NetGoat: Self-Hostable Cloudflare Alternative Reverse Proxy Engine
Summary
NetGoat is a blazing-fast, self-hostable reverse proxy and traffic manager that offers Cloudflare-like features without the cost. Designed for developers and homelabbers, it provides advanced security, performance, and control, including DDoS protection, SSL termination, and rate limiting. It can also act as an additional layer on top of Cloudflare for premium-grade features.
Repository Info
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Introduction
NetGoat is an open-source, self-hostable reverse proxy and traffic manager designed to provide Cloudflare-like features for free. It's built for developers, homelabbers, and teams seeking full control over their traffic, security, and performance. Currently in active alpha, NetGoat is refining its core proxy engine and self-hosting scripts for a stable public release. It can even be used as an additional layer on top of Cloudflare to unlock premium features at no extra cost.
Installation
To get started with NetGoat, the project recommends using datalix for affordable and highly available VPS instances. While the official documentation at https://docs.netgoat.xyz is not yet published, users can follow the project's progress and get support by joining their Discord community.
Examples
NetGoat offers a robust set of features for managing and securing your web traffic. You can implement Zero Trust Networking to secure services, deploy DDoS Protection to safeguard against attacks, and handle SSL Termination automatically with free auto-renewing certificates. It also supports Rate Limiting to control traffic, WebSocket for real-time applications, and Load Balancing for multinode routing with zero downtime. With its Dynamic Rules Engine, you can write custom JavaScript/TypeScript rules for routing, caching, and filtering, providing granular control over your network. The project also includes a Real-Time Metrics Dashboard for monitoring traffic and performance.
Why Use NetGoat
NetGoat stands out as a powerful solution for those who desire Cloudflare's advanced features but prefer a self-hosted, open-source approach. It provides complete control over your infrastructure, eliminating vendor lock-in and recurring costs. Its modern stack, built with Go, Bun, Next.js, and Fastify, ensures high performance and a great developer experience. Beyond being a standalone alternative, NetGoat's unique ability to act as an additional layer on top of Cloudflare allows users to leverage premium Cloudflare features without paying for them, making it an incredibly cost-effective and flexible solution for power users and homelabbers.
Links
- GitHub Repository: https://github.com/netgoat-xyz/netgoat
- Discord Community: https://discord.com/invite/3aJ7MdJsZV
- Documentation (Coming Soon): https://docs.netgoat.xyz