head to head · open source
nginx vs port-buddy
nginx has 32,033 GitHub stars, 8,410 forks, 468 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. port-buddy has 536 stars, 46 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nginx leads on adoption by 5,876% (32,033 vs 536 stars). nginx is written in C under BSD-2-Clause; port-buddy is written in Java under Apache-2.0. nginx has attracted 26% as many forks as stars, port-buddy 9%. port-buddy 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
| nginx | port-buddy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 536 |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C | Java |
| Last push | 2026-10-29 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.4K | ⑂ 46 |
| 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 port-buddy if
- You want the port-buddy 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 port-buddy fits your workflow better
About nginx
NGINX (pronounced "engine x" or "en jin eks") is the world's most popular Web Server, high performance Load Balancer, Reverse Proxy, API Gateway and Content Cache. NGINX is free and open source software, distributed under the terms of a simplified 2 clause BSD like license. Enterprise distributions, commercial support and training are available from F5, Inc. [!IMPORTANT] The goal of this README is to provide a basic, structured introduction to NGINX for novice users. Please refer to the full NGINX documentation for detailed information on installing, building, configuring, debugging, and more. These…
read the full nginx overview →
About port-buddy
🚀 Port Buddy — Secure Localhost Tunneling (HTTP, TCP, UDP) Official Website License Port Buddy is a lightweight, high performance ngrok alternative designed to instantly expose your local development servers to the public internet. Unlike standard tools, Port Buddy features native, zero configuration support for HTTP/HTTPS , raw TCP , and UDP protocols right out of the box. Whether you need to test webhooks, expose a local database, debug an SSH connection, or host a local multiplayer game server, Port Buddy creates a secure reverse tunnel with a single command—no router port forwarding required. ✨ Key Features…
read the full port-buddy overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is nginx or port-buddy more popular?
nginx has 32,033 GitHub stars and port-buddy has 536. nginx has the larger community by that measure.
Are nginx and port-buddy free?
Both are open source. nginx is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and port-buddy under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nginx and port-buddy?
nginx is written in C and port-buddy 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 port-buddy?
Choose nginx if you want the larger community (32,033 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose port-buddy if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.