head to head · open source
frp vs sshpiper
frp has 109,891 GitHub stars, 15,245 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped today. sshpiper has 1,331 stars, 170 forks, 25 open issues and last shipped today. frp leads on adoption by 8,156% (109,891 vs 1,331 stars). frp is written in Go under Apache-2.0; sshpiper is written in Go under MIT. frp has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, sshpiper 13%. frp 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 | sshpiper | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 110K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-10-14 | 2026-10-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 15K | ⑂ 170 |
| 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 sshpiper if
- You want the sshpiper feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and sshpiper 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 sshpiper
sshpiper is a Go reverse proxy for sshd that routes SSH, SCP and port forwarding sessions from a downstream client to upstream SSH servers, built for operators who want a bastion layer they control sitting in front of existing hosts.
read the full sshpiper overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frp or sshpiper more popular?
frp has 109,891 GitHub stars and sshpiper has 1,331. frp has the larger community by that measure.
Are frp and sshpiper free?
Both are open source. frp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and sshpiper under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frp and sshpiper?
frp is written in Go and sshpiper 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 sshpiper?
Choose frp if you want the larger community (109,891 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose sshpiper if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.