Skipper vs Sozu
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Skipper | Sozu |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 88 · Excellent | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | kubernetes, docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,329 | ★ 3,734 |
| First released | 2016 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Nginx, Traefik | HAProxy, Nginx |
What are Skipper and Sozu?
Skipper
Skipper is an open-source HTTP router and reverse proxy from Zalando, designed for service composition and used as a Kubernetes ingress controller. It supports flexible route filters.
- Flexible route predicates
- Kubernetes ingress support
- Rich filter chain
- Used at Zalando scale
Sozu
Sozu is an open-source HTTP reverse proxy written in Rust that can be reconfigured at runtime without dropping connections. It is built for safety and zero-downtime configuration changes.
- Hot configuration reload
- Memory-safe Rust core
- Zero-downtime changes
- Runtime control API
Skipper vs Sozu: key differences
Skipper is written in Go, while Sozu is built with Rust. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Skipper versus AGPL-3.0 for Sozu.
Why pick each one
Choose Skipper if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (3.3k GitHub stars)
Choose Sozu if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is Skipper or Sozu better?
Neither is universally better. Sozu has the larger community, while Skipper is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Skipper and Sozu free and open-source?
Yes. Skipper is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Sozu under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Skipper and Sozu with Docker?
Skipper: yes. Sozu: yes.