head to head · open source
caddy vs proxy.py
caddy has 76,190 GitHub stars, 5,021 forks, 286 open issues and last shipped yesterday. proxy.py has 3,551 stars, 623 forks, 89 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. caddy leads on adoption by 2,046% (76,190 vs 3,551 stars). caddy is written in Go under Apache-2.0; proxy.py is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause. caddy has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, proxy.py 18%. caddy was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (http-server), 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 | proxy.py | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 76K | ★ 3.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-30 | 2026-09-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.0K | ⑂ 623 |
| 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 proxy.py if
- You want the proxy.py feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and proxy.py 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 proxy.py
proxy.py is a lightweight, dependency free HTTP and HTTPS proxy server and pluggable networking framework written in Python, for developers and operators who want forward and reverse proxying, TLS interception or DNS over HTTPS without depending on a hosted service or third party packages.
read the full proxy.py overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is caddy or proxy.py more popular?
caddy has 76,190 GitHub stars and proxy.py has 3,551. caddy has the larger community by that measure.
Are caddy and proxy.py free?
Both are open source. caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and proxy.py under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between caddy and proxy.py?
caddy is written in Go and proxy.py in Python. 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 proxy.py?
Choose caddy if you want the larger community (76,190 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose proxy.py if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.