head to head · open source
frp vs nginx-proxy
frp has 109,506 GitHub stars, 15,212 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. nginx-proxy has 19,914 stars, 3,044 forks, 327 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. frp leads on adoption by 450% (109,506 vs 19,914 stars). frp is written in Go under Apache-2.0; nginx-proxy is written in Python under MIT. frp has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, nginx-proxy 15%. nginx-proxy was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (reverse-proxy), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | nginx-proxy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 110K | ★ 20K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 15K | ⑂ 3.0K |
| 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 nginx-proxy if
- You want the nginx-proxy feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and nginx-proxy 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 nginx-proxy
nginx proxy is an automated Nginx reverse proxy for Docker that watches containers start and stop and rewrites its own proxy configuration in response, and it is for anyone running containerised services who needs hostname based routing without hand editing nginx configuration files.
read the full nginx-proxy overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frp or nginx-proxy more popular?
frp has 109,506 GitHub stars and nginx-proxy has 19,914. frp has the larger community by that measure.
Are frp and nginx-proxy free?
Both are open source. frp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and nginx-proxy under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frp and nginx-proxy?
frp is written in Go and nginx-proxy 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 nginx-proxy?
Choose frp if you want the larger community (109,506 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose nginx-proxy if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.