OpenResty vs YARP
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | OpenResty | YARP |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 78 · Good |
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Language | C | C# |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,045 | ★ 9,616 |
| First released | 2011 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Nginx | Nginx |
What are OpenResty and YARP?
OpenResty
OpenResty is a full-fledged web platform that bundles Nginx with LuaJIT and many libraries, enabling powerful programmable proxies and gateways. It is the foundation for several API gateways.
- Nginx plus LuaJIT scripting
- Programmable request handling
- Foundation for API gateways
- High performance
YARP
YARP, short for Yet Another Reverse Proxy, is a Microsoft open-source toolkit for building fast, customizable reverse proxy servers using ASP.NET Core. Developers configure it in code or config files.
- Build custom reverse proxies
- ASP.NET Core based
- Dynamic configuration
- Load balancing and health checks
OpenResty vs YARP: key differences
OpenResty is written in C, while YARP is built with C#. Licensing differs — BSD-2-Clause for OpenResty versus MIT for YARP. OpenResty is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for YARP. OpenResty is the more established project (first released 2011), while YARP arrived in 2021.
Why pick each one
Choose OpenResty if…
- Very high performance
- Programmable with Lua
- Battle-tested Nginx core
Watch out for
- Lua knowledge required
- Config more complex than Nginx
Choose YARP if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.6k GitHub stars
- Written in C#
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenResty or YARP better?
Neither is universally better. OpenResty has the larger community, while YARP is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are OpenResty and YARP free and open-source?
Yes. OpenResty is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and YARP under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenResty and YARP with Docker?
OpenResty: yes. YARP: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, OpenResty or YARP?
OpenResty has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for YARP. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.