Reverse proxy software sits in front of your servers to accept traffic, terminate TLS, balance load and decide where each request goes. This guide covers web servers, cache engines, certificate-aware proxies and identity-aware gateways.
We rank by setup effort in the first ninety days, what extras add to the bill, how portable the configuration is, vendor independence and fit.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
In short
What reverse proxy software does
Reverse proxy software receives client requests on behalf of backend servers, then forwards, caches, filters or balances them while handling TLS certificates and access rules for the applications behind it.
Ranking criteria for this reverse proxy tool list, applied top to bottom: effort to get started, cost in practice, data return, ability to leave, buyer fit. Top three places belong to challengers outside the best-known brands whenever possible, and incumbents follow from four. The reasoning behind the five tests, and behind having no score out of ten, is set out on the how we work page.
The Caddyfile is the short route, and the same settings can be written as JSON or driven through the REST admin API. Adapters read YAML, TOML and NGINX configuration, which eases a migration.
Alongside proxying, the binary handles WebSocket, gRPC and FastCGI traffic, and FrankenPHP serves PHP with no separate PHP-FPM install. Sponsorship is the funding model, so help beyond the community arrives as a sponsor benefit and not as a priced plan.
What stands out
Automatic HTTPS
Caddyfile or JSON
Self-hosted binary
Where it costs you
Neither home nor docs pages name a licence, so a legal review has to read the repository.
Plugins are compiled into one static binary, so adding a module means building a custom copy.
Right for
Lean teams that want HTTPS and a reverse proxy running within an afternoon
Wrong for
Anyone who wants a vendor-hosted service rather than their own server
Not stated by the vendorFree and open source; the project runs on sponsors, who receive private support and training
Independently owned load balancer line, from appliance to control plane
Ranked #2 of 14 in Best Reverse Proxy Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
The lineup separates the data plane from the control plane: HAProxy Enterprise carries the traffic, HAProxy Fusion is the control plane, and ALOHA packages the balancer as hardware or a virtual machine.
Further layers include bot management, a web application firewall, an API and AI gateway and Kubernetes ingress. The community packages come with a comparison against Enterprise but no stated usage terms. Paid 24/7 support exists, with no tiers shown.
What stands out
Independently owned
TCP, UDP and QUIC balancing
ALOHA appliances
Where it costs you
Prices are not published and the trial page does not say how long a trial runs.
Five product names (Enterprise, ALOHA, Fusion, Edge, One) make the right starting point unclear to a first-time buyer.
Right for
Operators balancing TCP, UDP and QUIC traffic who want a supported, independently owned vendor
Wrong for
Shoppers who need a published price before talking to sales
Not stated by the vendorQuoted through a contact form; Community Performance Packages can be downloaded and a product trial is requested
Routing proxy for containers with an open source core and gateway add-ons
Ranked #3 of 14 in Best Reverse Proxy Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
Hub API Gateway includes all Traefik Proxy capabilities, so a move up from the open source proxy keeps existing routing. Observability rests on OpenTelemetry.
Hub adds a catalogue, lifecycle handling, a developer portal and OpenAPI validation at the gateway, while the AI Gateway applies token rate limits and content guardrails. Migration support covers Ingress NGINX, the Kubernetes Gateway API and VM-based services, which suits teams leaving an older ingress setup.
What stands out
Open source proxy
OpenTelemetry
AI and MCP gateway
Where it costs you
Hub, API Management and Enterprise show no price, currency or limit on the pricing page.
AI Gateway, MCP Gateway and the hardened image appear as add-ons without prices, so the real bill stays unknown until sales answers.
Right for
Teams routing Kubernetes and container traffic that may later add API management
Wrong for
Anyone wanting a fixed price list for every paid edition
Not stated by the vendorTraefik Proxy is a plain open source download; Hub gateway, API Management and Enterprise are quoted through sales
Nginx-compatible web server fork with a commercial PRO edition
Ranked #4 of 14 in Best Reverse Proxy Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
The team says it includes former NGINX and F5 engineers who have been core nginx developers since 2011, a claim we pass on as the vendor's own.
Angie ADC 1.2 adds backend availability monitoring, a visual load balancer configurator, trusted certificate management and GSLB module improvements. Angie Software is the company, part of the Rubytech group, and the product is listed in the Russian national software registry.
