Compare / imgproxy vs Thumbor
imgproxy vs Thumbor
Pick imgproxy if you want the published Cloudinary / Imgix stack (Apache-2.0 resize proxy — skip Pro processors). Pick Thumbor if you want that MIT thumbnail service.
Facts checked 26 Oct 2026. License, language, and GitHub activity come from the catalog or the project's own repo. "Not in the catalog row" means the public catalog dump does not store that number.
imgproxy in the catalog Thumbor in the catalog Start on Railway
How they compare
| imgproxy | Thumbor | |
|---|---|---|
| License | Apache License 2.0 (catalog); Pro processors are paid source | MIT License (catalog) source |
| Language | Go (catalog) | Python (catalog) |
| GitHub activity | 11,150 stars in the catalog; last push 22 Oct 2026 source | 10,527 stars in the catalog; last push 25 Oct 2026 source |
| Self-host | Published as /stacks/imgproxy-media. Point at S3/MinIO or a volume. Sign URLs. | Official docs at thumbor.org. Python thumbnail service. |
| Best for | The published Cloudinary / Imgix replacement. | An MIT transform box if imgproxy is not the API. |
Self-hosting and resource needs
imgproxy is the published lander — /stacks/imgproxy-media. imgproxy is imgproxy/imgproxy (Apache-2.0 on 26 Oct 2026; skip Pro). Thumbor is thumbor/thumbor. Imagor is the other Go proxy. You still need object storage and a CDN. Neither has a one-click c17 Railway template.
FAQ
- Imgix or Cloudinary?
- Same published transform — /replace/imgix and /replace/cloudinary.
- Where is Imagor?
- Apache-2.0 Go sibling on /stacks/imgproxy-media. Not this pair.
- Are these free?
- imgproxy OSS is Apache-2.0. Thumbor is MIT. imgproxy Pro processors are paid — skip them. You pay hosting and a CDN.
- How do I deploy imgproxy?
- Open /stacks/imgproxy-media. Persist originals. Swap one Cloudinary or Imgix URL.
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