NGINXvsOrca
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| NGINX | Orca | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 84/100 | 91/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 12 in Web Servers | #1 of 209 in AI Agents |
| GitHub stars | 31 996 | 108 815 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +275 | +8 908 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 21 | 15 |
| Latest release | release-1.31.8 · 21 Oct 2026 | v1.4.243 · 28 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Main language | C | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Orca scores 91/100 against 84/100 for NGINX, so it is the safer default.
NGINX ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 15 for Orca.
If you want the quickest setup, Orca is easier to run; NGINX needs more configuration.
Orca is growing faster right now (+8 908 stars in 30 days).
Swap a project
Keep NGINX, compare it with
Keep Orca, compare it with