frp vs Skipper
frp
gofrp.org
Skipper
opensource.zalando.comSide by side
| Figure | frp | Skipper |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Reverse Proxy Software | 8.2 (#12) | 7.3 (#20) |
| Deployment | frp is written in Go and supports cross-platform deployment using platform-specific binaries without additional dependencies. | The project provides a Linux binary example and instructions for running Skipper in a Docker container. |
| License | The GitHub repository identifies the project license as Apache-2.0. | The project publishes a LICENSE file in its GitHub repository. |
| Purpose | frp is a high-performance reverse proxy for exposing intranet services to the public network through nodes with public IP addresses. | Skipper is an HTTP router and reverse proxy for service composition, including Kubernetes Ingress use cases. |
Plans
In their own words
frp
frp is a free, self-hosted reverse proxy for making intranet services reachable from the public network through nodes with public IP addresses. It supports TCP, UDP, HTTP, and HTTPS proxying, while client-server communication also supports QUIC, KCP, WebSocket, and other protocols. Its XTCP mode uses P2P hole punching so successful connections send traffic directly rather than through frps, but success depends on the network’s NAT type and cannot be assured. Client and server authentication support tokens and OIDC, with token authentication as the default; encryption is among the project’s listed capabilities. Proxy groups can balance load, and TCP or HTTP health checks can remove failed services from frps. Monitoring can run in memory or through Prometheus, which requires the Dashboard to be enabled. frps has a browser Dashboard for status and proxy statistics, while frpc includes an Admin UI for proxy status and configuration. Configuration supports TOML, YAML, and JSON; INI is still supported but no longer recommended. Written in Go, frp provides platform-specific binaries for cross-platform deployment without additional dependencies. The project is under development and says version 2 will not be compatible with version 1.
Skipper
Skipper has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.