Angie
July 24, 2026 · View on GitHub
.. image:: misc/logo.gif :alt: Angie logo :target: https://en.angie.software/
Angie
Angie /ˈendʒi/ is an efficient, powerful, and scalable web server that was forked from nginx to act as a drop-in replacement, so you can use existing setups without major changes to module layout or configuration.
The project was conceived by ex-devs from the original nginx team to venture beyond the earlier vision.
Getting Started
To start using Angie, see the official documentation in
English <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/>,
Russian <https://angie.software/angie/docs/>,
Chinese <https://cn.angie.software/angie/docs/>,
Spanish <https://es.angie.software/angie/docs/>, or
Portuguese <https://pt.angie.software/angie/docs/>__:
-
Installation <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/installation/>_ (ru <https://angie.software/angie/docs/installation/>,cn <https://cn.angie.software/angie/docs/installation/>,es <https://es.angie.software/angie/docs/installation/>,pt <https://pt.angie.software/angie/docs/installation/>) -
Runtime configuration <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/>_ (ru <https://angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/>,cn <https://cn.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/>,es <https://es.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/>,pt <https://pt.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/>) -
Troubleshooting and feedback channels <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/troubleshooting/>_ (ru <https://angie.software/angie/docs/troubleshooting/>,cn <https://cn.angie.software/angie/docs/troubleshooting/>,es <https://es.angie.software/angie/docs/troubleshooting/>,pt <https://pt.angie.software/angie/docs/troubleshooting/>) -
Development and contribution <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/development/>_ (ru <https://angie.software/angie/docs/development/>,cn <https://cn.angie.software/angie/docs/development/>,es <https://es.angie.software/angie/docs/development/>,pt <https://pt.angie.software/angie/docs/development/>)
Features
On top of all the capabilities of
nginx 1.31.2 <https://nginx.org/en/CHANGES>_,
Angie adds a number of its own advantages, including these:
Protocols & Connectivity
- `Production-ready HTTP/3
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_v3/>`_
support for both client and `proxied server
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_proxy/#proxy-http-version>`_
connections, with the ability to independently use different protocol versions
(HTTP/1.x, HTTP/2, HTTP/3) on opposite sides (nginx's HTTP/3 is limited to
server-side and remains experimental, `suffering from degradations
<https://en.angie.software/news/articles/http3-ebpf/>`_ after reloads).
- A built-in `DNS over HTTPS (DoH)
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_doh/>`_
server module (RFC 8484) that accepts DNS queries over HTTP/HTTPS and proxies
them to DNS server groups via UDP or TCP.
- PROXY Protocol V2 with the ability to pass arbitrary `TLV values
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/stream/stream_proxy/#s-proxy-protocol-tlv>`_.
- Extending authorization and balancing capabilities for `the MQTT protocol
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/stream/stream_mqtt_preread/>`_.
- Informing balancing decisions with `the RDP protocol's session cookies
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/stream/stream_rdp_preread/>`_.
- Support for the XOAUTH2 and OAUTHBEARER `authentication methods
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/mail/mail_smtp/#m-smtp-auth>`_
in the mail proxy.
TLS & Certificate Management
-
Automatic HTTPS provisions multi-domain, wildcard, and IP TLS certificates using built-in
ACME <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/acme/>_ with HTTP, DNS, and ALPN challenge support, including ACME profiles and External Account Binding (EAB) for commercial CAs. -
TLS 1.3 Early Data (0-RTT) <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/stream/stream_ssl/#ssl-early-data>_ support for both HTTP and stream modules (nginx only supports HTTP). -
Server <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_ssl/#ssl-ntls>- andclient-side <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_proxy/#proxy-ssl-ntls>support for NTLS when using theTongsuo <https://github.com/Tongsuo-Project/Tongsuo>_ TLS library, enabledat build time <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/installation/sourcebuild/#install-source-features>_.
Load Balancing & Upstream
- Dynamic updating of upstream groups based on events and labels from `Docker containers
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_docker/#http-docker>`_
(or similar tools like Podman) without server reload.
- `Load balancing based on the average response time
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_upstream/#least-time>`_.
