Caddy vs XAMPP
Caddy
caddyserver.comXAMPP
apachefriends.orgSide by side
| Figure | Caddy | XAMPP |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $25/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 8 | 1 |
| Spec score · Web Server Software | 8.1 (#6) | 7.3 (#25) |
| Platforms | The maker lists Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android among the operating systems Caddy supports. | The project lists distributions for Windows, Linux and OS X. |
| Purpose | Caddy is an extensible server platform commonly used as a web server or proxy. | XAMPP is an easy-to-install Apache distribution for developers, containing MariaDB, PHP and Perl. |
| Security | The maker says Caddy's TLS defaults meet PCI DSS, NIST, and HIPAA compliance requirements. | The FAQ warns that default settings include a passwordless MySQL root account and network-accessible MySQL, and advises securing XAMPP before publishing anything online. |
| Support | Free community help is available through the forum; paid sponsorship tiers offer private support and other services depending on tier. | The project provides documentation as FAQs and directs users to its forums or Stack Overflow for unanswered questions. |
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.