head to head · open source
caddy vs pomerium
caddy has 79,021 GitHub stars, 5,257 forks, 286 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. pomerium has 5,103 stars, 371 forks, 159 open issues and last shipped yesterday. caddy leads on adoption by 1,449% (79,021 vs 5,103 stars). caddy is written in Go under Apache-2.0; pomerium is written in Go under Apache-2.0. caddy has attracted 7% 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 2 topic tags (go, reverse-proxy), 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 | pomerium | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 79K | ★ 5.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-11 | 2026-11-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.3K | ⑂ 371 |
| 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 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 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 pomerium
[ ][godocs] Pomerium is an identity and context aware reverse proxy. Pomerium builds secure, clientless connections to internal web apps and other services without a corporate VPN. Pomerium is: Easier with clientless access. Faster by being tunnel free and deployed where your apps and services are. Safer because every single action is verified before allowed to execute. Tailored to your organization’s needs by integrating all data for context aware access. It’s not a VPN alternative – it’s the trusted, foolproof way to protect your business. Want a hosted control plane and management GUI? Give Pomerium Zero a…
read the full pomerium overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is caddy or pomerium more popular?
caddy has 79,021 GitHub stars and pomerium has 5,103. caddy has the larger community by that measure.
Are caddy and pomerium free?
Both are open source. caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pomerium under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between caddy and pomerium?
caddy is written in Go 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, caddy or pomerium?
Choose caddy if you want the larger community (79,021 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pomerium if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.