head to head · open source
Defguard vs Werbot
Defguard has 2,894 GitHub stars, 121 forks, 308 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Werbot has 169 stars, 10 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Defguard leads on adoption by 1,612% (2,894 vs 169 stars). Defguard is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; Werbot is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence. Defguard has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, Werbot 6%. Defguard 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
| Defguard | Werbot | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 2.9K | ★ 169 |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | Rust | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-08-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 121 | ⑂ 10 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Defguard if
- You weight community size — 2.9K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Werbot if
- You want the Werbot feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Werbot fits your workflow better
About Defguard
Defguard is a self hosted secure remote access platform that combines WireGuard VPN, identity and access management, multi factor authentication, and network access control in a single solution. Built with a security first architecture, Defguard helps organizations securely manage access to infrastructure, applications, and private networks while maintaining full control over their environment. Why Defguard? Modern organizations often rely on multiple disconnected tools to manage identity, VPN access, authentication, and network permissions. Defguard brings these capabilities together into a unified platform…
read the full Defguard overview →
About Werbot
What is Werbot? Werbot is an open source solution allowing users to securely share access to servers, data bases, web applications, desktops, containers and clouds; providing full fledged options for controlling and auditing of the work performed on them. ⚠️ Current major version is zero ( v0.x.x ) to accommodate rapid development and fast iteration while getting early feedback from users. Please keep in mind that Werbot is still under active development and therefore full backward compatibility is not guaranteed before reaching v1.0.0. 🏆 Features Werbot works with dedicated, VPS, and cloud servers Manages…
read the full Werbot overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Defguard or Werbot more popular?
Defguard has 2,894 GitHub stars and Werbot has 169. Defguard has the larger community by that measure.
Are Defguard and Werbot free?
Neither Defguard nor Werbot declares a licence in this registry, so check each project's own repository before relying on either for a commercial use. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Defguard and Werbot?
Defguard is written in Rust and Werbot 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, Defguard or Werbot?
Choose Defguard if you want the larger community (2,894 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Werbot if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.