# apisix vs nginx-love

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | apisix | nginx-love |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 78/100 ✓ | 50/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 39 in API Gateway | #3 of 3 in Web Application Firewall |
| GitHub stars | 17 261 ✓ | 312 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +100 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 5 ✓ | 1 |
| Latest release | 3.19.0 · 28 Sept 2026 ✓ | v4.01 · 31 Oct 2025 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Lua | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

apisix scores 78/100 against 50/100 for nginx-love, so it is the safer default.

apisix ships more often: 5 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for nginx-love.

apisix is growing faster right now (+100 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [apisix](https://selfhost.directory/project/apisix) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/apisix.md)
- [nginx-love](https://selfhost.directory/project/nginx-love) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/nginx-love.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/apisix-vs-nginx-love