What is Caddy and How It Helped My Product DBLayer.dev

When building my first SaaS project, DBlayer.dev, I needed a reliable, secure, and !!hassle web server that could scale effortlessly. That’s when I discovered Caddy—a powerful and modern web server that truly stands out.

In this post, I’ll share what Caddy is, why I chose it, and how it solved my domain and subdomain management challenges.

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What is Caddy?

Caddy is an open-source web server known for its automatic HTTPS, developer-friendly configuration, and modern architecture. Unlike traditional web servers like Nginx or Apache, Caddy is built with simplicity and security in mind—perfect for developers.

Key Features of Caddy

• 🔒 Automatic HTTPS – Caddy automatically issues and renews SSL certificates using Let's Encrypt.

• ⚡ Simple Configuration – Define your routes using a clean Caddyfile format—easy to read, easy to update.

• 🧩 Extensible – Add plugins for reverse proxying, static file serving, rate limiting, and more.

• 📦 Single Binary – No external dependencies. Just download and run. It works on almost any platform.

(Feature list adapted from my experience and official documentation.)

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Why I Picked Caddy for DBLayer.dev

1. Zero SSL Headache

DBLayer.dev supports custom subdomains like username.dblayer.dev. Managing HTTPS manually for each subdomain would’ve been a nightmare. With Caddy, it was a non-issue—SSL was automatically provisioned and renewed without any manual steps.

2. Effortless Reverse Proxy

Caddy handles reverse proxying to my Go and Express.js backends with elegant simplicity. Here's how I route all subdomains to my app:

*.dblayer.dev {
  reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:3000
}

That’s it—no complicated config blocks, rewrites, or certificate handling.

3. Hot Reloads with Zero Downtime

Caddy supports seamless configuration reloads without downtime. Whether I update routing rules or change backend ports, Caddy applies changes instantly—perfect for continuous deployment workflows.

4. Lightweight and Reliable

Since DBLayer is a bootstrapped project, cost is a major concern. Caddy, being written in Go and packaged as a single binary, runs efficiently with minimal memory usage. I can deploy it on my server without any extra overhead.

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My Domain Management Approach

• DBLayer allows users to claim a custom subdomain (e.g., johndoe.dblayer.dev) to give their endpoints a personal touch.

• Initially, I looked into traditional setups like Nginx + Let's Encrypt, but managing dynamic subdomains and certificates was complex and expensive.

• As a solo founder of a bootstrapped project, I needed a smarter, cost-effective solution.

• That’s when I found Caddy. I explored it, tested it, and it turned out to be what I needed—auto SSL, reverse proxying, dynamic subdomain support, and more.

• Looking ahead, I also plan to support dynamic host mappings, and Caddy is flexible enough for those use cases too.

My Setup in Practice

• I run a cron job that checks table for subdomains that haven’t yet been added.

• If a new subdomain is found, the script checks if it exists in the Caddyfile. If not, it appends the new block and reloads Caddy.

• The best part? ~No downtime. Caddy handles updates fast and gracefully.

You can check out my actual Caddy config here:

👉 Caddyfile Gist

(Some parts are for upcoming features—stay tuned!)

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Caddy has been a good product for DBLayer.dev. If you're building something similar with dynamic subdomains, SSL, and reverse proxying—Caddy is absolutely worth trying.

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Checkout My Product: https://dblayer.dev/

Thank you