Fabio vs sslh
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 | sslh |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,342 | ★ 5,117 |
| First released | 2015 | 2008 |
| Replaces | HAProxy, Nginx | HAProxy |
What are Fabio and sslh?
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
sslh
sslh is an applicative protocol multiplexer that lets HTTPS, SSH, OpenVPN, and other services share the same TCP port. It inspects the first bytes of a connection and forwards it to the right server.
- Share one port across protocols
- SSH and HTTPS on port 443
- Tiny resource footprint
- Probe-based routing
Fabio vs sslh: key differences
Fabio is written in Go, while sslh is built with C. Licensing differs — MIT for Fabio versus GPL-2.0 for sslh. Sslh is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Fabio. Sslh is the more established project (first released 2008), while Fabio arrived in 2015.
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 sslh if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 5.1k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Fabio or sslh better?
Neither is universally better. Fabio has the larger community, while sslh is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Fabio and sslh free and open-source?
Yes. Fabio is licensed under MIT and sslh under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Fabio and sslh with Docker?
Fabio: yes. sslh: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Fabio or sslh?
sslh has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Fabio. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.