SHSelfHostIndex

Caddy vs Linkerd

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?
CA Caddy Fast, multi-platform web server with automatic HTTPS VS LI Linkerd Ultralight, security-first service mesh for Kubernetes
FeatureCaddyLinkerd
CategoryReverse Proxy & GatewaysReverse Proxy & Gateways
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM64 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, bare-metalkubernetes, helm
GitHub stars★ 74,748★ 11,478
First released20152016
ReplacesNginx, ApacheIstio, AWS App Mesh

Why pick each one

Choose Caddy if…

  • Zero-config TLS
  • Easy to learn
Caddy details

Choose Linkerd if…

  • Very low overhead
  • Simple to operate
Linkerd details

Frequently asked questions

Is Caddy or Linkerd better?

Caddy is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Linkerd if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Caddy and Linkerd free and open-source?

Yes. Caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Linkerd under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Caddy and Linkerd with Docker?

Caddy: yes. Linkerd: check the project docs for container support.

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