Ingress-NGINX vs LibreSpeed
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?
Ingress-NGINX
Kubernetes ingress controller using NGINX
VS
LibreSpeed
Free and open source speedtest
| Feature | Ingress-NGINX | LibreSpeed |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | free |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | kubernetes, helm | docker, one-click |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,485 | ★ 15,025 |
| First released | 2016 | 2022 |
| Replaces | AWS ALB Ingress | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Ingress-NGINX if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 19.5k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Choose LibreSpeed if…
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- One-click install on common self-host platforms
- Mature project with 15k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Ingress-NGINX or LibreSpeed better?
Neither is universally better. Ingress-NGINX has the larger community, while LibreSpeed is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ingress-NGINX and LibreSpeed free and open-source?
Yes. Ingress-NGINX is licensed under Apache-2.0 and LibreSpeed under free. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ingress-NGINX and LibreSpeed with Docker?
Ingress-NGINX: check the project docs for container support. LibreSpeed: yes.