head to head · open source
nginx vs dns-proxy-server
nginx has 31,793 GitHub stars, 8,313 forks, 468 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. dns-proxy-server has 854 stars, 81 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. nginx leads on adoption by 3,623% (31,793 vs 854 stars). nginx is written in C under BSD-2-Clause; dns-proxy-server is written in Java under Apache-2.0. nginx has attracted 26% as many forks as stars, dns-proxy-server 9%. nginx 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
| nginx | dns-proxy-server | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 854 |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-30 | 2026-04-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.3K | ⑂ 81 |
| 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 dns-proxy-server if
- You want the dns-proxy-server feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and dns-proxy-server 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 dns-proxy-server
dns proxy server (DPS) is a lightweight DNS server for developers and server administrators who need hostnames to resolve differently depending on Docker containers, local configuration, or the internet.
read the full dns-proxy-server overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is nginx or dns-proxy-server more popular?
nginx has 31,793 GitHub stars and dns-proxy-server has 854. nginx has the larger community by that measure.
Are nginx and dns-proxy-server free?
Both are open source. nginx is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and dns-proxy-server under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nginx and dns-proxy-server?
nginx is written in C and dns-proxy-server in Java. 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 dns-proxy-server?
Choose nginx if you want the larger community (31,793 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose dns-proxy-server if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.