Sōzu by sozu-proxy

Sōzu HTTP reverse proxy, configurable at runtime, fast and safe, built in Rust. It is awesome!

proxyhttp-proxyhttprustsecurityperformance
Verdict 75/100 health $4.13/mo cheapest, hetzner 2/5 setup difficulty Last release 6 months ago

Self-host Sōzu on hetzner CAX11 for $4.13/mo.

Health score
75 /100
6-dim composite
Self-hosts from
$4.13 /mo
hetzner · CAX11
Difficulty
2 /5
Docker + read README
GitHub stars
3.7k
213 forks

About Sōzu

From the project's README at github.com/sozu-proxy/sozu. Lightly cleaned for readability; for the full source see the upstream repo.

Sōzu is a lightweight, fast, always-up reverse proxy server. Why use Sōzu? Hot configurable: Sōzu can receive configuration changes at runtime, through secure unix sockets, without having to reload. Upgrades without restarting: Sōzu is always-up, meaning it upgrades itself while still processing requests. Handles SSL: Sōzu works as a TLS endpoint, so your backend servers can focus on what they do best. Multiple cryptographic backends are supported at compile time: ring (default), AWS-LC (with post-quantum and FIPS 140-3 options), and OpenSSL. Protects your network: Sōzu protect backends by shielding them behind the reverse proxy, limiting direct network access. Sōzu uses Rust, a language primed for memory safety. And even if a worker is exploited, Sōzu workers are sandboxed. Optimize performance: Sōzu makes the most of Rust's capacity to avoid useless copying and memory usage. Two key dependencies have been optimized in this way: Kawa is a generic HTTP representation library that parses and translates HTTP messages with zero copy Rustls is a TLS library that encrypts/decrypts TLS traffic with as little intermediate memory usage as it gets

Health score breakdown

6-dimension composite. See methodology for formula and weights.

activity
100
maturity
100
community
92
security
70
sustainability
53
adoption
31

Adoption signals

Real-world usage data, pulled from each registry. The bigger the numbers, the more battle-tested the project.

SignalValueSource
GitHub stars 3.7k github.com/sozu-proxy/sozu
GitHub forks 213 github.com/sozu-proxy/sozu
CRATES downloads (last month) 136 sozu

Release & maintenance

Is this project actively maintained, or about to die? Check the recency of last commit and last release.

Project age9.3 yearssince Jan 2017
Last commit3 days agoMay 4, 2026
Releases shipped23last: 6 months ago

Self-hosting cost across providers

Detected requirements: 4GB RAM, 40GB disk minimum. Cheapest plan per provider that meets the requirement.

ProviderPlanSpecsMonthly
hetzner CAX11 2c · 4GB · 40GB $4.13 USD Deploy →
vultr VC2 1c · 1GB · 25GB $5 USD Deploy →
linode Nanode 1GB 1c · 1GB · 25GB $5.12 USD Deploy →
digitalocean Basic Regular 1GB 1c · 1GB · 25GB $6 USD Deploy →

What people say on Hacker News

Ready to self-host Sōzu?

Spin up a hetzner CAX11 (4GB RAM, 40GB disk) for $4.13/mo and follow the project's official install docs.

Data last refreshed May 7, 2026.

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