Introduction
A reverse proxy sits at the front door of your infrastructure, routing requests to backend services, handling TLS and load balancing. Caddy and Traefik are two modern reverse proxies that compete on configuration simplicity, dynamic routing and automatic TLS.
Caddy is the human-friendly reverse proxy with a readable config language and automatic TLS. Traefik is the dynamic routing gateway with native service discovery for containers and microservices.
Background
Caddy was created by Matt Holt and first released in 2015. Its defining feature is automatic HTTPS — it obtains and renews certificates from Let’s Encrypt out of the box — and its Caddyfile configuration language is designed to be readable and approachable.
Traefik was created by Emile Vauge and first released in 2016. Its defining feature is dynamic routing: it automatically discovers backend services from Docker, Kubernetes, Consul and other sources, and updates routing rules without requiring a config reload.
Configuration
Caddy’s Caddyfile is intentionally human-friendly, reading like documentation. A basic config is a few lines:
example.com {
encode zstd gzip
tls {
on_demand
}
reverse_proxy /api/* localhost:8080
}Traefik’s configuration is more complex, with static file config, dynamic providers (Docker, Kubernetes, Consul) and middleware definitions. It is powerful but has a steeper learning curve.
Automatic TLS
Both providers offer automatic TLS via ACME (Let’s Encrypt). Caddy’s implementation is simpler and works out of the box with zero configuration, automatically obtaining and renewing certificates.
Traefik’s implementation is more flexible, supporting multiple certificate providers and advanced configuration, but requires more setup.
Dynamic routing
Traefik’s standout advantage is dynamic routing. It natively discovers backend services from Docker, Kubernetes and Consul, and updates routing rules without requiring a config reload. This makes it ideal for microservices with ephemeral backends.
Caddy supports dynamic routing through file watching and plugins, but it is less native and requires more manual configuration.
Performance
Both providers deliver excellent performance. Caddy has a slightly lower memory footprint (~30 MB idle), while Traefik is comparable (~40 MB idle). For most workloads, the difference is imperceptible.
Ecosystem
Traefik has a larger ecosystem with more middleware plugins and integrations, especially for container environments. Caddy’s ecosystem is growing but smaller, with fewer third-party plugins.
Verdict
Choose Caddy if you want a simple, fast reverse proxy with automatic TLS and a human-friendly config. It is ideal for traditional server setups and small to medium projects.
Choose Traefik if you are running microservices and need native service discovery and dynamic routing. It is ideal for containerised environments with many ephemeral backends.
Our recommendation: for a new project, start with Caddy for its simplicity and automatic TLS. Move to Traefik when you need dynamic routing for microservices.