head to head · open source
caddy vs SoftEtherVPN
caddy has 75,847 GitHub stars, 4,970 forks, 286 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. SoftEtherVPN has 13,562 stars, 2,781 forks, 296 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. caddy leads on adoption by 459% (75,847 vs 13,562 stars). caddy is written in Go under Apache-2.0; SoftEtherVPN is written in C under Apache-2.0. caddy has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, SoftEtherVPN 21%. 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.
← all 15422 open source comparisons
Side by side
| caddy | SoftEtherVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 76K | ★ 14K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.0K | ⑂ 2.8K |
| 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 SoftEtherVPN if
- You want the SoftEtherVPN feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and SoftEtherVPN 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 SoftEtherVPN
SoftEther VPN is an open source, cross platform, multi protocol VPN server and client, written in C and licensed under Apache 2.0, intended for administrators and self hosters who need one program to serve many VPN protocols instead of running several separate daemons.
read the full SoftEtherVPN overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Networking & Connectivity projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Networking & Connectivity field.
Frequently asked questions
Is caddy or SoftEtherVPN more popular?
caddy has 75,847 GitHub stars and SoftEtherVPN has 13,562. caddy has the larger community by that measure.
Are caddy and SoftEtherVPN free?
Both are open source. caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SoftEtherVPN under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between caddy and SoftEtherVPN?
caddy is written in Go and SoftEtherVPN 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 SoftEtherVPN?
Choose caddy if you want the larger community (75,847 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose SoftEtherVPN if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.