30 open-source projects similar to nginx/unit, ranked by how many features they have in common. Compare stars, activity and what each one does to find the best Unit alternative.
HAProxy is a high-performance TCP and HTTP proxy that distributes traffic across multiple backend servers to ensure availability and fault tolerance for critical services. It operates in either TCP or HTTP mode, with an event-driven, single-threaded reactor that handles tens of thousands of connections without context switching, and supports kernel-level data transfer to minimize memory usage and latency. What distinguishes HAProxy is its configuration-file-first design, where all load-balancing rules and runtime behavior are defined in a declarative text file parsed at startup. It embeds a L
This project is a Node.js HTTP reverse proxy middleware designed to route incoming HTTP and WebSocket traffic to target backend services. It functions as a dynamic routing engine and API gateway tool, providing the capability to consolidate multiple backend services behind a single entry point. The middleware features a WebSocket proxy bridge that manages protocol upgrade handshakes to maintain persistent bidirectional communication. It also includes a request and response transformer used to intercept and modify headers, bodies, and URL paths during transit. The system provides broad traffi
Handy is a C++11 network server framework and event-driven networking engine designed for building high-performance concurrent TCP and UDP servers. It functions as an asynchronous I/O library and an HTTP server implementation that separates asynchronous network I/O from synchronous business logic to simplify server development. The framework distinguishes itself by utilizing platform-specific event notifications to manage millions of simultaneous network connections and providing an SSL/TLS network wrapper for encrypted asynchronous data transmission. It implements a half-sync/half-async proc
Passenger is a multitenant web server and dynamic process manager designed to host and manage web applications written in Ruby, Python, and Node.js. It functions as an application server that handles process and resource management, ensuring that multiple independent applications can run on a single server instance. The project distinguishes itself through a flexible deployment model, capable of operating as a self-contained standalone web server or as an integration module for existing high-performance external web servers. It employs a language-agnostic interface to provide polyglot hosting
Sylar is a high-performance C++ asynchronous server framework and event-driven network library. It functions as a coroutine scheduler and HTTP server implementation designed to build network services using non-blocking I/O. The project distinguishes itself through a system call interceptor that hooks blocking socket and sleep APIs, transforming synchronous operations into non-blocking asynchronous events. It employs a user-space threading system to distribute lightweight tasks across a worker thread pool to maximize CPU utilization. The framework covers a broad range of networking and system
ServiceStack is a high-performance .NET web framework designed for building type-safe APIs using strongly-typed request and response objects. It functions as a message-based API engine that decouples business logic from the transport layer, allowing services to be exposed via multiple protocols including HTTP, gRPC, and various message queue providers. The framework is distinguished by its type-safe API generator, which produces native client SDKs and data transfer objects from service metadata across multiple languages. It also includes a distributed service gateway for microservices orchest
This project serves as a comprehensive reference architecture and a guide to best practices for developing scalable applications with the Spring Boot framework. It provides a structural blueprint for Java backend development, focusing on the implementation of decoupled APIs and the establishment of architectural standards. The project specifically details the creation of custom starters and auto-configuration modules to simplify the integration of third-party libraries. It also provides a deployment blueprint for packaging applications as executable jars and optimizing layered builds for cont
serverless-offline is a Serverless Framework plugin that provides a local cloud infrastructure simulator. It acts as an AWS Lambda local emulator and AWS API Gateway mock, allowing for the development and testing of serverless functions on a local machine without deploying to a remote provider. The project distinguishes itself by simulating bidirectional WebSocket connections and message routing, as well as mimicking the request lifecycle of an HTTP gateway. It includes a mock identity authorizer pipeline to verify tokens and JWTs locally and supports the mounting of virtual dependency layers
This project is an HTTP web server that delivers web content to clients using HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2 protocols across various operating systems. It functions as a reverse proxy server, a rule-based URL rewriter, an SSL/TLS termination gateway, and a virtual host manager. The server is capable of hosting multiple distinct domains on a single instance by mapping requests to specific directory structures. It encrypts and decrypts network traffic at the server boundary to secure communication between clients and servers. Additionally, it transforms requested URLs into different paths using a regular
Oak is a cross-runtime HTTP middleware framework and web server designed to operate across Deno, Node.js, Bun, and Cloudflare Workers. It provides a unified system for building APIs and web servers using a sequential chain of middleware functions and a hierarchical routing engine that maps URL paths to handlers via a nested tree structure. The framework includes a runtime-agnostic serverless adapter that translates diverse cloud provider events into a standard request and response interface. It also features a dedicated WebSocket server implementation for bidirectional real-time communication
