NGINX vs Envoy Proxy

NGINX9.3Visit Envoy Proxy8.1Visit

Higher score NGINX #1 in Reverse Proxy Software 9.3/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 5 features Visit NGINX

vs

Envoy Proxy #9 in Reverse Proxy Software 8.1/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 5 features Visit Envoy Proxy

• NGINX fits best

  Established general-purpose reverse proxying

• Envoy Proxy fits best

  Advanced proxying and service-mesh workloads

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Side by side

Feature	NGINX 9.3/10 Visit ↗	Envoy Proxy 8.1/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	8.1
Ranking	#1 in Reverse Proxy Software	#9 in Reverse Proxy Software
Best for	Established general-purpose reverse proxying	Advanced proxying and service-mesh workloads
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Platforms	Linux, Windows	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Community, Docs	Community, Docs
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features NGINX 4/5 · Envoy Proxy 4/5
TLS termination	✓	✓
Web application firewall	—	Not checked yet
Response caching	✓	✓
WebSocket support	✓	✓
Rate limiting	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment model	Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Configuration method	File	Both
Our review
Pros	Free open-source deployment on Linux and Windows Supports HTTP, TCP, and UDP proxying and load balancing Includes caching, TLS termination, WebSockets, and rate limiting	Supports HTTP, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, gRPC, and WebSockets Combines routing, rate limiting, retries, circuit breaking, and health checks Offers both static configuration and dynamic xDS APIs
Cons	Self-hosted deployment requires infrastructure administration Configuration is managed through text files Web application firewall protection is not included	Self-managed deployment requires operational ownership The cache filter is work-in-progress in some versioned API documentation Its extensive configuration may exceed simpler proxying needs
Our verdict	NGINX is open-source infrastructure software for serving web content, reverse proxying applications, caching responses, and balancing or proxying HTTP, TCP, and UDP traffic. It is designed for teams managing their own infrastructure on… Read the review →	Envoy Proxy is open-source Layer 7 proxy software for modern service-oriented architectures. It can run as an edge proxy, service-mesh data plane, or sidecar alongside application servers. Self-managed deployments are supported on Windows,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• NGINX — where it wins

  • Free open-source deployment on Linux and Windows
  • Supports HTTP, TCP, and UDP proxying and load balancing
  • Includes caching, TLS termination, WebSockets, and rate limiting

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires infrastructure administration
  • Configuration is managed through text files
  • Web application firewall protection is not included

• Envoy Proxy — where it wins

  • Supports HTTP, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, gRPC, and WebSockets
  • Combines routing, rate limiting, retries, circuit breaking, and health checks
  • Offers both static configuration and dynamic xDS APIs

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-managed deployment requires operational ownership
  • The cache filter is work-in-progress in some versioned API documentation
  • Its extensive configuration may exceed simpler proxying needs

• NGINX9.3/10 · Free plan

  A flexible self-hosted reverse proxy with caching, load balancing, TLS, and protocol support.

  Visit NGINXFull verdict →
• Envoy Proxy8.1/10 · Free plan

  A flexible self-hosted proxy for advanced routing, service-mesh, and observability workloads.

  Visit Envoy ProxyFull verdict →