication and authorization plugin for Caddy
VS
Pomerium
Identity-aware reverse proxy for zero-trust access
| Feature | Caddy Security | Pomerium |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Identity & SSO | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,213 | ★ 4,944 |
| First released | 2021 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Cloudflare Access | Cloudflare Access, BeyondCorp |
Why pick each one
Choose Caddy Security if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Active community (2.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose Pomerium if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (4.9k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Caddy Security or Pomerium better?
Neither is universally better. Pomerium has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Caddy Security and Pomerium free and open-source?
Yes. Caddy Security is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Pomerium under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Caddy Security and Pomerium with Docker?
Caddy Security: check the project docs for container support. Pomerium: yes.