What stands out
Nginx-compatible
Angie PRO edition
Russian software registry
Where it costs you
Angie PRO and the paid support carry no price on the site.
Code is developed, built and stored on servers in Russia, which buyers with location rules must check against policy.
Right for
Nginx users wanting a compatible fork with a commercial edition behind it
Wrong for
Organisations whose policies exclude software developed and hosted in Russia
RussiaTwo editions: open source Angie and commercial Angie PRO, with no prices shown and paid support listed
Web interface that exposes services on your network behind certificates
Ranked #5 of 14 in Best Reverse Proxy Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
Setup is a Docker container plus a database, after which proxy hosts are added through a Tabler-based interface. Certificates come from Let's Encrypt and renew automatically. Permissions stop at two levels per user, view and manage.
The GitHub repository shows about 34.6k stars and 4.0k forks, a popularity signal and not a support commitment. Copyright has been held by jc21.com since 2016, and no individual maintainer is named on the site.
What stands out
MIT open source
Let's Encrypt renewals
Docker image
Where it costs you
Its own copy aims the tool at home networks, which leaves business use as your own judgement.
No paid plan or support is mentioned, so an outage lands on your own staff and the community.
Right for
Home labs and small offices that want proxy hosts managed from a browser
Wrong for
Organisations needing vendor support, audit trails or a service contract
Not stated by the vendorMIT-licensed; the site mentions no paid plans and ships a Docker image
Self-hosted web application firewall built as an nginx-based reverse proxy
Ranked #6 of 14 in Best Reverse Proxy Software in 2026.
Free tierSelf-hostablePublished pricingElsewhere
Pro adds a custom interception page and upstream load balancing, while Lite brings geo-blocking and Discord and Telegram notifications. Ultimate is custom annual pricing with enterprise support. The currency appears only as a dollar sign.
CyberServal is the company named on the landing page, copyright 2021-2026, and Chaitin shows up only in documentation, demo and GitHub addresses, so the corporate lineage stays unclear. The GitHub sidebar gives GPL-3.0 as the licence.
What stands out
Web application firewall
Free Personal plan
GPL-3.0 core
Where it costs you
Personal stops at 10 apps and Lite at 20, so a growing estate is pushed towards the Pro tier.
The landing page describes protection only, with no general caching or routing features named.
Right for
Teams wanting a web application firewall in front of a handful of apps
Wrong for
Buyers who need a general routing proxy with caching
Not stated by the vendorFree Personal plan for up to 10 apps; Lite and Pro are published monthly or yearly, Ultimate is quoted annually
Nginx core combined with LuaJIT for scriptable gateways
Ranked #7 of 14 in Best Reverse Proxy Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
Lua scripting inside Nginx lets a team build web applications and dynamic gateways without leaving the proxy process. It is stated not to be an Nginx fork. Beyond the platform, OpenResty Inc promotes OpenResty XRay with a trial and a live demo, and mentions OpenResty Edge.
Community help runs through the openresty and openresty-en mailing lists, GitHub and a forum. The trademark belongs to OpenResty Inc, and the copyright line names Yichun Zhang.
What stands out
Lua scripting in Nginx
Dynamic gateways
Commercial support option
Where it costs you
No licence is named, so the repository has to be read before adoption.
Useful behaviour comes from writing Lua, which asks for developers and not only an administrator.
Right for
Engineers building programmable API gateways who are comfortable writing Lua inside Nginx
Wrong for
Admins wanting a ready-made admin interface without scripting
Not stated by the vendorEnterprise solutions and commercial support come from OpenResty Inc on undisclosed terms; mailing lists and a forum cover the rest
Zalando's HTTP router for very large numbers of dynamic routes
Ranked #8 of 14 in Best Reverse Proxy Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
Predicates match on path, method, host and headers, and filters then modify the request or response for the matched route. Custom lookup logic, filter logic and configuration sources can be plugged in.
The 800,000-route figure is the project's own statement of what it was designed for. The code lives under the Zalando GitHub organisation, no maintainer is named, and the licence is Apache-2.0 according to the README badge.
What stands out
Apache-2.0
Predicate-based routing
Kubernetes Ingress
Where it costs you
No commercial offer is stated, so there is no vendor to hold to a response time.
