# NGINX vs vanilla-cookbook

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | NGINX | vanilla-cookbook |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 84/100 ✓ | 46/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 12 in Web Servers | #13 of 18 in Recipe Management |
| GitHub stars | 32 006 ✓ | 158 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +282 ✓ | +0 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 21 ✓ | 13 |
| Latest release | release-1.31.8 · 21 Oct 2026 | v1.6.1 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | C | JavaScript |

## Which one should you pick?

NGINX scores 84/100 against 46/100 for vanilla-cookbook, so it is the safer default.

NGINX ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 13 for vanilla-cookbook.

If you want the quickest setup, vanilla-cookbook is easier to run; NGINX needs more configuration.

NGINX is growing faster right now (+282 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/nginx-vs-vanilla-cookbook