Caddy vs Tsuru
| Tagline | Automatic HTTPS web server and reverse proxy with zero config TLS | Extensible open-source PaaS built by Globo for multi-tenant app deployment |
| Category | Self-Hosting Platforms & PaaS | Self-Hosting Platforms & PaaS |
| Replaces | Heroku, Netlify, Render | Heroku, Render, Netlify |
| GitHub stars | 73k | 4.5k |
| Language | Go | Go |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 4/5 Involved |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Manual | Docker Kubernetes Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 6 days ago | 4 months 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
Tsuru
- Documentation is sparse for newcomers outside the Globo ecosystem
- UI dashboard is minimal; most operations require the CLI
- Community support is smaller than Dokku or CapRover
Bottom line
Choose Caddy 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.