Caddy vs Hiawatha
Caddy
caddyserver.com
Hiawatha
hiawatha.leisink.netSide by side
| Figure | Caddy | Hiawatha |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $25/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 1 |
| Spec score · Web Server Software | 8.1 (#6) | 8.1 (#8) |
| Platforms | The maker lists Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android among the operating systems Caddy supports. | The download page lists a MacOS X package, Debian/Ubuntu repository options, and FreeBSD and OpenBSD ports; it says the Windows package is compiled via Cygwin and is not recommended for production unless tested. |
| Purpose | Caddy is an extensible server platform commonly used as a web server or proxy. | Hiawatha is an advanced, secure webserver designed for Unix. |
| Reverse proxy | Its reverse proxy supports HTTP, HTTPS, WebSockets, gRPC, and FastCGI, with load balancing and health checks. | Its built-in reverse proxy can integrate other web solutions or act as an application firewall in front of other webservers. |
| Security | The maker says Caddy's TLS defaults meet PCI DSS, NIST, and HIPAA compliance requirements. | It supports TLS via mbed TLS and offers protection against SQL injection, XSS, CSRF/XSRF and DoS attacks. |
Plans
Caddy
- Indie$25 a month
- Indie Pro$50 a month
- Startup$99 a month
- Startup Pro$249 a month
- Business$999 a month
- Business+$2,999 a month
- Enterprise$5,900 a month
- Enterprise+$11,900 a month
In their own words
Caddy
Caddy is an extensible server platform used as a web server or proxy, and it is self-hosted. By default, it obtains and renews TLS certificates for sites and redirects HTTP to HTTPS. Its reverse proxy supports HTTP, HTTPS, WebSockets, gRPC, and FastCGI, along with load balancing and health checks. Configuration options include JSON through a RESTful API, the Caddyfile, and other adapters. Compile-time plugins extend its static binary. DNS challenge integrations include Cloudflare, DigitalOcean, Route 53, and other providers through libdns. Caddy can run as a command-line process, system service, container, Kubernetes workload, or embedded component. The software is free, with no paywalled features; sponsorship plans add services and support while leaving the license unchanged. Free community help is available through a forum. Caddy says its TLS defaults meet PCI DSS, NIST, and HIPAA compliance requirements, and that dependencies are verified with Go modules and release artifacts are cryptographically signed.
Hiawatha
Hiawatha has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.