SHSelfHostIndex

Nginx Proxy Manager vs SWAG

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 SW SWAG Secure web application gateway with Nginx and Certbot
FeatureNginx Proxy ManagerSWAG
CategoryReverse Proxy & GatewaysReverse Proxy & Gateways
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptDockerfile
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB128 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker
GitHub stars★ 33,804★ 3,709
First released20192020
ReplacesCloudflareCloudflare

Why pick each one

Choose Nginx Proxy Manager if…

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

Choose SWAG if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (3.7k GitHub stars)
SWAG details

Frequently asked questions

Is Nginx Proxy Manager or SWAG better?

Neither is universally better. Nginx Proxy Manager has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

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

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

Can I run Nginx Proxy Manager and SWAG with Docker?

Nginx Proxy Manager: yes. SWAG: yes.

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