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HAProxy — high-performance load balancing and reverse proxying for TCP and HTTP

OSS scale score 271.3OSS health 81Update pace 228 commits/30d
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OSS scale score is an unbounded metric that log-compresses and weights Stars, Watchers, Forks, and Contributors. Discovery score is the current OSS scale score minus the score at discovery. Update pace is commits in the last 30 days, growth momentum is the OSS scale score difference within the recent observation window, and OSS health is a 0–100 rating based on available recency, Community Health, and release data.

Stars
6,863
Primary language
C
License
GPL-2.0-or-later
Repository last updated
Sep 18, 2026

Overview

HAProxy is a high-performance load balancer and reverse proxy for TCP and HTTP applications. It distributes traffic across backends while providing health checks, TLS termination, ACL-driven routing, connection limits, and controls for highly available application entry points.

Features and best fit

Based on official documentation; not hands-on tested · Content checked:

Balance traffic at L4 and L7

HAProxy can distribute TCP connections or route HTTP requests using paths, headers, and other request properties through frontend/backend configuration.

Sources: [2][4]

Combine health checks, TLS, and ACLs

Backend health checks, TLS termination, ACLs, timeouts, and connection controls help route around failures and enforce traffic policies.

Sources: [2][4]

For stable front doors to high-traffic web, API, and TCP services

HAProxy fits systems that need low-overhead distribution across multiple application servers, active/standby backends, and granular traffic rules.

Sources: [2]

Validate configuration and understand the license structure

Run haproxy -c -f before applying configuration. The README/LICENSE describes the core as GPL-2.0-or-later, exportable headers as LGPL-2.1-or-later, with an additional OpenSSL exception.

Sources: [2][3]

Official sources

  1. [1]haproxy/haproxy repository mirror(2026-09-20)
  2. [2]HAProxy README(2026-09-20)
  3. [3]HAProxy license explanation(2026-09-20)
  4. [4]HAProxy documentation(2026-09-20)
Supplemental curator note

HAProxy focuses strongly on TCP/HTTP traffic distribution and connection handling, with granular ACLs, health checks, and backend control. Its core is GPL-2.0-or-later, exportable headers use LGPL-2.1-or-later, and the project includes an additional OpenSSL linking/use exception.

Try it in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Install HAProxy

    Install HAProxy using a package appropriate for your operating system.

    https://github.com/haproxy/wiki/wiki/Packages
  2. 2

    Create and validate a minimal configuration

    Use loopback-only addresses and run the configuration syntax check first.

    printf 'global\n daemon\n\ndefaults\n mode http\n timeout connect 5s\n timeout client 30s\n timeout server 30s\n\nfrontend demo\n bind 127.0.0.1:8080\n default_backend local\n\nbackend local\n server app 127.0.0.1:8000\n' > haproxy.cfg && haproxy -c -f haproxy.cfg
  3. 3

    Proxy to a local backend

    Open http://127.0.0.1:8080 from another terminal or browser and verify the local backend response.

    python -m http.server 8000 & haproxy -f haproxy.cfg -db
Check the official README

Growth

Growth trends · Last 30 days

6,863 Stars

Trend data is still being collected.

Development activity

Last 90 days · weekly

Commits (last 30 days)
228
Open PRs
0
Issues opened
75
Issues closed
66
PRs opened
0
PRs merged
0

Issues

75 / 66

Jun 23Sep 20
Issues openedIssues closed

Pull requests

0 / 0

Jun 23Sep 20
PRs openedPRs merged

Maintenance

Median first response
22 hr
Issue response rate
72.4% (42/58)

Based on up to the 100 newest issues opened by external users in the last 90 days. A first comment from an OWNER, MEMBER, or COLLABORATOR counts as a response; issues whose full comment history cannot be checked are excluded. The median and response rate update weekly.

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GitHub data

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GitHub Topics

  • haproxy
  • load-balancer
  • reverse-proxy
  • proxy
  • http
  • http2
  • cache
  • fastcgi
  • high-availability
  • https
  • ipv6
  • proxy-protocol
Stars
6,863
Forks
972
Watchers
117
Open issues
376
Contributors
298
Primary language
C
Repository last updated
Sep 18, 2026
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