head to head · open source
SafeLine vs Apache APISIX
SafeLine has 22,606 GitHub stars, 1,533 forks, 69 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Apache APISIX has 17,135 stars, 2,946 forks, 235 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SafeLine leads on adoption by 32% (22,606 vs 17,135 stars). SafeLine is written in Go under GPL-3.0; Apache APISIX is written in Lua under Apache-2.0. SafeLine has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Apache APISIX 17%. Apache APISIX was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (api-gateway), 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
| SafeLine | Apache APISIX | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 23K | ★ 17K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-09-10 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 2.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick SafeLine if
- You weight community size — 23K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Apache APISIX if
- You want the Apache APISIX feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You evaluated both and Apache APISIX fits your workflow better
About SafeLine
SafeLine is a self hosted web application firewall and reverse proxy, written in Go and licensed under GPL 3.0, that filters, monitors, and blocks malicious HTTP/S traffic before it reaches a web application — built for developers, AppSec engineers, and blue teams who want to run edge protection on their own infrastructure.
read the full SafeLine overview →
About Apache APISIX
Apache APISIX is a dynamic, real time, high performance API gateway and AI gateway built on NGINX and etcd. It provides rich traffic management features, such as load balancing, dynamic upstream, canary release, circuit breaking, authentication, and observability. The project lives in the Lua and LuaJIT ecosystem, and it uses the Apache 2.0 license.
read the full Apache APISIX overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SafeLine or Apache APISIX more popular?
SafeLine has 22,606 GitHub stars and Apache APISIX has 17,135. SafeLine has the larger community by that measure.
Are SafeLine and Apache APISIX free?
Both are open source. SafeLine is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Apache APISIX under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SafeLine and Apache APISIX?
SafeLine is written in Go and Apache APISIX in Lua. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, SafeLine or Apache APISIX?
Choose SafeLine if you want the larger community (22,606 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Apache APISIX if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.