head to head · open source
AdGuardHome vs nginx-proxy
AdGuardHome has 36,973 GitHub stars, 2,521 forks, 1,253 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nginx-proxy has 19,914 stars, 3,044 forks, 327 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. AdGuardHome leads on adoption by 86% (36,973 vs 19,914 stars). AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; nginx-proxy is written in Python under MIT. AdGuardHome has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, nginx-proxy 15%. AdGuardHome was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| AdGuardHome | nginx-proxy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 20K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 3.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AdGuardHome if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick nginx-proxy if
- You want the nginx-proxy feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and nginx-proxy fits your workflow better
About AdGuardHome
AdGuard Home is a free and open source, network wide DNS server that blocks ads and trackers for every device on a network, aimed at self hosters, homelab operators, and network administrators who want filtering without installing client side software on each device.
read the full AdGuardHome overview →
About nginx-proxy
nginx proxy is an automated Nginx reverse proxy for Docker that watches containers start and stop and rewrites its own proxy configuration in response, and it is for anyone running containerised services who needs hostname based routing without hand editing nginx configuration files.
read the full nginx-proxy overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AdGuardHome or nginx-proxy more popular?
AdGuardHome has 36,973 GitHub stars and nginx-proxy has 19,914. AdGuardHome has the larger community by that measure.
Are AdGuardHome and nginx-proxy free?
Both are open source. AdGuardHome is licensed under GPL-3.0 and nginx-proxy under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AdGuardHome and nginx-proxy?
AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript and nginx-proxy in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, AdGuardHome or nginx-proxy?
Choose AdGuardHome if you want the larger community (36,973 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose nginx-proxy if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.