Caddy vs Pangolin
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
Pangolin
Self-hosted tunneled reverse proxy with identity access
| Feature | Caddy | Pangolin |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 74,748 | ★ 22,062 |
| First released | 2015 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Nginx, Apache | Cloudflare Tunnel |
Why pick each one
Choose Pangolin if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 22.1k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Caddy or Pangolin better?
Caddy is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Pangolin if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Caddy and Pangolin free and open-source?
Yes. Caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Pangolin under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Caddy and Pangolin with Docker?
Caddy: yes. Pangolin: yes.