head to head · open source
caddy vs MasterDnsVPN
caddy has 78,721 GitHub stars, 5,230 forks, 286 open issues and last shipped today. MasterDnsVPN has 7,304 stars, 756 forks, 20 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. caddy leads on adoption by 978% (78,721 vs 7,304 stars). caddy is written in Go under Apache-2.0; MasterDnsVPN is written in Go under MIT. caddy has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, MasterDnsVPN 10%. caddy 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
| caddy | MasterDnsVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 79K | ★ 7.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.2K | ⑂ 756 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick caddy if
- You weight community size — 79K 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 MasterDnsVPN if
- You want the MasterDnsVPN feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and MasterDnsVPN fits your workflow better
About caddy
a project Every site on HTTPS Caddy is an extensible server platform that uses TLS by default. Releases · Documentation · Get Help Powered by Special thanks to: Warp, built for coding with multiple AI agents Available for MacOS, Linux, & Windows Menu Features Install Build from source For development With version information and/or plugins Quick start Overview Full documentation Getting help About Features Easy configuration with the Caddyfile Powerful configuration with its native JSON config Dynamic configuration with the JSON API Config adapters if you don't like JSON Automatic HTTPS by default ZeroSSL and…
read the full caddy overview →
About MasterDnsVPN
MasterDnsVPN Project 🔐 🇮🇷 فارسی 🇬🇧 English 🇷🇺 Русский 🇨🇳 中文 🇪🇸 Español 🇮🇹 Italiano MasterDnsVPN is a scientific and research oriented project for carrying TCP traffic through DNS queries and responses. In broad goal, it is similar to projects such as DNSTT or SlipStream, but it follows a fundamentally different structure and implementation approach. This system is designed around compatibility with many resolver behaviors and harsh network conditions, with the goal of preserving the highest possible stability and data delivery even in the worst cases. 📊 MasterDnsVPN Compared with Similar Projects ❌…
read the full MasterDnsVPN overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is caddy or MasterDnsVPN more popular?
caddy has 78,721 GitHub stars and MasterDnsVPN has 7,304. caddy has the larger community by that measure.
Are caddy and MasterDnsVPN free?
Both are open source. caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and MasterDnsVPN under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between caddy and MasterDnsVPN?
caddy is written in Go and MasterDnsVPN 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 MasterDnsVPN?
Choose caddy if you want the larger community (78,721 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose MasterDnsVPN if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.