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Caddy vs Gunicorn: What are the differences?

Introduction

Caddy and Gunicorn are both popular web servers used to host websites and applications. They have some key differences that set them apart in terms of features and functionality. In this document, we will highlight six main differences between Caddy and Gunicorn.

  1. Configuration: One of the primary differences between Caddy and Gunicorn is the way they handle configuration. Caddy has a simpler and more streamlined configuration process, using a declarative style. It has a built-in automatic HTTPS feature that simplifies SSL/TLS certificate management. On the other hand, Gunicorn has a more complex and explicit configuration, requiring a separate configuration file. It does not have built-in SSL/TLS support and relies on additional tools for certificate management.

  2. Web server vs. Application server: Caddy is primarily a web server that is designed to serve static files and handle HTTP requests. It can also proxy requests to other backend servers, making it suitable for hosting websites and simple web applications. Gunicorn, on the other hand, is an application server specifically designed for running Python web applications. It is often used in conjunction with a web server like Nginx or Apache to handle the actual serving of static files.

  3. Concurrency Models: Caddy and Gunicorn also differ in their concurrency models. Caddy is designed to handle concurrent requests using an event-driven architecture and takes advantage of Go's goroutines for efficient concurrency. Gunicorn, on the other hand, follows a pre-fork worker model where each worker process handles a single request at a time. This model allows Gunicorn to handle a large number of concurrent connections.

  4. TLS/SSL Support: Another difference between Caddy and Gunicorn is their approach to TLS/SSL support. Caddy provides automatic SSL/TLS certificate provisioning and renewal using Let's Encrypt, making it easy to enable secure connections for websites. Gunicorn does not have built-in SSL support and requires additional configuration and setup using tools like Nginx or Apache to enable encrypted connections.

  5. Language Support: Caddy is primarily written in Go and supports various programming languages through its plugin ecosystem. It can handle a wide range of web technologies and is not limited to a specific language or runtime. Gunicorn, on the other hand, is specifically designed for running Python web applications and is optimized for Python's WSGI specification. It may not be the best choice for hosting applications written in other languages.

  6. Ease of Use: Caddy aims to be user-friendly and straightforward to set up and use. Its configuration is simpler, and it provides features like automatic HTTPS by default. Gunicorn, while not complex, requires a separate configuration file and additional setup, making it slightly more involved to get up and running.

In summary, Caddy offers a simpler, declarative configuration approach with built-in TLS support, making it suitable for hosting websites. Gunicorn is an application server designed for running Python web applications, with a more explicit configuration process and broader language support.

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Pros of Caddy
Pros of Gunicorn
  • 6
    Easy HTTP/2 Server Push
  • 6
    Sane config file syntax
  • 4
    Builtin HTTPS
  • 2
    Letsencrypt support
  • 2
    Runtime config API
  • 34
    Python
  • 30
    Easy setup
  • 8
    Reliable
  • 3
    Light
  • 3
    Fast

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Cons of Caddy
Cons of Gunicorn
  • 3
    New kid
    Be the first to leave a con

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    What is Caddy?

    Caddy 2 is a powerful, enterprise-ready, open source web server with automatic HTTPS written in Go.

    What is Gunicorn?

    Gunicorn is a pre-fork worker model ported from Ruby's Unicorn project. The Gunicorn server is broadly compatible with various web frameworks, simply implemented, light on server resources, and fairly speedy.

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    What tools integrate with Caddy?
    What tools integrate with Gunicorn?
    What are some alternatives to Caddy and Gunicorn?
    NGINX
    nginx [engine x] is an HTTP and reverse proxy server, as well as a mail proxy server, written by Igor Sysoev. According to Netcraft nginx served or proxied 30.46% of the top million busiest sites in Jan 2018.
    Traefik
    A modern HTTP reverse proxy and load balancer that makes deploying microservices easy. Traefik integrates with your existing infrastructure components and configures itself automatically and dynamically.
    HAProxy
    HAProxy (High Availability Proxy) is a free, very fast and reliable solution offering high availability, load balancing, and proxying for TCP and HTTP-based applications.
    Envoy
    Originally built at Lyft, Envoy is a high performance C++ distributed proxy designed for single services and applications, as well as a communication bus and “universal data plane” designed for large microservice “service mesh” architectures.
    Apache HTTP Server
    The Apache HTTP Server is a powerful and flexible HTTP/1.1 compliant web server. Originally designed as a replacement for the NCSA HTTP Server, it has grown to be the most popular web server on the Internet.
    See all alternatives