head to head · open source
frp vs mosdns
frp has 109,598 GitHub stars, 15,222 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. mosdns has 3,749 stars, 486 forks, 118 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. frp leads on adoption by 2,823% (109,598 vs 3,749 stars). frp is written in Go under Apache-2.0; mosdns is written in Go under GPL-3.0. frp has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, mosdns 13%. frp 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 | mosdns | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 110K | ★ 3.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-02-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 15K | ⑂ 486 |
| 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 mosdns if
- You want the mosdns feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and mosdns 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 mosdns
mosdns is a DNS forwarder written in Go, licensed under GPL 3.0, and aimed at people who want to run their own DNS forwarding and resolution path instead of relying on the resolver handed to them by a router, an ISP, or a third party service.
read the full mosdns overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frp or mosdns more popular?
frp has 109,598 GitHub stars and mosdns has 3,749. frp has the larger community by that measure.
Are frp and mosdns free?
Both are open source. frp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and mosdns under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frp and mosdns?
frp is written in Go and mosdns 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, frp or mosdns?
Choose frp if you want the larger community (109,598 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose mosdns if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.