Nginx Proxy Manager vs River
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?
Nginx Proxy Manager
Easy reverse proxy management with a web UI and free SSL
VS
River
Configurable reverse proxy from the Pingora project
| Feature | Nginx Proxy Manager | River |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 33,804 | ★ 2,351 |
| First released | 2019 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Cloudflare | nginx, HAProxy |
Why pick each one
Choose Nginx Proxy Manager if…
- Beginner-friendly
- Free certificates built in
Choose River if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Active community (2.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Nginx Proxy Manager or River better?
Nginx Proxy Manager is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider River if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Nginx Proxy Manager and River free and open-source?
Yes. Nginx Proxy Manager is licensed under MIT and River under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Nginx Proxy Manager and River with Docker?
Nginx Proxy Manager: yes. River: check the project docs for container support.