Duck DNS vs Traefik
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?
Duck DNS
Duck DNS is a free Dynamic DNS service
VS
Traefik
Cloud-native reverse proxy and load balancer
| Feature | Duck DNS | Traefik |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | free | MIT |
| Language | Shell | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, one-click | docker, kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 375 | ★ 64,330 |
| First released | 2023 | 2015 |
| Replaces | — | HAProxy, AWS ELB |
Why pick each one
Choose Duck DNS if…
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- One-click install on common self-host platforms
- Written in Shell
Choose Traefik if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 64.3k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Duck DNS or Traefik better?
Neither is universally better. Traefik has the larger community, while Duck DNS is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Duck DNS and Traefik free and open-source?
Yes. Duck DNS is licensed under free and Traefik under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Duck DNS and Traefik with Docker?
Duck DNS: yes. Traefik: yes.