head to head · open source
frp vs vulcain
frp has 109,688 GitHub stars, 15,230 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 14 days ago. vulcain has 3,595 stars, 103 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. frp leads on adoption by 2,951% (109,688 vs 3,595 stars). frp is written in Go under Apache-2.0; vulcain is written in Go under AGPL-3.0. frp has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, vulcain 3%. 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 | vulcain | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 110K | ★ 3.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-08-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 15K | ⑂ 103 |
| 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 vulcain if
- You want the vulcain feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and vulcain 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 vulcain
Vulcain is an open source protocol and gateway server, written in Go and released under AGPL 3.0, that turns any existing web API into a client driven REST API by using Preload hints and the 103 Early Hints status code; it is intended for API developers and platform teams who want precise control over which related resources a client fetches without abandoning REST, HTTP caching, or their existing HTTP infrastructure.
read the full vulcain overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is frp or vulcain more popular?
frp has 109,688 GitHub stars and vulcain has 3,595. frp has the larger community by that measure.
Are frp and vulcain free?
Both are open source. frp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and vulcain under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between frp and vulcain?
frp is written in Go and vulcain 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 vulcain?
Choose frp if you want the larger community (109,688 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose vulcain if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.