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.
Not the right match-up?
Coraza WAF
Open-source enterprise-grade web application firewall
VS
CrowdSec
Collaborative open-source intrusion prevention system
| Feature | Coraza WAF | CrowdSec |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ★ 3,720 | ★ 14,461 |
| First released | 2021 | 2020 |
| Replaces | ModSecurity, Cloudflare WAF | Cloudflare WAF, Fail2ban |
Why pick each one
Choose Coraza WAF if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Active community (3.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose CrowdSec if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 14.5k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
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.