NGINX vs HAProxy Community Edition

NGINX9.3Visit HCHAProxy Community Edition9.1Visit

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

vs

HC HAProxy Community Edition #2 in Reverse Proxy Software 9.1/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 5 features Visit HAProxy

• NGINX fits best

  Established general-purpose reverse proxying

• HAProxy Community Edition fits best

  High-performance L4 and L7 traffic management

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature	NGINX 9.3/10 Visit ↗	HCHAProxy Community Edition 9.1/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	9.1
Ranking	#1 in Reverse Proxy Software	#2 in Reverse Proxy Software
Best for	Established general-purpose reverse proxying	High-performance L4 and L7 traffic management
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Platforms	Linux, Windows	Linux
Support	Community, Docs	Community, Docs
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features NGINX 4/5 · HAProxy Community Edition 1/5
TLS termination	✓	✓
Web application firewall	—	Not checked yet
Response caching	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
WebSocket support	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Rate limiting	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Specs
Deployment model	Self-hosted	Not checked yet
Configuration method	File	Not checked yet
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	Handles both TCP proxying and HTTP reverse proxying Supports TLS termination, health checks, and session persistence Includes routing, rate limiting, monitoring, and high availability
Cons	Self-hosted deployment requires infrastructure administration Configuration is managed through text files Web application firewall protection is not included	Requires self-managed deployment and operations Runs on Linux and self-hosted infrastructure Global traffic management is outside the community edition
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 →	HAProxy Community Edition is a free, open-source reverse proxy and software load balancer for TCP and HTTP applications. It is designed for teams running self-managed infrastructure on Linux, including containers, virtual machines, and… 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

• HAProxy Community Edition — where it wins

  • Handles both TCP proxying and HTTP reverse proxying
  • Supports TLS termination, health checks, and session persistence
  • Includes routing, rate limiting, monitoring, and high availability

  Where it doesn't

  • Requires self-managed deployment and operations
  • Runs on Linux and self-hosted infrastructure
  • Global traffic management is outside the community edition

• NGINX9.3/10 · Free plan

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

  Visit NGINXFull verdict →
• HCHAProxy Community Edition9.1/10 · Free plan

  A capable reverse proxy for teams managing high-volume TCP and HTTP traffic themselves.

  Visit HAProxyFull verdict →