SHSelfHostIndex

Ingress-NGINX vs Nginx Proxy Manager

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?
IN Ingress-NGINX Kubernetes ingress controller using NGINX VS NG Nginx Proxy Manager Easy reverse proxy management with a web UI and free SSL
FeatureIngress-NGINXNginx Proxy Manager
CategoryReverse Proxy & GatewaysReverse Proxy & Gateways
LicenseApache-2.0MIT
LanguageGoTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentkubernetes, helmdocker
GitHub stars★ 19,485★ 33,804
First released20162019
ReplacesAWS ALB IngressCloudflare

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
Ingress-NGINX details

Choose Nginx Proxy Manager if…

  • Beginner-friendly
  • Free certificates built in
Nginx Proxy Manager details

Frequently asked questions

Is Ingress-NGINX or Nginx Proxy Manager better?

Nginx Proxy Manager is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Ingress-NGINX if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Ingress-NGINX and Nginx Proxy Manager free and open-source?

Yes. Ingress-NGINX is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Nginx Proxy Manager under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Ingress-NGINX and Nginx Proxy Manager with Docker?

Ingress-NGINX: check the project docs for container support. Nginx Proxy Manager: yes.

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