Caddy vs. Traefik vs. Nginx Proxy Manager
Three reverse proxies that solve the same problem -- routing hostnames to the right service with real HTTPS -- compared on config model, automation, and how much you have to maintain by hand.
The job being done
All three tools solve the same core problem: route incoming requests by hostname to the right backend service, and handle HTTPS certificates so you don't manage that by hand. Where they differ is how you tell them what to route, and how much of the certificate/config lifecycle they automate versus leave to you.
Evaluation criteria
Config model (how you declare routes), automation (does it discover services itself or do you configure each one), resource use, maintenance burden, and how each handles HTTPS/certificates -- since that's the other half of the job beyond routing.
Feature comparison
| Caddy | Traefik | Nginx Proxy Manager | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Config model | A config file (Caddyfile) or API | Docker labels on each container (self-describing) | A web UI -- no config file to hand-edit |
| Service discovery | Manual (you list each route) | Automatic (watches Docker, configures itself as containers start/stop) | Manual (you add each host through the UI) |
| HTTPS automation | Automatic by default, including DNS-01 for wildcards with a plugin | Automatic, similar DNS-01 provider-plugin model | Automatic via Let's Encrypt, configured per-host in the UI |
| Resource use | Light | Light-to-moderate (slightly more than Caddy in typical use) | Light (it's Nginx underneath, plus a UI layer) |
| Best fit | Homelabbers comfortable with a text config, want the simplest automatic-HTTPS story | Docker-heavy setups where you want new containers to "just appear" routed with no separate config step | Anyone who wants to avoid hand-editing config files entirely |
Recommendation by situation
- Pick Caddy if: you want the simplest path to automatic HTTPS (including wildcard via DNS-01, covered in the companion Build guide) and don't mind a text config file -- it's also what this section's own reverse proxy Build guide uses, for exactly this reason.
- Pick Traefik if: you're already deep in Docker Compose and want a new service's routing to configure itself the moment its container starts, via labels on that service's own compose file, with zero separate reverse-proxy config step.
- Pick Nginx Proxy Manager if: you specifically want a web UI and would rather click through host configuration than write or read a config file -- a real, valid preference, not a lesser one.
None of these is wrong for a homelab -- this is a genuine "any of the three will work well" situation more than most comparisons in this section. The deciding factor is usually which config model matches how you already think about your infrastructure.
Resource usage, maintenance, and project health
All three are actively maintained, open source, and free. Caddy and Traefik are both written in Go and have comparable light resource footprints; Nginx Proxy Manager adds a UI/database layer on top of Nginx, marginally more than bare Nginx alone but still light for typical homelab traffic. Maintenance burden tracks the config model: Traefik's label-based automation means less ongoing manual config work as services change, at the cost of needing to understand Docker labels; Caddy and NPM both require a manual step (editing the Caddyfile, or clicking through the UI) each time a new service needs routing.
When this comparison was made
2026-09-21, against Caddy (current stable), Traefik (current stable), and Nginx Proxy Manager (current stable) as documented on each project's own site at that time. Re-check each project's current release before assuming these specifics still hold -- reverse proxies are mature, slow-moving software, but "mature" isn't "frozen."
Resources
Official documentation:
Related DaemonPress projects:
- Reverse Proxy with Wildcard HTTPS on Internal Names -- the hands-on Build guide using Caddy specifically