Caddy Server Is Free — Auto-HTTPS Reverse Proxy in One Line

#webdev #opensource #devops #tutorial

Nginx Is Powerful. Caddy Is Simple.

Caddy automatically provisions and renews SSL certificates. No certbot, no cron, no manual renewal. One line of config gives you HTTPS.

Install

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https
curl -1sLf https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt install caddy

# Or just download the binary
curl -o caddy https://caddyserver.com/api/download?os=linux&arch=amd64

Reverse Proxy in One Line

caddy reverse-proxy --from yourdomain.com --to localhost:3000

That is it. Auto-HTTPS. Auto-renewal. Zero configuration files.

Caddyfile (Multiple Services)

yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}

api.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8080
}

static.yourdomain.com {
    root * /var/www/static
    file_server
}

Caddy API

import requests

# Load config
def update_config(config):
    r = requests.post("http://localhost:2019/load",
                      headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"},
                      json=config)
    return r.status_code == 200

# Add a route dynamically
def add_route(domain, upstream):
    config = {
        "apps": {"http": {"servers": {"srv0": {
            "listen": [":443"],
            "routes": [{
                "match": [{"host": [domain]}],
                "handle": [{"handler": "reverse_proxy", "upstreams": [{"dial": upstream}]}]
            }]
        }}}}
    }
    return update_config(config)

Caddy vs Nginx vs Traefik

Feature	Caddy	Nginx	Traefik
Auto-HTTPS	Yes	No (need certbot)	Yes
Config	Simple	Complex	Medium
Hot reload	Yes	Partial	Yes
API	REST	None	REST
Performance	High	Highest	High
Learning curve	5 min	1 day	2 hours