Open-source alternatives to Simple Http Server

This project is a lightweight Node.js web server and command-line tool designed for hosting static assets and delivering local files over HTTP. It functions as a static site host that provides a minimal environment for serving HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files to web browsers. The server includes built-in support for TLS encryption to enable secure HTTPS access and allows for the configuration of cross-origin resource sharing headers. It also features basic authentication to restrict folder access via username and password verification. The system manages content delivery through browser cache

Iris is a high-performance web framework and API toolkit for the Go programming language. It provides the infrastructure necessary to build HTTP/2 web applications, REST APIs, and MVC-based websites. The project distinguishes itself through a flexible architectural model that supports multiple isolated application instances within a single process and allows for binary-embedded asset loading to eliminate external filesystem dependencies. It features dynamic router hot-reloading and a pluggable view engine for rendering dynamic HTML content. The framework covers a broad range of capabilities,

Cowboy is a high-performance HTTP server for Erlang and OTP. It is designed to handle web traffic with low memory usage and can be used as a standalone server or as an embedded networking library integrated directly into an existing application. The project implements modern transport protocols, including HTTP/3, QUIC, and WebTransport, to enable faster connections and bidirectional data streaming. It also functions as a real-time communication server supporting Server-Sent Events for pushing asynchronous updates to clients. Broad capabilities include path and content-type based request rout

Echo is a high-performance, lightweight web framework for Go designed for building scalable RESTful APIs and web services. It provides a centralized environment for mapping network requests to handler functions, utilizing a fast radix-tree routing engine to ensure efficient request dispatching. The framework is built around a modular, middleware-centric pipeline that allows developers to execute reusable logic for cross-cutting concerns like authentication, logging, and security across the entire application. What distinguishes Echo is its focus on developer productivity through structured da

Javalin is a lightweight web framework for Java and Kotlin designed for building REST APIs and web applications. It functions as an embedded Jetty web server, allowing applications to run as standalone processes without the need for an external servlet container. The project provides specialized frameworks for diverse communication patterns, including a REST API framework with automatic OpenAPI schema generation, a GraphQL API framework with query and mutation resolvers, and a WebSocket server for bidirectional real-time communication. It also includes a dedicated framework for pushing real-t

Salvo is a comprehensive Rust web framework for building asynchronous HTTP servers and web applications. It features a hierarchical web router that uses a tree-based structure to map requests to handlers and an asynchronous middleware pipeline based on the onion model for request and response pre- and post-processing. The framework is distinguished by its native support for modern network protocols, including a QUIC-based HTTP/3 implementation alongside HTTP/1 and HTTP/2. It includes an integrated OpenAPI documentation generator that extracts schemas directly from handler signatures to produc

Hono is a lightweight web framework built on Web Standard APIs that executes across JavaScript runtimes including Cloudflare Workers, Deno, Bun, and Node.js.

This project is a comprehensive library of reference implementations and patterns for building web applications using the Go Fiber framework. It provides curated templates and implementation guides for creating REST APIs, web servers, and structured backend services. The repository serves as a practical resource for applying architectural patterns, including Clean and Hexagonal architectures, as well as port-and-adapter decoupling. It offers detailed examples for integrating common web features such as OAuth2 authentication, JWT verification, WebSockets for real-time communication, and server

Serve is a Node.js static file server that delivers assets and single-page applications from a local directory over HTTP. It functions as both a command-line web server for hosting directories directly from the terminal and as HTTP middleware for integrating static asset delivery into existing servers. The project includes a directory browser interface that provides a web-based file explorer for navigating and accessing files within a served folder. It supports single-page application fallback by redirecting unmatched request paths to a root file to enable client-side routing. The server han

Octelium is a zero-trust network access platform and identity-aware proxy designed to secure private HTTP, SSH, and SQL resources. It functions as a secure gateway that validates human and workload identities using OIDC, SAML, and FIDO2 passkeys before granting access to internal applications and SaaS APIs. The system is distinguished by its secretless access broker, which injects credentials—such as API keys, passwords, and AWS Sigv4 signatures—at the gateway level so users can access databases and cloud resources without managing secrets. It further specializes in AI gateway administration,

Sozu is a high-performance, memory-safe reverse proxy and load balancer built in Rust. It is designed to manage HTTP, TCP, and UDP traffic through a multi-process architecture that leverages isolated worker processes to ensure fault tolerance and efficient resource utilization across multi-core hardware. The project distinguishes itself through a focus on continuous availability and dynamic control. It features a unique binary hot-reloading mechanism and a Unix-socket-based control plane, allowing administrators to update proxy configurations, modify listener settings, and even replace the pr

dufs is a self-hosted file manager and static file server that provides HTTP file hosting and WebDAV capabilities. It functions as a tool for sharing files over HTTP and managing folders remotely through both a web-based interface and the WebDAV protocol. The server distinguishes itself by mapping incoming requests directly to a local directory structure and offering a single-binary distribution for deployment. It supports the mounting of the server as a network drive via WebDAV and allows for the replacement of the default web interface using customizable asset overlays. The project covers

