Tinyproxy vs Varnish Cache
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Tinyproxy | Varnish Cache |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | GPL-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | C | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 16 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source, docker | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,009 | ★ 4,045 |
| First released | 1998 | 2006 |
| Replaces | Squid | Cloudflare, Squid |
What are Tinyproxy and Varnish Cache?
Tinyproxy
Tinyproxy is a small, fast HTTP and HTTPS forward proxy daemon designed for low resource usage. It is well suited for embedding in resource-constrained environments or as a simple outbound proxy.
- Tiny memory footprint
- HTTP and HTTPS proxying
- Access control lists
- Filtering support
Varnish Cache
Varnish Cache is a powerful HTTP accelerator that sits in front of web servers to cache content and dramatically speed up delivery. Its VCL language gives fine-grained control over caching.
- Powerful HTTP caching
- VCL configuration language
- Massive throughput
- Edge-side includes
Tinyproxy vs Varnish Cache: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Varnish Cache's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Tinyproxy is actively maintained. Both projects are written in C. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Tinyproxy versus BSD-2-Clause for Varnish Cache. Tinyproxy is the lighter option, starting around 16 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Varnish Cache. Tinyproxy is the more established project (first released 1998), while Varnish Cache arrived in 2006.
Why pick each one
Choose Tinyproxy if…
- Extremely lightweight
- Simple configuration
Watch out for
- No caching
- Forward proxy only
Choose Varnish Cache if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
Frequently asked questions
Is Tinyproxy or Varnish Cache better?
Tinyproxy is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Varnish Cache if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Tinyproxy and Varnish Cache free and open-source?
Yes. Tinyproxy is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Varnish Cache under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Tinyproxy and Varnish Cache with Docker?
Tinyproxy: yes. Varnish Cache: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Tinyproxy or Varnish Cache?
Tinyproxy has the smaller minimum footprint at 16 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Varnish Cache. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.