SHSelfHostIndex

Nginx Proxy Manager vs OpenResty

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?
NG Nginx Proxy Manager Easy reverse proxy management with a web UI and free SSL VS OP OpenResty Scalable web platform extending Nginx with Lua
FeatureNginx Proxy ManagerOpenResty
CategoryReverse Proxy & GatewaysReverse Proxy & Gateways
LicenseMITBSD-2-Clause
LanguageTypeScriptC
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM256 MB128 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, binary, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 33,804★ 13,988
First released20192011
ReplacesCloudflareNginx

Why pick each one

Choose Nginx Proxy Manager if…

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

Choose OpenResty if…

  • Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 14k GitHub stars
  • Written in C
OpenResty details

Frequently asked questions

Is Nginx Proxy Manager or OpenResty better?

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

Are Nginx Proxy Manager and OpenResty free and open-source?

Yes. Nginx Proxy Manager is licensed under MIT and OpenResty under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Nginx Proxy Manager and OpenResty with Docker?

Nginx Proxy Manager: yes. OpenResty: yes.

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