Caddy vs cert-manager
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?
Caddy
Fast, multi-platform web server with automatic HTTPS
VS
cert-manager
Automated TLS certificate management for Kubernetes
| Feature | Caddy | cert-manager |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 74,748 | ★ 14,006 |
| First released | 2015 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Nginx, Apache | Certbot |
Why pick each one
Choose cert-manager if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 14k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Caddy or cert-manager better?
Caddy is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider cert-manager if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Caddy and cert-manager free and open-source?
Yes. Caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and cert-manager under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Caddy and cert-manager with Docker?
Caddy: yes. cert-manager: check the project docs for container support.