Extending it means writing custom lookup, filter or configuration logic, which assumes in-house engineers.
Right for
Platform teams managing huge, constantly changing route tables behind Kubernetes
Wrong for
Teams expecting a priced support contract from a vendor
Not stated by the vendorApache-2.0 open source project on GitHub; the page states no commercial offer
Identity-aware proxy placing zero trust policy in front of internal apps
Ranked #9 of 14 in Best Reverse Proxy Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
Around the proxy sit a command-line tool, a desktop client, an ingress controller for Kubernetes and a Terraform provider, all under Apache 2.0. Authorisation can differ per action, by HTTP method and path.
Sessions are scoped and short-lived for both users and agents, MCP requests are secured and access decisions are logged for compliance work. Pomerium, Inc. is the company, copyright 2026, with no country given, and an editions comparison holds the paid details.
What stands out
Identity-aware proxy
Policy as code
Open source core
Where it costs you
Rules are code kept in Git, so a non-technical administrator cannot set access from a form.
The home page mentions no trial period, only a quickstart and a demo call.
Right for
Engineering teams restricting private web apps and agents to verified identities
Wrong for
Sites that mainly need caching, balancing or public traffic routing
Not stated by the vendorApache 2.0 core; Pomerium Zero and Enterprise editions show no prices on the home page, which links a separate pricing page
HTTP cache and CDN from Stockholm with a published entry plan
Ranked #10 of 14 in Best Reverse Proxy Software in 2026.
Open sourcePublished pricingEurope
Plans move from a one-month Developer trial with 100 GB, to Growth, to custom contracts. Trials need no credit card, and Enterprise runs 30 days with its full feature set.
Community support comes with every plan, paid tiers add ticketed support and Enterprise adds premium support. Deployment can be sovereign, self-managed, hybrid or managed. The operating entity is Varnish Software AB, Wallingatan 12, Stockholm.
What stands out
HTTP cache
Varnish CDN plans
Swedish operator
Where it costs you
Enterprise, Artifact Firewall and the other products are contact-sales with no figure.
Overage of EUR 0.03 per GB on Growth means a traffic spike raises the monthly bill.
Right for
Sites that need an HTTP cache or CDN in front of slow origins
Wrong for
Teams looking for authentication or API management in the proxy
SwedenPublished CDN plans with included traffic and per-gigabyte overage; Enterprise and other products quoted; trials need no card
Web server and reverse proxy with enterprise distributions from F5
Ranked #11 of 14 in Best Reverse Proxy Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
One master process and several unprivileged worker processes handle traffic, and reconfiguration and binary upgrades happen without interrupting clients. The same software powers several Kubernetes Ingress Controllers, including the vendor's own.
Mail proxying covers IMAP and POP3 redirection and SMTP authentication, and generic TCP or UDP proxying includes SNI. Igor Sysoev wrote it originally; enterprise distributions, support and training are sold by F5, Inc.
What stands out
2-clause BSD
F5 subscriptions
HTTP/3 and mail proxy
Where it costs you
F5's pricing page lists no NGINX plan, price or currency, so a support contract cannot be budgeted from the site.
The 30-day trial is described for F5 products in general, not for NGINX by name.
Right for
Teams that want a mainstream proxy they can install on almost any system
Wrong for
Procurement needing a priced NGINX support plan they can check online
Not stated by the vendorOpen source under the 2-clause BSD licence; F5 sells subscriptions and perpetual licences, quoted with no figures shown
CNCF graduated C++ proxy used as a service mesh data plane
Ranked #12 of 14 in Best Reverse Proxy Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
Governance sits with the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, the Envoy Project Authors hold the copyright and the Linux Foundation holds the trademarks. Its home page says it builds on lessons from NGINX and HAProxy.
Stated use cases are cloud-native and AI-native workloads. Many commercial gateways are built on it, per the project's own page, but none is sold by the project, so budgeting means picking one of them.
What stands out
Apache-2.0
CNCF graduated
Service mesh data plane
Where it costs you
The site describes no commercial edition, so support has to come from a third party that builds on it.
It is positioned as a data plane and gateway foundation, which implies a control layer must be added.