A probability-based selection algorithm ensures smooth, balanced load
distribution: faster servers automatically attract proportionally more
traffic, spikes are suppressed via a configurable smoothing factor, and
no server is ever starved of traffic. Manual weight configuration is not
needed — and would not make sense — since traffic is distributed
dynamically based on actual response times. Unlike nginx's approach, which
is effectively ``least_conn`` with a time-based adjustment rather than a
true response-time-aware algorithm, Angie's selection is driven by measured
performance.
- `Session binding
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_upstream/#u-sticky>`_
for both HTTP and stream upstreams (nginx only supports HTTP), including a
``learn`` mode for automatic session detection and a ``drain`` mode for
graceful server decommissioning.
- Recommissioning upstream servers after a failure smoothly using the
``slow_start`` option of the `server
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_upstream/#u-server>`_
directive in both HTTP and stream upstreams (nginx only supports
``slow_start`` for HTTP).
Observability & Monitoring
-
Exposing basic information about the web server, its
configuration <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_api/#a-api-config-files>, as well asmetrics <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_api/#metrics>of proxied servers, client connections, shared memory zones, TLS certificates, and many other things via a RESTfulAPI <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_api/#a-api>_ interface in JSON format. -
Exporting statistics in
Prometheus <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_prometheus/#prometheus>_ format withcustomizable templates <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_prometheus/#prometheus-template>_. -
Monitoring the server through the browser with the
Console Light <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/monitoring/>_ visual monitoring tool. See the online demo: https://console.angie.software/ -
Arbitrarily configurable real-time statistics collection for HTTP and stream traffic via
the Metric module <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_metric/>_, supporting counters, histograms, and moving averages grouped by custom keys, exposed via the/status/http/metric_zones/and/status/stream/metric_zones/API sections with Prometheus support. -
Enhanced error logging <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/core/#error-log>_ with message filtering via thefilter=parameter anderror_log_user_tagdirective, JSON format output viaformat=, and a configurable maximum logging rate via therate=parameter.
Easier Configuration & Operations
- Several matching expressions at once in a single ``location`` directive:
blocks with shared settings can be `combined
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/#combined-locations>`_.
- The ``goto`` directive in the rewrite module performs an
`internal redirect to a named location
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_rewrite/#goto>`_
without modifying the URI, replacing common workarounds based on ``try_files``
or ``error_page``.
- `Automatic DNS resolver configuration
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/#resolver>`_
from ``/etc/resolv.conf``; the file is re-read on changes, eliminating the
need to manually specify DNS server addresses.
- The ``time_format`` directive defines a `variable with a custom time format
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/#time-format>`_,
supporting ``strftime()``-like specifiers and ``%L`` for milliseconds.
Content & Media
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Flushing the shared memory zone in `proxy_cache_path
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_proxy/#proxy-cache-path>`_
on disk preserves the cache index contents between restarts and updates,
which eliminates the cache load delay and brings the server online even
faster.
- Limiting the `MP4 file transfer rate
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_mp4/#mp4-limit-rate>`_
proportionally to its bitrate, thus reducing the bandwidth load.
- Processing HEIC and AVIF formats and `image conversion
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/modules/http/http_image_filter/#image-filter>`_.
Infrastructure
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- `Smooth maintenance releases
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/oss_changes/>`_
with prompt bug fixes and regular major updates with lots of new features,
including unique features, as well as the best of nginx and freenginx.
- Pre-built `binary packages
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/installation/oss_packages/#install-thirdpartymodules-oss>`_
for many popular third-party modules.
- `Comprehensive documentation <https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/>`_
available in multiple languages, with `full-text search
<https://en.angie.software/search/>`_ and built-in
`support for AI assistants
<https://en.angie.software/angie/docs/configuration/#documentation-for-ai-assistants>`_
via machine-readable sitemaps, per-page Markdown versions, and `Context7
<https://context7.com/websites/en_angie_software_angie>`_ up-to-date indexing.
- A comprehensive test suite embedded directly in the source tree and
significantly extended beyond the original nginx tests, covering all
major subsystems with over 80% code coverage, runnable via ``make test``.