LibreSpeed vs Pangolin
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?
LibreSpeed
Free and open source speedtest
VS
Pangolin
Self-hosted tunneled reverse proxy with identity access
| Feature | LibreSpeed | Pangolin |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | free | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, one-click | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 15,025 | ★ 22,062 |
| First released | 2022 | 2024 |
| Replaces | — | Cloudflare Tunnel |
Why pick each one
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
Choose Pangolin if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 22.1k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is LibreSpeed or Pangolin better?
Neither is universally better. Pangolin 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 LibreSpeed and Pangolin free and open-source?
Yes. LibreSpeed is licensed under free and Pangolin under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run LibreSpeed and Pangolin with Docker?
LibreSpeed: yes. Pangolin: yes.