JumpServer vs rathole
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
JumpServer
Open-source bastion host and PAM platform
VS
rathole
Lightweight and high-performance reverse proxy for NAT traversal
| Feature | JumpServer | rathole |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 31,230 | ★ 13,999 |
| First released | 2014 | 2021 |
| Replaces | CyberArk, Teleport | ngrok, frp |
Why pick each one
Choose JumpServer if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 31.2k GitHub stars
Choose rathole if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 14k GitHub stars
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is JumpServer or rathole better?
Neither is universally better. JumpServer has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are JumpServer and rathole free and open-source?
Yes. JumpServer is licensed under GPL-3.0 and rathole under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run JumpServer and rathole with Docker?
JumpServer: yes. rathole: yes.