head to head · open source
caddy vs OpenVPN
caddy has 77,398 GitHub stars, 5,091 forks, 286 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. OpenVPN has 14,643 stars, 3,404 forks, 226 open issues and last shipped yesterday. caddy leads on adoption by 429% (77,398 vs 14,643 stars). caddy is written in Go under Apache-2.0; OpenVPN is written in C under a custom or non-standard licence. caddy has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, OpenVPN 23%. OpenVPN 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
| caddy | OpenVPN | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 15K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | C |
| Last push | 2026-10-05 | 2026-10-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 3.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick caddy if
- You weight community size — 77K 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 OpenVPN if
- You want the OpenVPN feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and OpenVPN fits your workflow better
About caddy
Caddy is a Go based, Apache 2.0 licensed HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3 web server and reverse proxy that obtains and renews TLS certificates automatically by default, built for operators and teams who want every site on HTTPS without maintaining a separate certificate workflow.
read the full caddy overview →
About OpenVPN
OpenVPN is open source VPN daemon. It provides secure tunneling for network connections. Project lives in Infrastructure & Operations / Networking & Connectivity ecosystem. Tagline says Zero Trust VPN solutions for secure business networking. GitHub description says OpenVPN is an open source VPN daemon. Repository language is C. GitHub license field says NOASSERTION, while README states GNU General Public License version 2. README states copyright 2002 2026 OpenVPN Inc.
read the full OpenVPN overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is caddy or OpenVPN more popular?
caddy has 77,398 GitHub stars and OpenVPN has 14,643. caddy has the larger community by that measure.
Are caddy and OpenVPN free?
Both are open source. caddy is licensed under Apache-2.0, and OpenVPN has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between caddy and OpenVPN?
caddy is written in Go and OpenVPN in C. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, caddy or OpenVPN?
Choose caddy if you want the larger community (77,398 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose OpenVPN if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.