head to head · open source
algo vs pomerium
algo has 30,411 GitHub stars, 2,367 forks, 77 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. pomerium has 5,027 stars, 359 forks, 159 open issues and last shipped yesterday. algo leads on adoption by 505% (30,411 vs 5,027 stars). algo is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; pomerium is written in Go under Apache-2.0. algo has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, pomerium 7%. pomerium was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (vpn), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | pomerium | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 5.0K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 359 |
| 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 pomerium if
- You want the pomerium 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 pomerium 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 pomerium
Pomerium is an identity and context aware access proxy, written in Go and released under the Apache 2.0 licence, that builds secure, clientless connections to internal web applications and other services without a corporate VPN.
read the full pomerium overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is algo or pomerium more popular?
algo has 30,411 GitHub stars and pomerium has 5,027. algo has the larger community by that measure.
Are algo and pomerium free?
Both are open source. algo is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and pomerium under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between algo and pomerium?
algo is written in Python and pomerium 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 pomerium?
Choose algo if you want the larger community (30,411 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose pomerium if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.