nginx-proxyvspolar
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| nginx-proxy | polar | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 76/100 | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 23 in Reverse Proxy | #1 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 19 936 | 10 437 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +18 | +158 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 11 | 1 |
| Latest release | 1.11.6 · 16 Jul 2026 | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Python | Python |
Which one should you pick?
nginx-proxy scores 76/100 against 71/100 for polar, so it is the safer default.
nginx-proxy ships more often: 11 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for polar.
If you want the quickest setup, nginx-proxy is easier to run; polar needs more configuration.
polar is growing faster right now (+158 stars in 30 days).
nginx-proxy details →polar details →