Caddy 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?
Caddy
Fast, multi-platform web server with automatic HTTPS
VS
Envoy
Cloud-native high-performance edge and service proxy
| Feature | Caddy | Envoy |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 74,748 | ★ 28,735 |
| First released | 2015 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Nginx, Apache | Nginx, HAProxy |
Why pick each one
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 Caddy or Envoy better?
Caddy 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 Caddy and Envoy free and open-source?
Yes. Caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Envoy under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Caddy and Envoy with Docker?
Caddy: yes. Envoy: yes.