Right for
Platform teams building a service mesh or gateway on a shared proxy core
Wrong for
Small teams wanting a ready-made reverse proxy with an admin screen
Not stated by the vendorApache-2.0 open source project; the site describes no paid product or commercial licensing tier
Apache Software Foundation caching proxy used by major CDNs
Ranked #13 of 14 in Best Reverse Proxy Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
Features listed are caching, keep-alive, content filtering or anonymization, and load balancing. Plug-in APIs let developers work on headers, ESI requests and cache algorithms. The Apache Software Foundation holds the trademark, and security advisories are published on the site.
Community channels include user and developer mailing lists, a Slack channel and GitHub. No pricing or commercial vendor is named, so cost is mainly the engineering time it demands.
What stands out
Apache-2.0
HTTP/2 caching proxy
Plug-in APIs
Where it costs you
No commercial vendor or pricing is named, so paid support has to be found elsewhere.
Changing its behaviour means writing plug-ins against its APIs.
Right for
CDN operators and large sites tuning a cache with custom plug-ins
Wrong for
Groups wanting a quick setup and a vendor to call
Not stated by the vendorApache License 2.0 open source with downloads and documentation; the site names no vendor, support contract or price
Caching proxy for HTTP, HTTPS and FTP with access controls
Ranked #14 of 14 in Best Reverse Proxy Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
Squid is distributed as downloadable software and source packages for your own systems, and it runs on most operating systems including Windows. No hosted service is described.
Development is by the Squid Developers and the Squid Software Foundation, which runs a donation page. The page says hundreds of Internet providers and thousands of websites use it, a usage claim from the project itself.
What stands out
GPL open source
Cache hierarchies
Access controls
Where it costs you
Commercial services are named without details or prices, so paid help cannot be costed.
The GPL version goes unnamed, so a licence review needs the source.
Right for
ISPs and network teams reducing outbound bandwidth through shared caching
Wrong for
Teams wanting certificates and routing for their own applications
Not stated by the vendorGNU GPL software maintained by the Squid Software Foundation, which takes donations
Reverse proxy software receives client requests on behalf of backend servers, then forwards, caches, filters or balances them while handling TLS certificates and access rules for the applications behind it. Products in this area look alike on a feature list, so we would decide these questions first.
01
Start with pricing transparency
Prices are public at 3 products (Caddy, SafeLine, Varnish) and on request at the remaining 11, so budget time for quotes if your favourite is in that second group.
02
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
2 regions are represented (Elsewhere 13, Europe 1). A vendor outside your own legal area is not a problem as such, but it changes who can compel it to hand over data.
03
Consider whether you want the source
Source code is available for Caddy, Traefik, Angie, Nginx Proxy Manager, Skipper, Pomerium, Varnish, NGINX, Envoy Proxy, Apache Traffic Server, Squid. Running it yourself swaps the licence fee for your own upkeep.
Caddy, Nginx Proxy Manager or NGINX: who runs the proxy day to day?
Day-to-day ownership decides which proxy suits you before any feature list does. Caddy issues and renews certificates on its own and needs only a short Caddyfile, so one engineer can run it between other tasks. Nginx Proxy Manager moves the same chores into a browser, with view and manage permissions per user, though its site frames it for home networks and names no maintainer.
NGINX covers the widest set of operating systems, from Linux and FreeBSD to Windows and macOS, and Angie reads its configuration files. Count the hours of the first ninety days, including certificate renewals, upgrades and who answers at night, before comparing licences. A download that costs nothing but eats a week of an engineer's time is not cheaper than a quoted subscription.
Who restarts the proxy and renews certificates when the person who installed it is away?
Does the interface give the permission levels you need, such as view versus manage?
Are the first ninety days costed in engineer hours as well as licence money?
Reading HAProxy, Traefik and Angie pricing pages when no figures appear
Several well-known paid routes publish no figures. HAProxy handles price requests through a contact form, and its trial page does not say whether a trial is free or how long it lasts. Traefik lists Hub API Gateway, API Management and Enterprise as contact sales, with the AI Gateway, MCP Gateway and hardened image shown as add-ons without prices. Angie PRO carries no price either.
NGINX adds another wrinkle: F5 sells subscriptions of one, two or three years and perpetual licences, yet its pricing page names no NGINX plan. SafeLine and Varnish are the opposite case, publishing ladders that make a budget easier to defend. Ask each seller for a written quote covering support hours, the add-ons you need and the renewal basis, then compare totals instead of headline editions.
