Envoy vs Zoraxy: Which Proxy to Self-Host?

Quick Verdict

Zoraxy wins for self-hosting. It has a web UI, automatic HTTPS, Docker container discovery, and built-in extras like GeoIP filtering and uptime monitoring. Envoy is an enterprise service mesh proxy designed for microservices at scale — its verbose YAML configuration and lack of a management UI make it vastly overcomplicated for home use. Use Envoy only if you are running a microservices architecture that specifically needs its traffic management capabilities.

Overview

These two proxies exist for completely different audiences. Comparing them is almost unfair, but it is a question people ask, so here is the honest answer.

Envoy (v1.37.0) is a CNCF graduated project originally built at Lyft. It powers Istio, AWS App Mesh, and Google Cloud’s traffic infrastructure. It handles L3/L4/L7 traffic with advanced load balancing, circuit breaking, distributed tracing, and a dynamic configuration API (xDS). Configuration is verbose YAML with fully-qualified type annotations (typed_config with @type fields). There is no web UI — you manage everything through config files or a control plane.

Zoraxy (v3.3.1) is a Go-based reverse proxy designed specifically for homelabs. It has a web management UI on port 8000, automatic HTTPS via Let’s Encrypt, Docker container auto-discovery, built-in GeoIP filtering, uptime monitoring, ZeroTier VPN integration, and health checks. You configure everything through the browser. No YAML required.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Envoy	Zoraxy
Target audience	Enterprise / microservices	Homelab / self-hosters
Web UI	Admin panel (stats only, no route config)	Full management UI (port 8000)
Automatic HTTPS	No (external ACME required)	Yes (Let’s Encrypt built-in)
Configuration method	YAML config files / xDS API	Web UI (point and click)
Docker container discovery	No	Yes (via socket mount)
GeoIP filtering	No (requires external filter)	Yes (built-in, with FastGeoIP)
Load balancing	5+ algorithms (Round Robin, Least Request, Ring Hash, Maglev, Random)	Basic (Round Robin)
Service mesh support	Yes (THE service mesh proxy)	No
xDS dynamic API	Yes	No
WebSocket proxying	Yes	Yes
VPN integration	No	Yes (ZeroTier built-in)
Resource usage (idle)	50-100 MB RAM	100-150 MB RAM

Installation Complexity

This is where the gap becomes obvious.

Zoraxy: Pull a single container, map three ports (80, 443, 8000), mount two volumes, start it. Open port 8000 in your browser and create an admin account. Total time: 5 minutes. Add a new proxy rule by clicking a button in the web UI.

Envoy: Pull a single container, then write a YAML configuration file. A basic HTTP proxy requires 30+ lines of verbose config with nested typed_config blocks and @type annotations like type.googleapis.com/envoy.extensions.filters.network.http_connection_manager.v3.HttpConnectionManager. Adding a new route means editing the YAML, adding a new cluster definition and route match, and restarting the container or pushing an xDS update.

Here is what a minimal Envoy config looks like for proxying a single upstream service:

static_resources:
  listeners:
    - name: listener_0
      address:
        socket_address:
          address: 0.0.0.0
          port_value: 10000
      filter_chains:
        - filters:
            - name: envoy.filters.network.http_connection_manager
              typed_config:
                "@type": type.googleapis.com/envoy.extensions.filters.network.http_connection_manager.v3.HttpConnectionManager
                stat_prefix: ingress_http
                route_config:
                  name: local_route
                  virtual_hosts:
                    - name: local_service
                      domains: ["*"]
                      routes:
                        - match:
                            prefix: "/"
                          route:
                            cluster: service_backend
                http_filters:
                  - name: envoy.filters.http.router
                    typed_config:
                      "@type": type.googleapis.com/envoy.filters.http.router.v3.Router
  clusters:
    - name: service_backend
      connect_timeout: 5s
      type: STRICT_DNS
      load_assignment:
        cluster_name: service_backend
        endpoints:
          - lb_endpoints:
              - endpoint:
                  address:
                    socket_address:
                      address: upstream_host
                      port_value: 8080

In Zoraxy, the equivalent takes three clicks in the web UI.

Winner: Zoraxy by a massive margin. This is not a close comparison.

