Nginx Proxy Manager vs Traefik: Which for Homelab?

Last updated: June 10, 2026 | Reading time: 8 minutes

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The Problem: Accessing Multiple Services

You have 10+ services on your homelab:

• proxmox.yourdomain.com
• gitea.yourdomain.com
• grafana.yourdomain.com

You need a reverse proxy to route traffic.

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Nginx Proxy Manager

Best for: Beginners, GUI lovers, simple setups

Pros

• ✅ Web UI (no config files)
• ✅ Easy SSL (Let's Encrypt built-in)
• ✅ Visual host management
• ✅ Request logging

Cons

• ❌ Manual config for advanced features
• ❌ Doesn't auto-discover Docker containers
• ❌ Single point of failure

Quick Setup

docker run -d \
  -p 80:80 \
  -p 81:81 \
  -p 443:443 \
  -v npm-data:/data \
  -v npm-letsencrypt:/etc/letsencrypt \
  --name nginx-proxy-manager \
  jc21/nginx-proxy-manager:latest

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Traefik

Best for: Docker-heavy setups, automation, advanced users

Pros

• ✅ Auto-discovers Docker containers
• ✅ Labels-based configuration
• ✅ Built-in dashboard
• ✅ Load balancing
• ✅ Middleware (auth, rate limiting)

Cons

• ❌ Steeper learning curve
• ❌ No GUI for config
• ❌ Debugging can be tricky

Quick Setup

docker run -d \
  -p 80:80 \
  -p 443:443 \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -v traefik-data:/data \
  --name traefik \
  traefik:v3.0

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Performance Comparison

| Metric | NPM | Traefik | |--------|-----|---------| | Memory | 50 MB | 80 MB | | Requests/sec | 15K | 18K | | SSL Renewal | Automatic | Automatic | | Config Reload | Manual | Hot reload |

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Recommendation

Start with Nginx Proxy Manager if:

• You're new to reverse proxies
• You prefer GUI over config files
• You have < 20 services

Choose Traefik if:

• You run everything in Docker
• You want automatic service discovery
• You need advanced routing rules

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Both are solid choices. NPM for simplicity, Traefik for automation.