Caddy
Powerful, enterprise-ready web server with automatic HTTPS.
Caddy vs NGINX
Two self-hosted Web Servers apps, compared on the facts we track: GitHub popularity and activity, license, language, Docker images and a rough hosting estimate.
Side by side
| Caddy | NGINX | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Powerful, enterprise-ready web server with automatic HTTPS. | HTTP and reverse proxy server, mail proxy server, and generic TCP/UDP proxy server. |
| GitHub stars | 78,785 | 32,051 |
| Forks | 5.2k | – |
| Open issues (incl. PRs) | 271 | – |
| Commits (12 months) | 443 | 318 |
| Last activity | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-05 |
| Latest release | v2.11.9 (2026-11-05) | release-1.31.8 (2026-10-21) |
| Maintenance health | Active | Active |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language / platform | Go, deb, Docker | C, deb, Docker |
| Docker Hub image | caddyserver/caddy | – |
| Docker pulls | 220 | – |
| Est. server size | ~512 MB, 1 vCPU | ~512 MB, 1 vCPU |
| Est. hosting from | $3.5/mo | $3.5/mo |
| Categories | Web Servers | Web Servers |
| Links | Website · Source | Website · Source |
What the numbers say
- Caddy is more popular on GitHub: 78.8k stars vs 32.1k for NGINX.
- Caddy had more commits in the last 12 months (443 vs 318).
- Caddy published a release more recently (v2.11.9 on 2026-11-05; NGINX's latest is release-1.31.8 on 2026-10-21).
- Caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0, NGINX under BSD-2-Clause.
- Caddy is written in Go; NGINX in C.
- Deployment options listed upstream: Caddy: deb, Docker; NGINX: deb, Docker.
- Only Caddy has a Docker Hub image that we detected (caddyserver/caddy).
Summary: Caddy leads on GitHub popularity, commit activity and Docker Hub availability. The right choice depends on the features you need — read both project descriptions and docs.
This summary is generated from GitHub, Docker Hub and awesome-selfhosted data as of 2026-11-05. It does not rate features or quality.
Get the Docker images
Caddy
docker pull caddyserver/caddyImage on Docker Hub. Ports, volumes and environment variables differ per app; follow the official docs.
Frequently asked questions
Is Caddy or NGINX more popular?
Caddy has more GitHub stars (78,785 vs 32,051 for NGINX, as of 2026-11-05). Stars measure interest, not quality.
Which is more actively maintained, Caddy or NGINX?
Caddy had more commits over the last 12 months (443 vs 318). The last recorded activity was 2026-11-04 for Caddy and 2026-11-05 for NGINX. Our health labels: Caddy is “Active”, NGINX is “Active”.
What licenses do Caddy and NGINX use?
Caddy: Apache-2.0. NGINX: BSD-2-Clause.
Can I run Caddy and NGINX with Docker?
Caddy has a Docker Hub image (caddyserver/caddy). We did not find one for NGINX, though the upstream listing mentions Docker as a deployment option.
Read more
NGINX
HTTP and reverse proxy server, mail proxy server, and generic TCP/UDP proxy server.
Browse all self-hosted Web Servers apps.