Caddy vs Tipi
| Tagline | Automatic HTTPS web server and reverse proxy with zero config TLS | Homeserver manager with one-command setup and one-click app installs |
| Category | Self-Hosting Platforms & PaaS | Self-Hosting Platforms & PaaS |
| Replaces | Heroku, Netlify, Render | Heroku, Render, Netlify |
| GitHub stars | 73k | 9.5k |
| Language | Go | Shell |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 2/5 Easy |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Manual | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | today | 3 days ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Caddy
- Not a full PaaS; no git push deploy, build pipelines, or app lifecycle management
- No built-in CI/CD integration; needs to be combined with other tools for deployments
- Dashboard and metrics require third-party tools (Prometheus, Grafana) — none built-in
- No managed database provisioning or environment variable secrets management
Tipi
- No Git-based or CI/CD deployment pipeline for custom applications
- App store is curated; deploying arbitrary custom Docker apps requires manual configuration
- No support for multi-server or distributed deployments
- Limited monitoring and observability tooling built in
Bottom line
Choose Tipi if you want the lower-effort setup; choose Caddy for the larger community and ecosystem. Caddy has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.