Caddy vs PageKite
Caddy
caddyserver.comPageKite
pagekite.netSide by side
| Figure | Caddy | PageKite |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $25/mo | $3/mo |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 5 |
| Spec score · Reverse Proxy Software | 8.0 (#13) | 8.3 (#9) |
| Integrations | Caddy supports DNS challenge integrations for providers including Cloudflare, DigitalOcean, Route 53, and dozens of others through libdns. | The features page names Twilio and Instagram real-time API as examples of remote services for which developers can test integrations and webhooks through PageKite. |
| Support | Free community help is available through the forum; paid sponsorship tiers offer private support and other services depending on tier. | The maker offers FAQ and how-to resources, online chat, and email support; Team, Business, and Embedded plans include priority support. |
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
PageKite
- Pay What You Want$3 a month
- Freelancer$5.99 a month
- Team$24.99 a month
- Business$49.99 a month
- Embedded$199.95 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.
PageKite
PageKite exposes a server running on localhost to the public Internet through global front-end relays, working as a dynamic tunneled reverse proxy. It supports HTTP and HTTPS servers, SSH, and some other TCP-based protocols. The maker lists home-hosted sites, SSH access, embedded-device access, webhooks, APIs, and remote debugging as uses. A single pagekite.py command can make a server visible. Accounts begin with one pagekite.me DNS name, allow unlimited subdomains, and support customer domains through CNAME records. SSL is enabled by default for pagekite.me names, with end-to-end TLS and wildcard relay certificates also supported. Relays are listed in the United States, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and Australia, with automatic relay selection. PageKite is open-source software using AGPLv3-or-later for pagekite.py and most releases. Platforms include Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, web, API, and self-hosted deployments. Pricing is freemium, with a free plan, paid plans from $5.99/mo, and a 31-day trial.