NPS vs Pingora
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?
NPS
Lightweight proxy server for intranet penetration
VS
Pingora
Rust framework to build fast, reliable network services
| Feature | NPS | Pingora |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 34,157 | ★ 27,153 |
| First released | 2019 | 2024 |
| Replaces | ngrok | Nginx |
Why pick each one
Choose NPS if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 34.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Choose Pingora if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Mature project with 27.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is NPS or Pingora better?
NPS is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Pingora if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are NPS and Pingora free and open-source?
Yes. NPS is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Pingora under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NPS and Pingora with Docker?
NPS: yes. Pingora: check the project docs for container support.