NGINXvsOpenWA
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| NGINX | OpenWA | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 84/100 | 77/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 12 in Web Servers | #2 of 19 in API Management |
| GitHub stars | 31 991 | 16 333 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +270 | +327 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 21 | 3 |
| Latest release | release-1.31.8 · 21 Oct 2026 | v0.26.0 · 28 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Main language | C | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
NGINX scores 84/100 against 77/100 for OpenWA, so it is the safer default.
NGINX ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for OpenWA.
If you want the quickest setup, OpenWA is easier to run; NGINX needs more configuration.
NGINX details →OpenWA details →
Swap a project
Keep NGINX, compare it with
Keep OpenWA, compare it with