head to head · open source
nginx vs algo
nginx has 31,681 GitHub stars, 8,302 forks, 468 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. algo has 30,388 stars, 2,366 forks, 77 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. nginx leads on adoption by 4% (31,681 vs 30,388 stars). nginx is written in C under BSD-2-Clause; algo is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. nginx has attracted 26% as many forks as stars, algo 8%. nginx was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (security), 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
| nginx | algo | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 30K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.3K | ⑂ 2.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nginx if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick algo if
- You want the algo feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and algo fits your workflow better
About nginx
NGINX is the official open source repository for the NGINX web server and its load balancer, reverse proxy, API gateway and content cache roles, written in C under the BSD 2 Clause licence and aimed at system administrators, DevOps engineers and platform teams who need to serve, balance and protect their own HTTP traffic.
read the full nginx overview →
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.
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Frequently asked questions
Is nginx or algo more popular?
nginx has 31,681 GitHub stars and algo has 30,388. nginx has the larger community by that measure.
Are nginx and algo free?
Both are open source. nginx is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and algo under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nginx and algo?
nginx is written in C and algo 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, nginx or algo?
Choose nginx if you want the larger community (31,681 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose algo if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.