head to head · open source
SafeLine vs shenyu
SafeLine has 22,606 GitHub stars, 1,533 forks, 69 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. shenyu has 8,836 stars, 3,072 forks, 565 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SafeLine leads on adoption by 156% (22,606 vs 8,836 stars). SafeLine is written in Go under GPL-3.0; shenyu is written in Java under Apache-2.0. SafeLine has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, shenyu 35%. shenyu was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (api-gateway), 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| SafeLine | shenyu | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 23K | ★ 8.8K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-10 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick SafeLine if
- You weight community size — 23K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick shenyu if
- You want the shenyu 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 shenyu fits your workflow better
About SafeLine
SafeLine is a self hosted web application firewall and reverse proxy, written in Go and licensed under GPL 3.0, that filters, monitors, and blocks malicious HTTP/S traffic before it reaches a web application — built for developers, AppSec engineers, and blue teams who want to run edge protection on their own infrastructure.
read the full SafeLine overview →
About shenyu
Apache ShenYu is a Java native, Apache licensed API gateway for service proxy, protocol conversion, and API governance across microservices.
read the full shenyu overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More API Development & Testing projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the API Development & Testing field.
Frequently asked questions
Is SafeLine or shenyu more popular?
SafeLine has 22,606 GitHub stars and shenyu has 8,836. SafeLine has the larger community by that measure.
Are SafeLine and shenyu free?
Both are open source. SafeLine is licensed under GPL-3.0 and shenyu under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SafeLine and shenyu?
SafeLine is written in Go and shenyu 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, SafeLine or shenyu?
Choose SafeLine if you want the larger community (22,606 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose shenyu if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.