NPS vs sslh
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
sslh
Protocol multiplexer that shares one port between services
| Feature | NPS | sslh |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 34,157 | ★ 5,098 |
| First released | 2019 | 2008 |
| Replaces | ngrok | HAProxy |
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 sslh if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 5.1k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is NPS or sslh better?
Neither is universally better. NPS has the larger community, while sslh is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are NPS and sslh free and open-source?
Yes. NPS is licensed under GPL-3.0 and sslh under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run NPS and sslh with Docker?
NPS: yes. sslh: yes.