Coraza WAF vs CrowdSec
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
CrowdSec
Collaborative open-source intrusion prevention system
| Feature | Coraza WAF | CrowdSec |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,835 | ★ 14,947 |
| First released | 2021 | 2020 |
| Replaces | ModSecurity, Cloudflare WAF | Cloudflare WAF, Fail2ban |
What are Coraza WAF and CrowdSec?
Coraza WAF
Coraza is an open-source, high-performance web application firewall library compatible with ModSecurity rules and the OWASP Core Rule Set. It is embedded into self-hosted proxies such as Caddy and Traefik.
- ModSecurity-compatible
- OWASP CRS support
- High performance
- Embeddable WAF
CrowdSec
CrowdSec is an open-source security engine that analyzes logs to detect and block malicious behavior, sharing threat signals across a community network. It is self-hosted with bouncers for proxies and firewalls.
- Behavior-based detection
- Community threat sharing
- Many bouncers
- Self-hostable
Coraza WAF vs CrowdSec: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Coraza WAF versus MIT for CrowdSec. Coraza WAF is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for CrowdSec. CrowdSec has the considerably larger community, at 14,947 GitHub stars versus 3,835. CrowdSec lists first-class Docker deployment; Coraza WAF does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Coraza WAF if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Active community (3.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose CrowdSec if…
- Community threat intelligence
- Modern Fail2ban successor
- Bouncers for many platforms
Watch out for
- Bouncers installed separately
- Console features paid
Frequently asked questions
Is Coraza WAF or CrowdSec better?
Neither is universally better. CrowdSec has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Coraza WAF and CrowdSec free and open-source?
Yes. Coraza WAF is licensed under Apache-2.0 and CrowdSec under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Coraza WAF and CrowdSec with Docker?
Coraza WAF: check the project docs for container support. CrowdSec: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Coraza WAF or CrowdSec?
Coraza WAF has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for CrowdSec. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.