Aspire is a .NET distributed application toolchain and cloud-native application orchestrator. It provides a code-first development stack for building, running, and deploying distributed applications, specifically managing the coordination of multiple services across different programming languages. The toolchain distinguishes itself through a programmable approach to service topologies, using a code-first methodology to define how services, containers, and databases interconnect. It manages the lifecycle of third-party containers as resources and translates these programmatic application mode
Mio is a low-level I/O library for Rust that provides an event-driven framework for monitoring multiple network sockets and file descriptors. It acts as a portable wrapper for operating system native polling systems, including epoll, kqueue, and IOCP, allowing applications to trigger events when resources are ready for reading or writing without blocking the execution thread. The library provides a non-blocking socket interface for managing TCP, UDP, and Unix sockets. It distinguishes itself through a vectored I/O implementation, enabling scatter-gather reads and writes across multiple buffer
Piku is a git-based platform-as-a-service deployment tool for self-hosted application hosting. It enables the deployment of multiple web applications and background workers to private servers by automating builds and updates through git push. The system acts as an application process orchestrator and reverse proxy server manager, routing incoming HTTP traffic to specific application processes. It features a multi-language application runtime that detects programming languages from repository files to handle dependency installation and execution settings. Security is handled via an integrated
Puma is a concurrent HTTP server for Ruby applications that implements the Rack interface. It operates as a clustered web server, using a combination of worker processes and threads to handle multiple simultaneous web connections via TCP ports or UNIX domain sockets. The server features a master-worker process model that utilizes multiple CPU cores and employs copy-on-write preloading to reduce memory usage. It supports zero-downtime restarts through socket-handover capabilities, allowing application updates without dropping pending network requests. The project includes a token-authenticate
ReactPHP is an asynchronous runtime and event-driven I/O framework for PHP. It provides an environment for executing concurrent tasks through a central event loop implementation and reactor pattern, allowing applications to handle multiple operations without pausing the main execution thread. The project includes a specialized asynchronous socket library for TCP, UDP, and TLS communication, alongside a non-blocking HTTP server and client for streaming web requests and responses. Its capability surface covers asynchronous control flow via promises and fibers, non-blocking network connectivity
libhv is a high-performance C/C++ network library and event-driven I/O framework used to build TCP, UDP, SSL, HTTP, WebSocket, and MQTT clients and servers. It provides a non-blocking event loop for managing network sockets, timers, and system signals across multiple threads. The project is distinguished by its integrated support for specialized network roles, including a full HTTP web server with RESTful routing and middleware, an MQTT messaging client for IoT communication, and the ability to implement SOCKS5 and HTTP proxies. It also features a reliable UDP implementation to ensure ordered
This project is a serverless continuous integration and delivery platform that executes automated build and test pipelines using dynamic compute scaling. It functions as an automated test orchestrator capable of running shell scripts and test suites across multiple programming language runtimes. The system utilizes a containerized build runner to offload resource-intensive tasks to a Docker container cluster, bypassing the limitations of serverless environments. It incorporates a build status notification system that publishes results to chat channels, email, and SMS, while generating status
This project provides secure, containerized infrastructure designed for autonomous agents, remote code execution, and cloud development. It functions as a sandboxed environment where AI agents and external processes can execute code, run shell commands, and manage files while remaining isolated from the host system. The system distinguishes itself by implementing the Model Context Protocol, allowing it to act as a standardized tool server that exposes browser and filesystem capabilities to compatible clients. It further integrates headless browser automation, enabling programmatic web navigat
Laragon is a portable web server suite and WAMP stack manager that provides a self-contained local development environment. It enables the bootstrapping of web applications through the orchestration of web servers, databases, and language runtimes on a single machine. The project is distinguished by its registry-free portable mode, allowing the entire development stack to be moved between drives or computers without re-installation. It features automated virtual host mapping and SSL certificate generation for local domains, as well as a local tunneling gateway to expose projects via public UR
This project is a read-only archive of historical versions and development records for an early V8-based JavaScript runtime. It functions as an event-driven server-side environment that executes JavaScript code outside of a web browser. The archive preserves the identity of the runtime as an evented I/O framework, designed for handling asynchronous network and file system operations through a non-blocking event loop. It provides access to read-only records of old issues and pull requests to track the evolution of these legacy versions. The project covers the domain of server-side execution a
