# NGINX vs OpenWA

> 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.

## Details

- [NGINX](https://selfhost.directory/project/nginx) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/nginx.md)
- [OpenWA](https://selfhost.directory/project/openwa) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/openwa.md)

---
Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/nginx-vs-openwa