head to head · open source
algo vs nginx-proxy
algo has 30,388 GitHub stars, 2,366 forks, 77 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. nginx-proxy has 19,915 stars, 3,044 forks, 327 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. algo leads on adoption by 53% (30,388 vs 19,915 stars). algo is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; nginx-proxy is written in Python under MIT. algo has attracted 8% 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.
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
| algo | nginx-proxy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 20K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 3.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick algo if
- You weight community size — 30K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- 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 algo
Algo VPN is a set of Ansible scripts from Trail of Bits, written in Python and released under AGPL 3.0, that turns a fresh cloud virtual machine into a personal WireGuard and IPsec VPN server, and it is aimed at individuals and small teams who want to run their own VPN instead of trusting a hosted provider.
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 algo or nginx-proxy more popular?
algo has 30,388 GitHub stars and nginx-proxy has 19,915. algo has the larger community by that measure.
Are algo and nginx-proxy free?
Both are open source. algo is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and nginx-proxy under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between algo and nginx-proxy?
algo is written in Python 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, algo or nginx-proxy?
Choose algo if you want the larger community (30,388 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose nginx-proxy if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.