Caddy vs sslh
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
sslh
Protocol multiplexer that shares one port between services
| Feature | Caddy | sslh |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 74,748 | ★ 5,098 |
| First released | 2015 | 2008 |
| Replaces | Nginx, Apache | HAProxy |
Why pick each one
Choose sslh if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 5.1k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Caddy or sslh better?
Neither is universally better. Caddy has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Caddy and sslh free and open-source?
Yes. Caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and sslh under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Caddy and sslh with Docker?
Caddy: yes. sslh: yes.