Contour vs mitmproxy

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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FeatureContourmitmproxy
CategoryReverse Proxy & GatewaysReverse Proxy & Gateways
LicenseApache-2.0MIT
LanguageHTMLPython
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentkubernetes, helmdocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 3,944★ 44,605
First released20172010
ReplacesAWS ALB IngressCharles Proxy, Fiddler

Why pick each one

Choose Contour if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Active community (3.9k GitHub stars)
  • Written in HTML
Contour details

Choose mitmproxy if…

  • Powerful for debugging
  • Highly scriptable
mitmproxy details

Frequently asked questions

Is Contour or mitmproxy better?

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

Are Contour and mitmproxy free and open-source?

Yes. Contour is licensed under Apache-2.0 and mitmproxy under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Contour and mitmproxy with Docker?

Contour: check the project docs for container support. mitmproxy: yes.

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