Fabio vs Pomerium
Fabio
github.com
Pomerium
pomerium.comSide by side
| Figure | Fabio | Pomerium |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $7/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 9 |
| Spec score · Reverse Proxy Software | 8.8 (#4) | 8.9 (#3) |
| Deployment | The project README lists installation from source, prebuilt binaries, Docker, and Homebrew. | Pomerium Core provides official binaries for Linux and macOS, Linux deb/rpm packages, Docker images, and source builds. |
| Integrations | The project README says Fabio integrates with Consul, Vault, Amazon ELB, and Amazon API Gateway. | Listed integrations include Grafana, Kubernetes, Okta, Cloud Run, Docker, Google Kubernetes Engine, FleetDM, BambooHR, Auth0, Azure Active Directory, GitHub, GitLab, Google Workspace, OneLogin, OpenID Connect, and Ping Identity. |
| Product | Fabio is an HTTP and TCP reverse proxy that configures its routing from Consul data. | Pomerium is an open-source identity-aware proxy built around BeyondCorp and zero-trust principles. |
| TLS | Fabio supports dynamic certificate stores using files, HTTP servers, Consul, or Vault, and can forward HTTPS upstream requests. | Downstream TLS accepts TLS 1.2 as the minimum version. |
Plans
Pomerium
- Personal FreeFree
- Business$7 a month
- Zero PersonalFree
- Zero PersonalFree
- Zero Business$7 a month
- Zero Business (annual)$7 a month
- Zero Business (monthly)$9 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Fabio
Fabio is a self-hosted HTTP and TCP reverse proxy that builds its routing from Consul service data. Services can announce accepted paths with tags such as `urlprefix-/user`; Fabio then refreshes its routing table when Consul changes, without restarting or reloading. Its main role is distributing incoming HTTP(S) and TCP traffic from the internet to frontend services. It is not intended for frontend-to-backend or backend-to-backend routing, where Consul service discovery is used instead. Fabio provides route-specific access control, authorization, customizable logs, redirects, compression, header injection, path changes, WebSockets, server-sent events, and transparent gRPC proxying. It supports TLS termination, dynamic certificate stores, HTTPS upstreams, raw TCP, TCP-SNI forwarding, and traffic shaping by percentage. A web UI shows the active routes, with metrics integrations. Fabio is free, open-source software for Linux, macOS, and Windows, and requires Consul for service discovery.
Pomerium
Pomerium is an open-source identity-aware proxy for controlling access to internal applications, servers, services, and workloads without requiring VPN client software. It checks identity, device state, and request context before granting access, and authenticates through identity providers that support OpenID Connect. Listed access scenarios include HTTP, MCP, SSH, gRPC, TCP, and UDP; supported app protocols also include HTTPS, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, and WebSocket. Pomerium removes its authentication cookies before forwarding requests upstream, and sensitive databroker data is encrypted at rest. Downstream TLS has a minimum of TLS 1.2. Deployment options include Linux and macOS binaries, packages, Docker images, source builds, and desktop clients for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The free Personal plan lists 10 users, 10 routes, five policies, and two service accounts. Business costs $7.00 per month, billed annually, and lists limits of 1,000 users, 100 routes, 100 policies, and 20 service accounts. A free trial is also listed.