Sandboxie is an operating system-level virtualization tool designed to run Windows applications in isolated, secure environments. By intercepting system calls and redirecting file system and registry modifications to a separate, discardable storage area, it prevents untrusted software from making permanent changes to the host system. This containment ensures that browser history, temporary files, and potential malware remain trapped within the sandbox, protecting the integrity and privacy of the underlying host. The software distinguishes itself through granular control over the isolation env
Libevent is a cross-platform library that provides a mechanism for executing callback functions when specific events occur on file descriptors, signals, or timers. It functions as a network event loop framework, enabling the development of applications that manage concurrent network connections and non-blocking input and output operations within a single execution context. The library distinguishes itself by providing a portable abstraction layer that automatically selects the most efficient system-level event notification mechanism available on the host operating system. It includes thread-s
EmDash is an open-source content management system built on Astro that combines a visual admin panel with a plugin-driven architecture and server-side rendering. It provides a complete content management system with structured content modeling, a rich text editor using Portable Text format, and a TypeScript API for type-safe content queries. The system supports authentication through passkeys, OAuth 2.1, and external providers, with role-based access control and fine-grained permission scopes. What distinguishes EmDash is its plugin development framework, which supports both native plugins ru
This project is a comprehensive sample library and implementation guide for ASP.NET Core. It provides a collection of practical examples and projects that demonstrate how to build web applications, RESTful APIs, and high-performance services. The repository focuses on a variety of architectural patterns, including the development of Minimal APIs, contract-first gRPC services, and real-time communication using WebSockets and Server-Sent Events. It includes detailed implementations for user identity and security, such as token-based authentication and CSRF protection. The codebase covers a bro
EventMachine is a reactor-pattern network framework for Ruby that provides an asynchronous I/O library for performing non-blocking network and file operations. It functions as a network server framework used to build scalable TCP and UDP servers and clients that process multiple simultaneous requests. The framework implements a concurrency model that dispatches network events to registered handlers using a single-threaded event loop. This approach allows for the management of high-concurrency network connections without the overhead of multi-threaded programming. The library covers the devel
Lychee is a self-hosted photo management system and PHP web application designed for organizing, browsing, and sharing personal photo collections. It functions as a dockerized media server that provides a web interface for uploading and managing images independently of commercial cloud services. The system features an integrated image processing pipeline that automatically generates responsive thumbnails and applies watermarks during the upload process. It supports remote media migration through integration with the Dropbox API and allows for the synchronization of existing server directories
This software is a web-based management platform designed for religious and nonprofit organizations to track member records, financial contributions, and event participation. It functions as a centralized system for maintaining detailed profiles for individuals and families, organizing members into groups, and monitoring engagement through attendance tracking. The platform distinguishes itself by integrating geospatial mapping tools that visualize member distribution to assist with community outreach and logistics planning. It also includes specialized financial modules for processing donatio
Drogon is a high-performance C++ HTTP web framework and asynchronous web server designed for building web applications and REST APIs. It utilizes an event-driven, non-blocking architecture to handle concurrent HTTP and WebSocket connections, and it implements a model-view-controller structure to separate business logic from presentation. The framework includes an integrated C++ object-relational mapping system and database client for performing asynchronous operations with relational databases and Redis key-value stores. It supports real-time, full-duplex communication via WebSockets and prov
Netpoll is an event-driven network framework and non-blocking I/O library designed to manage concurrent TCP and Unix domain socket connections. It utilizes a non-blocking event loop to monitor file descriptors and trigger callbacks for read and write events, serving as a high-performance socket manager and TCP network poller. The framework optimizes throughput across CPU cores by distributing incoming network connections across multiple pollers. It implements zero-copy networking primitives, using linked buffers and specialized memory management to read and write data while minimizing memory
koa2-note is a project focused on Koa2 web server development and Node.js asynchronous programming. It provides a framework for building web servers and APIs using an asynchronous middleware pipeline to handle request and response cycles. The project emphasizes a layered backend architecture that decouples routing, business services, and data models. It distinguishes itself through the integration of relational databases for persisting user sessions and application data, alongside a build process that includes JSX-to-JavaScript compilation for frontend assets. The capability surface covers b