Caddy vs Envoy: What are the differences?

Introduction

This markdown code provides a comparison between Caddy and Envoy based on their key differences.

1. Performance and Resource Usage: Caddy is known for its simplicity and efficiency, designed to be lightweight and use minimal system resources. It performs well even with low-resource environments. On the other hand, Envoy is more feature-rich and flexible but can be resource-intensive, requiring more CPU and memory to operate efficiently.

2. Configuration and Deployment: Caddy emphasizes ease of use and simplicity with its automatic HTTPS and HTTP/2 support out of the box. It offers a user-friendly configuration file that is easy to understand and modify. In contrast, Envoy provides more advanced configuration options with a declarative and extensible configuration model. It allows for complex routing, filtering, and load balancing configurations, but might have a steeper learning curve and require additional deployment orchestration.

3. Extensibility and Plugin Ecosystem: Caddy has a built-in extensible module system that allows users to extend its functionality by integrating custom plugins easily. It boasts a wide range of community-developed plugins and a highly active plugin ecosystem. In comparison, Envoy also offers an extensible architecture called the Filter Chain, which allows developers to add custom filters and perform complex request and response modifications. However, the plugin ecosystem for Envoy is less mature and smaller than that of Caddy.

4. Community Support and Documentation: Caddy has a strong and supportive community that actively contributes to its development, provides assistance to users, and frequently updates the documentation. This ensures that users can find answers to their questions and learn from the community's knowledge base. Envoy also has an active community, but its support and documentation might not be as extensive and accessible as that of Caddy.

5. Integration and Adoption: Caddy is designed to be a standalone web server and can be easily integrated with existing infrastructure without requiring major changes. It can replace other web servers seamlessly. In contrast, Envoy is primarily designed as a sidecar proxy that is often used as part of a larger service mesh architecture. Its adoption might involve integrating additional components like a control plane and configuring network infrastructure accordingly.

6. Development and Maintenance: Caddy is developed and maintained by a single core team, ensuring a focused and cohesive approach to its development and updates. Envoy, on the other hand, is an open-source project backed by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and has a larger community of contributors. This can result in more frequent updates, new features, and bug fixes but might also introduce some level of fragmentation and variation in implementations across different versions and environments.

In Summary, Caddy is a lightweight and user-friendly web server with efficient resource usage and a vibrant plugin ecosystem. Envoy, on the other hand, offers more advanced configuration options, extensibility, and is often used as part of a larger service mesh architecture, albeit with potentially higher resource requirements and a less mature plugin ecosystem.