head to head · open source
traefik vs dns-proxy-server
traefik has 65,066 GitHub stars, 6,224 forks, 939 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. dns-proxy-server has 854 stars, 81 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. traefik leads on adoption by 7,519% (65,066 vs 854 stars). traefik is written in Go under MIT; dns-proxy-server is written in Java under Apache-2.0. traefik has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, dns-proxy-server 9%. traefik 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
| traefik | dns-proxy-server | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 65K | ★ 854 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-10-02 | 2026-04-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.2K | ⑂ 81 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick traefik if
- You weight community size — 65K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- 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 traefik
Traefik — pronounced traffic — is "The Cloud Native Application Proxy": an MIT licensed, Go based HTTP reverse proxy and load balancer that watches your orchestrator or service registry and generates its own routes, aimed at teams running microservices on Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes, Consul, Etcd, Rancher v2, or Amazon ECS.
read the full traefik 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 traefik or dns-proxy-server more popular?
traefik has 65,066 GitHub stars and dns-proxy-server has 854. traefik has the larger community by that measure.
Are traefik and dns-proxy-server free?
Both are open source. traefik is licensed under MIT and dns-proxy-server under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between traefik and dns-proxy-server?
traefik is written in Go 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, traefik or dns-proxy-server?
Choose traefik if you want the larger community (65,066 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose dns-proxy-server if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.