Caddy
Web server that obtains and renews HTTPS certificates automatically by default.
why this verdict
Keep it — Anthropic has not replaced it
Anthropic's version overlaps, but does not finish the dev tools job, so this one is still worth keeping open.
- A named launch, not a vibe named, unlinked
- Managed platforms and CDNs terminating TLS so nobody configures a web server at all. Anthropic, November 4, 2025 — no announcement link recorded yet.
- How much of the job it covers not the job editorial call
- Parts of it. The job still needs the tool to get finished.
- Is there a free way to do it? yes
- 3 of 3 listed replacements have a usable free tier: NGINX, Traefik and HAProxy.
- What the call is worth nothing to cancel
- No paid entry tier tracked, so there is no subscription to cancel.
- Threatened by
- Anthropic
- Since
- November 4, 2025
- List price
- free
- Per year
- —
The backstory
Caddy made automatic HTTPS the default rather than a tutorial, and its config file is short enough to hold in your head, since a two-line site block does what a page of nginx does. Managed hosting removes the server entirely for many projects. Caddy thrives anyway in the self-hosting revival, where it is the most common front door for a homelab, and its readable config is exactly what an agent generates correctly on the first attempt.
Escape hatches
More documentation and tuning knobs for heavy traffic
nginx.org open_in_newBetter fit when routing is driven by container labels
traefik.io open_in_newSpecialist load balancer for very high throughput
haproxy.org open_in_new3 of 3 replacements have a usable free tier.
