head to head · open source
caddy vs awl
caddy has 76,064 GitHub stars, 4,996 forks, 286 open issues and last shipped today. awl has 684 stars, 45 forks, 35 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. caddy leads on adoption by 11,020% (76,064 vs 684 stars). caddy is written in Go under Apache-2.0; awl is written in Go under MPL-2.0. caddy has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, awl 7%. caddy was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (golang), 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
| caddy | awl | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 76K | ★ 684 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-25 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.0K | ⑂ 45 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick caddy if
- You weight community size — 76K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick awl if
- You want the awl feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and awl fits your workflow better
About caddy
Caddy is a Go based, Apache 2.0 licensed HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3 web server and reverse proxy that obtains and renews TLS certificates automatically by default, built for operators and teams who want every site on HTTPS without maintaining a separate certificate workflow.
read the full caddy overview →
About awl
awl (Anywherelan) is an open source, fully peer to peer mesh VPN written in Go that gives your own devices stable .awl addresses so they can reach one another at the IP level from anywhere, aimed at self hosters, small groups of friends and personal device fleets of roughly tens of machines rather than at teams.
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Frequently asked questions
Is caddy or awl more popular?
caddy has 76,064 GitHub stars and awl has 684. caddy has the larger community by that measure.
Are caddy and awl free?
Both are open source. caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and awl under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between caddy and awl?
caddy is written in Go and awl 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, caddy or awl?
Choose caddy if you want the larger community (76,064 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose awl if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.