head to head · open source
frp vs Kathara
frp has 109,748 GitHub stars, 15,233 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. Kathara has 645 stars, 86 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. frp leads on adoption by 16,915% (109,748 vs 645 stars). frp is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Kathara is written in Python under GPL-3.0. frp has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, Kathara 13%. Kathara 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
| frp | Kathara | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 110K | ★ 645 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-10-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 15K | ⑂ 86 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick frp if
- You weight community size — 110K 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 Kathara if
- You want the Kathara feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Kathara fits your workflow better
About frp
frp is a fast reverse proxy written in Go that exposes a local server behind a NAT or firewall to the internet, built for operators and developers who need inbound access to machines they cannot port forward.
About Kathara
Kathará is a lightweight, container based network emulation system for network engineers, students, and researchers who need to build, test, and demonstrate virtual networks on Docker or Kubernetes.
read the full Kathara overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frp or Kathara more popular?
frp has 109,748 GitHub stars and Kathara has 645. frp has the larger community by that measure.
Are frp and Kathara free?
Both are open source. frp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Kathara under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frp and Kathara?
frp is written in Go and Kathara 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, frp or Kathara?
Choose frp if you want the larger community (109,748 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Kathara if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.