Nginx Proxy Manager vs Tengine
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
Tengine
Nginx-derived web server with extra features
| Feature | Nginx Proxy Manager | Tengine |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | MIT | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | TypeScript | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 33,804 | ★ 13,323 |
| First released | 2019 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Cloudflare | Nginx |
Why pick each one
Choose Nginx Proxy Manager if…
- Beginner-friendly
- Free certificates built in
Choose Tengine if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 13.3k GitHub stars
- Written in C
Frequently asked questions
Is Nginx Proxy Manager or Tengine better?
Nginx Proxy Manager is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Tengine if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Nginx Proxy Manager and Tengine free and open-source?
Yes. Nginx Proxy Manager is licensed under MIT and Tengine under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Nginx Proxy Manager and Tengine with Docker?
Nginx Proxy Manager: yes. Tengine: yes.