Sozu 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 | Sozu | YARP |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 88 · Excellent | 78 · Good |
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Rust | C# |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,734 | ★ 9,616 |
| First released | 2016 | 2021 |
| Replaces | HAProxy, Nginx | Nginx |
What are Sozu and YARP?
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
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
Sozu vs YARP: key differences
Sozu is written in Rust, while YARP is built with C#. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Sozu versus MIT for YARP. Sozu is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for YARP. Sozu is the more established project (first released 2016), while YARP arrived in 2021. YARP has the considerably larger community, at 9,616 GitHub stars versus 3,734.
Why pick each one
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
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 Sozu or YARP better?
YARP is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Sozu if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Sozu and YARP free and open-source?
Yes. Sozu is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and YARP under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Sozu and YARP with Docker?
Sozu: yes. YARP: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Sozu or YARP?
Sozu 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.