Devise is a comprehensive identity management system and authentication framework for Ruby on Rails applications. It provides a complete set of tools for managing user registration, secure sign-in, and session handling using a modular strategy pattern. The framework distinguishes itself by offering a suite of security hardening features, including brute force protection through account locking and secure password recovery workflows. It also functions as an integrator for external identity providers and third-party authentication via standardized protocols. Broad capabilities cover the full u

Gotty is a web-based terminal emulator that functions as a secure remote shell gateway. It exposes command-line processes as interactive web applications, allowing users to access and manage terminal sessions directly through a standard browser without requiring local terminal software. The system distinguishes itself by integrating with terminal multiplexers to enable shared, real-time collaboration among multiple remote clients. It enforces security through a combination of TLS-encrypted network transport and configurable access control mechanisms, including basic authentication and client

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

h2o is a high-performance content delivery server and HTTP/3 web server. It functions as a network gateway and reverse proxy that forwards client requests to upstream servers to manage traffic flow and load. The project distinguishes itself as a protocol fuzzing tool, utilizing a testing framework to execute automated stress tests against network protocols to identify memory leaks and crashes. The server provides capabilities for secure web traffic management through encrypted data transmission and high-performance web serving across HTTP/1, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3. It includes tools for server r

Pingora is a Rust-based framework for building high-performance network services, including HTTP reverse proxies, layer seven load balancers, and TLS termination proxies. It serves as an asynchronous network library designed to intercept and route HTTP, gRPC, and WebSocket traffic between clients and upstream backend servers. The project enables zero-downtime service updates by handing over listening sockets between processes during binary or configuration upgrades. It utilizes a programmable multi-phase pipeline to modify request and response bodies and headers, and it provides a pluggable T

BrowserSync is a web development synchronization tool and live reload server. It functions as a local static web server, a reverse proxy server for existing sites, and a browser testing orchestrator that coordinates page state across different browsers and physical devices. The tool is distinguished by its ability to mirror user interactions, such as clicks, scrolls, and form inputs, in real time across all connected devices. It also provides a web-based device control interface and the capability to create public URL tunnels for remote testing of local sites. The system covers a broad range

Devise is a flexible authentication framework for Ruby on Rails applications. It serves as a user identity management system that handles registration, sign-in, password recovery, and account confirmation. The system integrates with the Warden middleware to manage user sessions and security across various request types. The framework functions as a multi-model authentication engine, allowing for the configuration of multiple distinct user models with independent routes and access controls. It also provides a standardized interface to connect with external identity providers and third-party lo

Typhoeus is a Ruby wrapper for libcurl that functions as a session-based HTTP client. It provides an interface for making both synchronous and asynchronous network requests. The project acts as a parallel request manager, using a managed queue to execute multiple network requests concurrently. It further distinguishes itself as a mocking tool for stubbing requests with predefined responses and as a caching layer that stores responses to avoid redundant network calls. The library covers a broad range of capabilities including session cookie management, response body streaming for large files,

This project is a learning guide and collection of study notes designed to teach Node.js backend development. It provides a comprehensive core API reference and practical demonstrations for implementing server-side logic, network programming, and system APIs. The guide specifically covers advanced technical domains including process management for scaling applications via clusters and child processes, as well as network programming for building TCP, UDP, and HTTP services. It also includes detailed instructional material on security implementation, focusing on cryptographic hashing and encryp

This project is a command-line development web server designed to serve static files and proxy network requests. It functions as a modular, middleware-based server that allows developers to chain custom functions to handle request parsing, response compression, and URL rewriting. The server distinguishes itself through its ability to simulate complex network environments and production-like security configurations. It supports secure encrypted connections via HTTPS and restricts access to hosted resources using basic authentication protocols. Additionally, it provides specialized routing for

This project is a community-curated directory of open-source software designed for deployment in private server environments and home labs. It serves as a comprehensive resource for discovering independent, self-hosted alternatives to mainstream cloud services, enabling users to maintain full data ownership and control over their digital infrastructure. The directory is structured through a hierarchical taxonomy that organizes a vast collection of applications into logical categories, ranging from media management and data analytics to private communication and team productivity tools. It dis

httprouter is a high-performance HTTP request router for Go that maps incoming network requests to specific handler functions using a radix tree. It functions as a request dispatcher and path parameter parser, organizing URL paths in a tree structure to ensure efficient lookups. The router specializes in capturing dynamic segments and catch-all wildcards from URL paths to pass directly into request handlers. It implements method-specific routing and automatically manages responses for unsupported HTTP methods. The library covers broader capabilities including request normalization through tr

This project is a Docker-based Nginx reverse proxy manager designed to automate the deployment of HTTPS for web applications. It functions as a gateway that acquires and renews security certificates via Let's Encrypt and proxies incoming traffic to backend services. The system distinguishes itself by automatically discovering web services running in Docker containers to eliminate manual domain configuration. It manages security certificates through an automated process and can expose these certificates to other applications via shared volumes. The tool covers traffic management through load

🪂 SkyFolder shares your folders on the network!

A fast production-ready static web server with TLS (HTTPS), routing, hot reloading, caching, templating, and security in a single-binary you can set up with zero code.