The Reverse Proxy Showdown: Nginx vs HAProxy vs Caddy vs Traefik
Reverse proxies are the unsung heroes of modern infrastructure. They terminate TLS, route traffic, balance loads, and keep your apps reachable. But which one should you choose? There are four popular options worth comparing head-to-head: Nginx, HAProxy, Caddy, and Traefik. Each comes with its own strengths, trade-offs, and ideal use cases.
Nginx – the classic all-rounder
- Best for: general-purpose web serving, static content, simple reverse proxy setups
- Strengths: battle-tested, massive ecosystem, tons of tutorials, easy Certbot integration
- Weaknesses: verbose configs, not as dynamic as newer tools
Nginx is often the default choice. It's powerful, stable, and widely documented. If you're setting up a straightforward proxy or serving static files alongside your app, Nginx will feel familiar and reliable. Just be prepared to manage slightly more configuration boilerplate.
👉 Full Nginx reverse proxy guide →
HAProxy – the performance beast
- Best for: high-traffic sites, low-latency routing, advanced load balancing
- Strengths: blazing fast, robust observability, flexible ACL system
- Weaknesses: steeper learning curve, TLS setup can be fiddly
HAProxy is famous for performance. It's a favorite in environments where uptime and throughput matter most. Think enterprise setups or any case where you need fine-grained control over routing logic and health checks. It's less beginner-friendly, but extremely powerful once mastered.
👉 Full HAProxy reverse proxy guide →
Caddy – the modern “batteries included” choice
- Best for: minimal config, automatic HTTPS, developer-friendly defaults
- Strengths: one-line proxy configs, TLS handled automatically, sane defaults
- Weaknesses: smaller ecosystem, fewer advanced knobs for complex routing
Caddy made waves by taking the pain out of HTTPS. With a simple Caddyfile, you get automatic TLS, redirects, and reverse proxying. It's ideal for small projects or developers who want secure, working defaults without fiddling with extra tooling.
👉 Full Caddy reverse proxy guide →
Traefik – the container-native router
- Best for: Docker and Kubernetes workloads, dynamic environments
- Strengths: integrates with container labels, dynamic service discovery, built-in metrics
- Weaknesses: YAML configs can get verbose, less popular outside containerized setups
Traefik was built with cloud-native apps in mind. Instead of editing config files, you annotate containers with labels and Traefik routes traffic automatically. It shines in environments where services come and go frequently, making it a natural fit for orchestrators like Kubernetes.
👉 Full Traefik reverse proxy guide →
Quick comparison
Looking for full setup walkthroughs? Check out our guides for Nginx, HAProxy, Caddy, and Traefik.
| Feature | Nginx | HAProxy | Caddy | Traefik |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of setup | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Performance | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Auto HTTPS | Needs Certbot | Manual + hooks | Built-in | Built-in |
| Container native | No | No | Somewhat | Yes |
| Ecosystem/docs | Huge | Mature ops-focused | Growing dev-focused | Strong in Docker/K8s space |
So which one should you choose?
- Just learning or running a blog? → Nginx
- Handling big traffic or need reliability? → HAProxy
- Want HTTPS with zero config? → Caddy
- Running Docker/Kubernetes? → Traefik