Caddy vs Pingora
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
Pingora
Rust framework to build fast, reliable network services
| Feature | Caddy | Pingora |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 99 · Excellent | 97 · Excellent |
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 76,036 | ★ 27,517 |
| First released | 2015 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Nginx, Apache | Nginx |
What are Caddy and Pingora?
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
Pingora
Pingora is an open-source Rust framework from Cloudflare for building fast, secure, and programmable proxies and network services. It powers a large share of Cloudflare's traffic.
- Programmable proxy framework
- Memory-safe Rust core
- High performance
- Battle-tested at Cloudflare
Caddy vs Pingora: key differences
Caddy is written in Go, while Pingora is built with Rust. Caddy is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Pingora. Caddy is the more established project (first released 2015), while Pingora arrived in 2024. Caddy has the considerably larger community, at 76,036 GitHub stars versus 27,517. Caddy lists first-class Docker deployment; Pingora does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Caddy if…
- Zero-config TLS
- Easy to learn
Watch out for
- Fewer tuning knobs than Nginx
Choose Pingora if…
- Battle-tested at Cloudflare
- Excellent performance
- Memory-safe Rust
Watch out for
- Rust coding required
- Not a turnkey proxy
Frequently asked questions
Is Caddy or Pingora better?
Caddy is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Pingora if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Caddy and Pingora free and open-source?
Yes. Caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Pingora under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Caddy and Pingora with Docker?
Caddy: yes. Pingora: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Caddy or Pingora?
Caddy has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Pingora. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.