What is Web Rendering Proxy (WRP)?

WRP is a proxy server that lets old and historical web browsers reach today's web: Chrome on your modern gateway machine renders each page, and the legacy client gets back either a picture of it (GIF, PNG or JPEG) wired up as a clickable image map, or a stripped-down simplified HTML version that is easier to read. It runs either as a browser-in-browser gateway the old browser points at directly, or as an HTTP proxy with automatic configuration via /proxy.pac. The served web form exposes width, height, colour count, zoom, image type, history back, remote reload and a keystroke box, so typed input reaches fields inside the rendered page; whole pages can also come back as one very tall image you scroll client-side. Self-hosting means downloading a binary, or using the tenox7/wrp container, and listening on port 8080; command line flags set rendering mode, image geometry, JPEG quality, render delay, user agent, headless operation and a Chrome profile directory that keeps cookies and the full session between runs. Notable limits: sites that block headless browsers stay a moving target, HTTPS URLs through proxy mode lose functionality, the UI template only applies to the gateway form, and HTTPS-only hosts such as Cloud Run tend to defeat the purpose for old clients.

Should you self-host Web Rendering Proxy (WRP)?

Web Rendering Proxy (WRP) scores 53/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #11 of 25 in Proxy. It has 1 307 GitHub stars.

It shipped 4 stable releases in the past year. The latest, 4.10.3, came out on 23 April 2026. New versions land roughly every 7 days.

Setup is easy: most people get it running in one sitting. An official Docker image is available. It is Apache-2.0-licensed and written mostly in Go.

Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is frp (85/100, 110 230 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See Web Rendering Proxy (WRP) vs frp side by side.

Features

Clickable image map page rendering
Customizable UI template
Headless rendering on the server
HTTP proxy mode with PAC
Images in simplified HTML output
Multiple image output formats
Page scrolling and zoom controlThe zero-height tall image is called experimental, buggy and demanding of client memory.
Persistent logins via browser profileLog in once with -h=false then restart headless, on the same machine, since the cookie key lives in the OS keychain.
Remote keystroke input
Screenshot re-capture and remote reload
Search box alongside URL entry
Session save and restore
Simplified HTML reader mode
User agent override

FAQ

What is the GIP image format?

GIP is an optimized GIF flavour: no dithering, a fast colour palette and parallel encoding.

Why isn't there a Docker image for armv6?

The container is built on the chromedp/headless-shell image, which publishes no armv6 build.

Does WRP save and restore the session?

Yes, with -profile it keeps a wrp-session.json holding UI settings and open tabs and restores them next run; command line flags win.

How do I stay logged in to Gmail and other sites?

Run WRP with -profile pointing at a Chrome user-data dir, sign in once with -h=false, then restart headless on the same machine.

What can I do when websites block headless browsers?

It is a known, ongoing cat-and-mouse problem; WRP by default fetches a current-looking UA string instead of HeadlessChrome, and -ua lets you set your own.