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Hugo Valters
Hugo Valters

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Why Caddy Is My Favorite Reverse Proxy in 2025

#docker #cybersecurity #kubernetes #devops

Reverse Proxies Can Be a Headache

If you’ve ever configured Nginx or Apache as a reverse proxy, you probably know this pain:

  • Endless config files
  • Certbot scripts that randomly fail
  • HTTPS that silently breaks
  • And weird edge cases that eat hours of your time I’ve been there.

In 2025, I stopped fighting it. I switched to Caddy, and I’m never looking back.

What Is Caddy?

Caddy is a modern, open-source web server with automatic HTTPS, built-in reverse proxy support, and a dead-simple config syntax. No cronjobs. No shell scripts. No fighting with Let’s Encrypt. Just one binary. One config file. Everything works. You can use Caddy to:

  • Serve static sites or apps
  • Reverse proxy to Docker containers or external servers
  • Automatically get and renew TLS certs
  • Manage access control
  • Secure internal dashboards with tailscale server or local auth

Why I Switched from Nginx?

Let me break it down:
Nginx:

  • HTTPS setup = Manual (Certbot etc.)
  • Config format = XML-ish
  • Docker support = External scripts
  • Live config reloads = Manual signal
  • Metrics and logging = External tooling
  • Learning curve = Steep

Caddy:

  • HTTPS setup = Automatic
  • Config format = Human-readable
  • Docker support = Native plugin support
  • Live config reloads = Built-in
  • Metrics and logging = Built-in
  • Learning curve = Friendly

Caddy’s config is so simple, I memorized parts of it. Here’s a working reverse proxy example:

mydomain.com {
  reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}
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That’s it. TLS is automatic. Cert renewals are automatic. It even detects if a site is down and retries.

How I Use Caddy in Production

  • I run several services, both public and internal:
  • A Rancher dashboard example: (rc.valtersit.com)
  • WordPress with MariaDB via Docker
  • Prometheus + Grafana monitoring
  • Self-hosted AI tools
  • Internal admin panels on VPS and home devices

With Caddy:

  • I don’t write shell scripts to update certs
  • Everything is HTTPS by default
  • Config reloads instantly with no downtime
  • I can route multiple domains and subdomains from one file

And since I use Tailscale, I even expose services securely using internal .ts.net addresses or local LAN IPs.

Bonus: Docker + Caddy + Auto-HTTPS

My favorite combo:

  • Docker Compose runs services (e.g. Nextcloud, WordPress)
  • Caddy reverse proxies everything
  • Caddy-docker-proxy plugin reads container labels to auto-generate configs 
labels:
  caddy: myapp.example.com
  caddy.reverse_proxy: "{{upstreams 80}}"
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Caddy sees it, creates the proxy rule, gets the cert — done. You can even plug this into GitHub Actions or Ansible and fully automate deployments.

Who Should Use Caddy?

Caddy is perfect if you:

  • Want HTTPS without touching Certbot
  • Need to expose internal tools (Rancher, Portainer, Grafana, etc.)
  • Are tired of rewriting nginx.conf every week
  • Want to automate deployments and configs

It’s great for:

  • Solo developers
  • Small startups
  • Homelab nerds
  • Freelancers running client projects
  • Teams building microservices with Docker/K8s

Coming Soon: Video + Setup Guide

If this sounds like something you want to try, stay tuned. In my upcoming YouTube video and Medium tutorial, I’ll walk you through:

  1. Installing Caddy on a Hetzner VPS
  2. Setting up auto-HTTPS with Cloudflare DNS
  3. Using Caddy with Docker for WordPress & MariaDB
  4. Combining Caddy + Rancher + Tailscale
  5. Creating a full CI/CD pipeline with auto-reverse proxy

Follow me to get notified when it’s live — and yes, configs and playbooks will be included.

Final Thoughts

I’ve used a lot of tools. Some were powerful, others were painful.
Caddy is the first one that felt like it was built for me. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t try to be everything. But what it does, it does exceptionally well. If you value simplicity, security, and automation, give Caddy a try.
Your future self will thank you.

X.com: https://x.com/hugovalters
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hugovalters
Homepage: https://www.valters.eu
GitHub: https://github.com/hugovalters
Medium: https://blog.valters.eu

By Hugo Valters

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