Caddy vs Fabio
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Caddy
Fast, multi-platform web server with automatic HTTPS
VS
Fabio
Zero-config load balancer driven by Consul
| Feature | Caddy | Fabio |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 99 · Excellent | 91 · Excellent |
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 76,036 | ★ 7,343 |
| First released | 2015 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Nginx, Apache | HAProxy, Nginx |
What are Caddy and Fabio?
Caddy
Caddy is a powerful, extensible web server and reverse proxy written in Go that provides automatic HTTPS out of the box. Its simple configuration makes it popular for self-hosting.
- Automatic HTTPS by default
- Simple Caddyfile config
- Single binary
- Plugin ecosystem
Fabio
Fabio is a fast, modern, zero-configuration load balancing HTTP and TCP router that automatically updates routes from Consul. Services register themselves with no manual configuration.
- Zero-config routing
- Consul service discovery
- HTTP and TCP load balancing
- Hot route updates
Caddy vs Fabio: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Caddy versus MIT for Fabio. Caddy is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Fabio. Caddy has the considerably larger community, at 76,036 GitHub stars versus 7,343.
Why pick each one
Choose Caddy if…
- Zero-config TLS
- Easy to learn
Watch out for
- Fewer tuning knobs than Nginx
Choose Fabio if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 7.3k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Caddy or Fabio better?
Caddy is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Fabio if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Caddy and Fabio free and open-source?
Yes. Caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Fabio under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Caddy and Fabio with Docker?
Caddy: yes. Fabio: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Caddy or Fabio?
Caddy has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Fabio. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.