Caddy vs SmartDNS
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
SmartDNS
Local DNS server that picks the fastest results
| Feature | Caddy | SmartDNS |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 74,748 | ★ 11,183 |
| First released | 2015 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Nginx, Apache | Pi-hole, dnsmasq |
Why pick each one
Choose SmartDNS if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Mature project with 11.2k GitHub stars
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Caddy or SmartDNS better?
Caddy is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider SmartDNS if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Caddy and SmartDNS free and open-source?
Yes. Caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SmartDNS under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Caddy and SmartDNS with Docker?
Caddy: yes. SmartDNS: check the project docs for container support.