Feature Comparison

Feature / Proxy	Aralez	Nginx	HAProxy	Traefik	Caddy	Envoy
Hot Reload (Zero Downtime)	✅ Automatic	⚙️ Manual (graceful reload)	⚙️ Manual	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic
Auto Cert Reload (from disk)	✅ Automatic	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Automatic (Let’s Encrypt only)	✅ Automatic	⚙️ Manual
Auth: Basic / API Key / JWT	✅ Built-in	⚙️ Basic only	⚙️ Basic only	✅ Config-based	✅ Config-based	✅ Config-based
TLS / HTTP2 Termination	✅ Automatic	⚙️ Manual config	⚙️ Manual config	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic
Built-in A+ TLS Grades	✅ Automatic	⚙️ Manual tuning	⚙️ Manual	⚙️ Manual	✅ Automatic	⚙️ Manual
gRPC Proxy	✅ Zero-Config	⚙️ Manual setup	⚙️ Manual	⚙️ Needs config	⚙️ Needs config	⚙️ Needs config
SSL Proxy	✅ Zero-Config	⚙️ Manual	⚙️ Manual	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic
HTTP/2 Proxy	✅ Zero-Config	⚙️ Manual enable	⚙️ Manual enable	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic
WebSocket Proxy	✅ Zero-Config	⚙️ Manual upgrade	⚙️ Manual upgrade	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic
Sticky Sessions	✅ Built-in	⚙️ Config-based	⚙️ Config-based	✅ Automatic	⚙️ Limited	✅ Config-based
Prometheus Metrics	✅ Built-in	⚙️ External exporter	✅ Built-in	✅ Built-in	✅ Built-in	✅ Built-in
Consul Integration	✅ Yes	❌ No	⚙️ Via DNS only	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Yes
Kubernetes Integration	✅ Yes	⚙️ Needs ingress setup	⚙️ External	✅ Yes	⚙️ Limited	✅ Yes
Request Limiter	✅ Yes	✅ Config-based	✅ Config-based	✅ Config-based	✅ Config-based	✅ Config-based
Serve Static Files	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	⚙️ Basic	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic	❌ No
Upstream Health Checks	✅ Automatic	⚙️ Manual config	⚙️ Manual config	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic	✅ Automatic
Built With	🦀 Rust	C	C	Go	Go	C++

✅ Automatic / Zero-Config — Works immediately, no setup required ⚙️ Manual / Config-based — Requires explicit configuration or modules ❌ No — Not supported

Interpretation

Aralez aims to combine the simplicity of NGINX, the observability of Envoy, and the dynamic features of Traefik, all in a modern, lightweight Rust codebase.

Where most proxies require external tooling or complex configuration for dynamic updates, Aralez focuses on automatic behavior by default:

Upstreams and certificates reload instantly with zero downtime.
Health checks, TLS termination, and protocol upgrades happen automatically.
Authentication and metrics are built-in, not bolted on.
Consul and Kubernetes integration make it mesh-ready without extra agents.
Written in safe, high-performance Rust, offering reliability and modern concurrency.

In short, Aralez is designed for developers and operators who want a fast, self-contained reverse proxy that “just works,” while still being flexible enough to scale into a service-mesh-like architecture.

Zero-Config Features

Aralez is designed to just work out of the box, minimizing setup and manual configuration. With Aralez, you get:

Automatic protocol detection: gRPC, HTTP/2, WebSockets, and SSL are proxied correctly without extra config.
Hot reloads & zero downtime: Upstreams and configuration changes take effect immediately without restarting the server.
Automatic TLS / certificate updates: Drop new certificates on disk and Aralez picks them up instantly.
Built-in authentication & rate limiting: Basic auth, API key, JWT, and request limits are ready-to-use.
Observability & metrics: Prometheus metrics are available automatically.
Service discovery integration: Works seamlessly with Consul and Kubernetes DNS without extra setup.