NGINXvsopenpencil
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| NGINX | openpencil | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 84/100 | 73/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 12 in Web Servers | #2 of 7 in Design |
| GitHub stars | 32 005 | 9 430 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +281 | +829 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 21 | 14 |
| Latest release | release-1.31.8 · 21 Oct 2026 | v0.16.0 · 14 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Main language | C | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
NGINX scores 84/100 against 73/100 for openpencil, so it is the safer default.
NGINX ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 14 for openpencil.
If you want the quickest setup, openpencil is easier to run; NGINX needs more configuration.
openpencil is growing faster right now (+829 stars in 30 days).
NGINX details →openpencil details →
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