SHSelfHostIndex

Coraza WAF vs Nginx Proxy Manager

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?
CO Coraza WAF Open-source enterprise-grade web application firewall VS NG Nginx Proxy Manager Easy reverse proxy management with a web UI and free SSL
FeatureCoraza WAFNginx Proxy Manager
CategoryReverse Proxy & GatewaysReverse Proxy & Gateways
LicenseApache-2.0MIT
LanguageGoTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM128 MB256 MB
Deploymentsource, binarydocker
GitHub stars★ 3,720★ 33,804
First released20212019
ReplacesModSecurity, Cloudflare WAFCloudflare

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
Coraza WAF details

Choose Nginx Proxy Manager if…

  • Beginner-friendly
  • Free certificates built in
Nginx Proxy Manager details

Frequently asked questions

Is Coraza WAF or Nginx Proxy Manager better?

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

Are Coraza WAF and Nginx Proxy Manager free and open-source?

Yes. Coraza WAF is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Nginx Proxy Manager under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Coraza WAF and Nginx Proxy Manager with Docker?

Coraza WAF: check the project docs for container support. Nginx Proxy Manager: yes.

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