Performance and Resource Usage

Metric	Envoy	Zoraxy
Idle RAM	50-100 MB	100-150 MB
Idle RAM (with FastGeoIP)	N/A	1-1.2 GB
Under load RAM	200-500 MB	150-250 MB
Max throughput	Very high (millions of req/s at scale)	Good (thousands of req/s)
Concurrency model	Multi-threaded (C++ worker threads)	Go goroutines
Hot restart	Yes (zero-downtime)	No

Envoy is engineered for massive throughput. It was built to handle Google-scale traffic patterns with millions of concurrent connections across thousands of service instances. Its C++ core, multi-threaded architecture, and zero-downtime hot restart are designed for environments where every millisecond of latency matters.

Zoraxy is a Go application that handles homelab-scale traffic efficiently. If you have 5-30 services and a handful of concurrent users, Zoraxy will never be a bottleneck.

For self-hosting: performance is irrelevant. Both proxies are orders of magnitude faster than your home internet connection. You will never saturate either one with homelab traffic.

Community and Support

Metric	Envoy	Zoraxy
GitHub stars	26K+	~5K
Backed by	CNCF (graduated)	Solo developer (tobychui)
First release	2016	2022
Documentation	Extensive but enterprise-focused	Wiki + README
Self-hosting guides	Almost none	Small but growing
Docker Hub pulls	Millions	~1M
Target audience for docs	Infrastructure engineers	Homelab users

Envoy has extensive documentation, but it is written for infrastructure engineers building service meshes and microservices platforms. Finding a guide on “how to use Envoy to proxy my Jellyfin instance” is nearly impossible. Zoraxy’s documentation is smaller but directly relevant to self-hosting use cases.

Winner: Envoy for enterprise. Zoraxy for self-hosting.

Use Cases

Choose Zoraxy If…

• You want a web UI to manage your proxy rules
• Automatic HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt is important
• Docker container auto-discovery appeals to you
• You want built-in GeoIP filtering or uptime monitoring
• ZeroTier VPN integration is useful for your setup
• You run a homelab with standard HTTP/HTTPS services
• You prefer clicking over editing config files

Choose Envoy If…

• You run gRPC microservices and need native gRPC proxying with JSON transcoding
• You are building or integrating with a service mesh (Istio, AWS App Mesh)
• You need advanced load balancing algorithms (Maglev, ring hash, least request)
• Circuit breaking with fine-grained thresholds is a requirement
• You need xDS dynamic configuration from a control plane
• You want per-route, per-cluster Prometheus metrics out of the box
• You have infrastructure engineering experience and already know Envoy

Final Verdict

Zoraxy wins for self-hosting. It solves the exact problems self-hosters have: route traffic to containers, get SSL certificates, manage everything through a browser. It adds useful extras like GeoIP filtering and Docker discovery that save you from running additional tools.

Envoy solves problems self-hosters do not have. Service mesh data planes, xDS control plane integration, gRPC transcoding, Maglev load balancing — these are enterprise infrastructure concerns. Running Envoy for a homelab is like using a CNC machine to cut a sandwich. It will work, but you will spend most of your time on configuration instead of results.

If you want a GUI proxy for your homelab, choose Zoraxy or Nginx Proxy Manager. If you are building cloud-native infrastructure with microservices, Envoy is the industry standard.

FAQ

Can I use Envoy as a simple reverse proxy for my homelab?

You can, but you should not. Every route and upstream requires verbose YAML with fully-qualified type annotations. There is no automatic HTTPS — you need an external ACME client. There is no web UI for managing routes. You will spend hours on configuration that takes minutes in Zoraxy.

Does Zoraxy support service mesh?

No. Zoraxy is a traditional reverse proxy with a web UI, not a service mesh data plane. If you need service mesh functionality, Envoy (typically via Istio) is the standard choice.

Is Zoraxy production-ready?

For homelab use, yes. It is stable and actively maintained. For large-scale production deployments with strict uptime SLAs, its single-developer maintenance model and smaller community are risk factors. Envoy has the edge for mission-critical production infrastructure.

Can I migrate from Envoy to Zoraxy?

There is no automated migration. Envoy’s YAML-based route definitions would need to be manually recreated in Zoraxy’s web UI. For small setups this takes minutes; for large deployments it could take longer. SSL certificates can be re-provisioned automatically through Let’s Encrypt.

Related

• How to Self-Host Envoy Proxy
• How to Self-Host Zoraxy
• Best Self-Hosted Reverse Proxies
• Zoraxy vs Nginx Proxy Manager
• Envoy vs Traefik
• Reverse Proxy Explained
• Docker Compose Basics