head to head · open source
frp vs proxy.py
frp has 109,720 GitHub stars, 15,234 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 16 days ago. proxy.py has 3,551 stars, 623 forks, 89 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. frp leads on adoption by 2,990% (109,720 vs 3,551 stars). frp is written in Go under Apache-2.0; proxy.py is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause. frp has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, proxy.py 18%. proxy.py was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (http-proxy, 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 | proxy.py | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 110K | ★ 3.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 15K | ⑂ 623 |
| 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 proxy.py if
- You want the proxy.py feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and proxy.py 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 proxy.py
proxy.py is a lightweight, dependency free HTTP and HTTPS proxy server and pluggable networking framework written in Python, for developers and operators who want forward and reverse proxying, TLS interception or DNS over HTTPS without depending on a hosted service or third party packages.
read the full proxy.py overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frp or proxy.py more popular?
frp has 109,720 GitHub stars and proxy.py has 3,551. frp has the larger community by that measure.
Are frp and proxy.py free?
Both are open source. frp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and proxy.py under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frp and proxy.py?
frp is written in Go and proxy.py 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 proxy.py?
Choose frp if you want the larger community (109,720 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose proxy.py if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.