head to head · open source
caddy vs smartdns
caddy has 75,840 GitHub stars, 4,970 forks, 286 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. smartdns has 11,312 stars, 1,247 forks, 320 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. caddy leads on adoption by 570% (75,840 vs 11,312 stars). caddy is written in Go under Apache-2.0; smartdns is written in C under GPL-3.0. caddy has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, smartdns 11%. 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 | smartdns | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 76K | ★ 11K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.0K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| 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 smartdns if
- You want the smartdns feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and smartdns 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 smartdns
SmartDNS is a local DNS server, written in C and licensed under GPL 3.0, that accepts DNS queries from local clients, asks multiple upstream DNS servers, and returns the IP address with the fastest measured access speed — built for self hosters, router owners, and network operators who want faster name resolution and stronger privacy.
read the full smartdns overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is caddy or smartdns more popular?
caddy has 75,840 GitHub stars and smartdns has 11,312. caddy has the larger community by that measure.
Are caddy and smartdns free?
Both are open source. caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and smartdns under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between caddy and smartdns?
caddy is written in Go and smartdns in C. 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 smartdns?
Choose caddy if you want the larger community (75,840 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose smartdns if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.