# Caddy vs Envoy: Which Proxy to Self-Host?

## Quick Verdict

Caddy is the right choice for self-hosting. Two-line configs, automatic HTTPS, and a clean plugin ecosystem. Envoy is a service mesh proxy for cloud-native infrastructure — its verbose typed YAML configuration and enterprise feature set are mismatched for homelab or VPS setups.

## Overview

**Caddy** is a modern web server and reverse proxy that provides automatic HTTPS with zero configuration. Its Caddyfile format is the simplest proxy config syntax available. Current version: 2.10.2.

**Envoy** is a high-performance edge and service proxy, originally built at Lyft and now a CNCF graduated project. It's the data plane for Istio and other service meshes. Current version: v1.37.0.

## Feature Comparison

| Feature | Caddy 2.10 | Envoy v1.37 |
|---------|-----------|-------------|
| Automatic HTTPS | Yes (zero config) | No |
| Config format | Caddyfile (2 lines per site) | Typed YAML (30+ lines per route) |
| JSON API | Yes (hot reload) | xDS API (complex) |
| Static file serving | Yes | No |
| gRPC proxying | Yes | Native first-class |
| Circuit breaking | No | Yes |
| Distributed tracing | No | Yes (Zipkin, Jaeger) |
| WebAssembly plugins | No | Yes |
| HTTP/3 | Experimental | Yes |
| Load balancing | Yes (multiple policies) | Advanced (12+ algorithms) |
| Health checks | Active + passive | Advanced |
| Plugin ecosystem | Yes (xcaddy) | Wasm + filter chains |
| Learning curve | Low | Very high |
| Written in | Go | C++ |

## Installation Complexity

### Caddy

```yaml
services:
  caddy:
    image: caddy:2.10.2-alpine
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile:ro
      - caddy-data:/data
    restart: unless-stopped
```

Caddyfile:
```
app.example.com {
    reverse_proxy app:8080
}
```

HTTPS is automatic. Done.

### Envoy

A simple HTTP proxy requires 30+ lines of typed YAML with `@type` annotations, filter chain definitions, cluster configurations, and endpoint specifications. SSL requires SDS setup or manual certificate management.

**Winner: Caddy.** Not comparable in terms of setup effort.

## Performance and Resource Usage

| Metric | Caddy | Envoy |
|--------|-------|-------|
| Idle RAM | ~30-50 MB | ~30-50 MB |
| Requests/sec | ~40,000 | ~80,000+ |
| P99 latency | ~0.5ms | ~0.3ms |
| Binary size | ~40 MB | ~60 MB |

Envoy is faster due to its C++ implementation. For self-hosting loads, both perform identically.

## Use Cases

### Choose Caddy If...

- You're self-hosting Docker containers and want automatic HTTPS
- You want the simplest possible configuration syntax
- You need a web server and reverse proxy combined
- You want a plugin ecosystem without C++ compilation
- You want config-as-code that's human-readable

### Choose Envoy If...

- You're building on Kubernetes with a service mesh
- You need gRPC-native proxying
- You need circuit breaking and distributed tracing
- You need xDS dynamic configuration
- You're running large-scale microservice infrastructure

## Final Verdict

**Caddy for self-hosting, Envoy for cloud-native infrastructure.** Caddy gives you automatic HTTPS, a two-line-per-service config, and a clean plugin system. Envoy gives you a service mesh data plane with observability features most self-hosters will never need.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is Envoy faster than Caddy?

In benchmarks, yes. In real self-hosting use (under 1,000 concurrent connections), the difference is undetectable.

### Can Caddy replace Envoy in Kubernetes?

Not directly. Caddy doesn't integrate with Kubernetes' control plane the way Envoy does (via xDS). There is a Caddy ingress controller for Kubernetes, but it's not as mature as Envoy-based alternatives like Contour or Envoy Gateway.

### Does Caddy support gRPC?

Yes, but as a passthrough proxy rather than with Envoy's native gRPC-specific features (health checking, load balancing per-stream, etc.).

## Related

- [How to Self-Host Caddy with Docker](/apps/caddy/)
- [How to Self-Host Envoy with Docker](/apps/envoy/)
- [Envoy vs Traefik](/compare/envoy-vs-traefik/)
- [Caddy vs Nginx](/compare/caddy-vs-nginx/)
- [Traefik vs Caddy](/compare/traefik-vs-caddy/)
- [Best Self-Hosted Reverse Proxies](/best/reverse-proxy/)
- [Reverse Proxy Explained](/foundations/reverse-proxy-explained/)