head to head · open source
algo vs cloudflared
algo has 30,390 GitHub stars, 2,366 forks, 77 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. cloudflared has 15,853 stars, 1,452 forks, 545 open issues and last shipped yesterday. algo leads on adoption by 92% (30,390 vs 15,853 stars). algo is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; cloudflared is written in Go under Apache-2.0. algo has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, cloudflared 9%. cloudflared 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
| algo | cloudflared | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 16K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-09-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick algo if
- You weight community size — 30K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cloudflared if
- You want the cloudflared feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and cloudflared fits your workflow better
About algo
Algo VPN is a set of Ansible scripts from Trail of Bits, written in Python and released under AGPL 3.0, that turns a fresh cloud virtual machine into a personal WireGuard and IPsec VPN server, and it is aimed at individuals and small teams who want to run their own VPN instead of trusting a hosted provider.
About cloudflared
cloudflared is the open source command line client and tunneling daemon for Cloudflare Tunnel, a Go program under the Apache 2.0 licence that proxies traffic from the Cloudflare network to your origins so a webserver can stay closed to the public internet, and it is aimed at operators, platform teams and developers who need to publish HTTP services or reach private origins without opening inbound firewall ports.
read the full cloudflared overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is algo or cloudflared more popular?
algo has 30,390 GitHub stars and cloudflared has 15,853. algo has the larger community by that measure.
Are algo and cloudflared free?
Both are open source. algo is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and cloudflared under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between algo and cloudflared?
algo is written in Python and cloudflared in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, algo or cloudflared?
Choose algo if you want the larger community (30,390 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose cloudflared if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.