Fabio vs Sozu
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Fabio | Sozu |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,343 | ★ 3,734 |
| First released | 2015 | 2016 |
| Replaces | HAProxy, Nginx | HAProxy, Nginx |
What are Fabio and Sozu?
Fabio
Fabio is a fast, modern, zero-configuration load balancing HTTP and TCP router that automatically updates routes from Consul. Services register themselves with no manual configuration.
- Zero-config routing
- Consul service discovery
- HTTP and TCP load balancing
- Hot route updates
Sozu
Sozu is an open-source HTTP reverse proxy written in Rust that can be reconfigured at runtime without dropping connections. It is built for safety and zero-downtime configuration changes.
- Hot configuration reload
- Memory-safe Rust core
- Zero-downtime changes
- Runtime control API
Fabio vs Sozu: key differences
Fabio is written in Go, while Sozu is built with Rust. Licensing differs — MIT for Fabio versus AGPL-3.0 for Sozu.
Why pick each one
Choose Fabio if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 7.3k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Choose Sozu if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is Fabio or Sozu better?
Fabio is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Sozu if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Fabio and Sozu free and open-source?
Yes. Fabio is licensed under MIT and Sozu under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Fabio and Sozu with Docker?
Fabio: yes. Sozu: yes.