Does the written quote state the support hours and response targets you need?
Are the gateway, firewall or AI add-ons you will actually use included in the total?
Which renewal basis applies, whether per instance, per term or per gigabyte?
Why caching engines such as Varnish do a different job from Caddy
Caching proxies and application gateways share a name but not a task. Varnish, Squid and Apache Traffic Server hold copies of content to save bandwidth and origin load: Squid reaches for HTTP, HTTPS and FTP traffic, and Apache Traffic Server is built for heavy multiprocessor load. Pomerium and SafeLine sit on the other side, adding identity checks or a firewall layer ahead of an application.
Skipper and Envoy Proxy steer traffic between many services. A shop that buys Varnish expecting login handling, or Pomerium expecting caching, finds the gap in production. Write down whether the main need is speed, protection, routing or certificates before you read any feature table.
Which is the main need: speed, protection, routing or certificate handling?
Does the vendor's own page name the feature you are buying it for?
Would a second tool be needed for the need that is not covered?
Leaving NGINX configs, OpenResty Lua scripts or Skipper filters behind
Leaving a proxy means rewriting its configuration, so check how portable that file is. Caddy ships adapters for YAML, TOML and NGINX configuration, and Angie reads nginx configurations directly, which makes both landing places for an NGINX estate. OpenResty keeps its logic in Lua inside Nginx, so scripts written there are unlikely to run anywhere else without a rewrite.
Skipper filters and Envoy Proxy gateways are tied to their own routing models, and Traefik Hub adds catalogue and developer portal features whose portability you should ask about. Keep configuration in Git, keep certificate issuance independent from the proxy where you can, and rehearse a staged cutover on a copy of production before committing to any edition.
Where is the configuration stored: Git and readable by a second product or adapter?
Which custom Lua, plug-in or filter code would need rewriting after a switch?
Has a staged cutover been rehearsed on a copy of production traffic?
What goes wrong most often when buying reverse proxy software
Picking Nginx Proxy Manager for a company edge because it starts easily, then finding its site targets home networks and mentions no paid support.
Treating Envoy Proxy as a finished product when the project describes a data plane that other parties package, manage and sell.
Assuming an open source download costs nothing, then paying engineers to maintain Lua in OpenResty or plug-ins in Apache Traffic Server.
Comparing the headline editions of HAProxy, Traefik and NGINX while the gateway and firewall modules a normal buyer needs sit outside the base price.
07
Frequently asked questions
8 answers
What is the best reverse proxy software in 2026?
Caddy takes first place among the 14 we reviewed. Caddy puts a working reverse proxy with health checks, retries and load balancing behind a few lines of Caddyfile, and it issues and renews HTTPS certificates unprompted, even for localhost through a local CA.
That keeps the first ninety days cheap. The catches: it is a ZeroSSL project paid for by sponsors, the pages we read name no licence, and you run it on your own server.
Which reverse proxy tools publish their pricing?
3 of the 14, with the pricing model each one publishes:
Caddy: Free and open source; the project runs on sponsors, who receive private support and training.
SafeLine: Free Personal plan for up to 10 apps; Lite and Pro are published monthly or yearly, Ultimate is quoted annually.
Varnish: Published CDN plans with included traffic and per-gigabyte overage; Enterprise and other products quoted; trials need no card.
Everything else on the list is priced on request.
Is there a free reverse proxy tool?
Caddy, SafeLine have a free plan or free self-hosted edition.
Where are these reverse proxy software vendors established?
Vendor countries on this page, Elsewhere 13, Europe 1:
Caddy, SafeLine. 12 products offer no self-hosted option.
What should you use instead of Caddy?
The next in line are HAProxy, aimed at Operators balancing TCP, UDP and QUIC traffic who want a supported, independently owned vendor, and Traefik, aimed at teams routing Kubernetes and container traffic that may later add API management.
Who should not buy Caddy?
Anyone who wants a vendor-hosted service rather than their own server. Neither home nor docs pages name a licence, so a legal review has to read the repository..
This list covers 14 reverse proxy software products. A product we left out can be put to us by its maker, with a short note on its purpose and its customers; we decide on inclusion ourselves. The rules are under software advice.
