SHSelfHostIndex

Nginx Proxy Manager vs SmartDNS

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 SM SmartDNS Local DNS server that picks the fastest results
FeatureNginx Proxy ManagerSmartDNS
CategoryReverse Proxy & GatewaysReverse Proxy & Gateways
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptC
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB64 MB
Deploymentdockerbinary, source
GitHub stars★ 33,804★ 11,183
First released20192018
ReplacesCloudflarePi-hole, dnsmasq

Why pick each one

Choose Nginx Proxy Manager if…

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

Choose SmartDNS if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Mature project with 11.2k GitHub stars
  • Written in C
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
SmartDNS details

Frequently asked questions

Is Nginx Proxy Manager or SmartDNS better?

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

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

Yes. Nginx Proxy Manager is licensed under MIT and SmartDNS under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Nginx Proxy Manager and SmartDNS with Docker?

Nginx Proxy Manager: yes. SmartDNS: check the project docs for container support.

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