Envoy vs OAuth2 Proxy
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?
Envoy
Cloud-native high-performance edge and service proxy
VS
OAuth2 Proxy
Reverse proxy that adds authentication to any web app
| Feature | Envoy | OAuth2 Proxy |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | C++ | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 28,735 | ★ 14,808 |
| First released | 2016 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Nginx, HAProxy | Cloudflare Access |
Why pick each one
Choose Envoy if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 28.7k GitHub stars
Choose OAuth2 Proxy if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 14.8k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Envoy or OAuth2 Proxy better?
Neither is universally better. Envoy has the larger community, while OAuth2 Proxy is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Envoy and OAuth2 Proxy free and open-source?
Yes. Envoy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OAuth2 Proxy under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Envoy and OAuth2 Proxy with Docker?
Envoy: yes. OAuth2 Proxy: yes.