Binary
Combine filters →A single binary is a compiled program that runs on the server by itself: download it, start it, and it serves. No language runtime or package manager is needed on the host, only a machine where the executable can run as a process, which rules out hosting that accepts only PHP or only files. A record carries this value when its documentation offers a standalone executable for production. Most software here is written in Go or Rust. Caddy and PocketBase are examples.
79 projects run as a single binary, listed alphabetically. Mostly databases and caches, web frameworks and APIs and backends, of 14 categories in all. 77 records do not record this field, and cannot appear here either way. For 206 the question does not apply. Counts only projects with momentum; the full list has the rest.
A
Actix WebRust web framework for building HTTP servers and web applications, with routing, middleware, WebSocket support and an async runtime.
- Apache HTTP Server
Open-source web server for modern operating systems, extended by loadable modules.
ArangoDBMulti-model database for documents, graphs and key-value data, queried with the AQL query language.
- Atomic Server
Self-hostable server for storage, search, sharing and sync of Atomic Data, with a web app and a RESTful API.
AutheliaOpen-source authentication and authorization server and portal that adds multi-factor authentication and single sign-on in front of web applications.
- Axum
Rust HTTP routing and request-handling library focused on ergonomics and modularity.
C
- Carbone
Document generator that fills Word, Excel, OpenDocument and PowerPoint templates with JSON data and exports PDF and other formats.
CasdoorOpen-source identity and access management and single sign-on platform with a web admin console.
CephOpen-source distributed storage system that serves object, block and file interfaces from one cluster built on commodity hardware.
cert-managerKubernetes controller that issues and renews X.509 TLS certificates for workloads in a Kubernetes or OpenShift cluster.
ClickHouseColumn-oriented SQL database management system for analytical queries, available as open-source server software and as a cloud service.
CockroachDBDistributed SQL database that runs as a cluster of nodes and keeps its data replicated across them.
ComentarioSelf-hosted web comment engine that adds threaded comments, voting and moderation to web pages through an embedded widget.
ConvexOpen-source reactive database and backend for web apps, with server functions written in TypeScript and a cloud platform run by the maker.
D
- Diesel
Safe, extensible ORM and query builder for Rust.
DioxusRust framework for building fullstack web, desktop and mobile apps from one codebase.
- DirectAdmin
Proprietary web hosting control panel for managing websites, email, DNS and databases on Linux servers, with a paid license per server.
E
EchoGo web framework built on the standard net/http package, with a radix-tree router, request binding, middleware and centralized error handling.
EncoreBackend framework for TypeScript and Go in which application code declares the infrastructure it uses, such as databases, Pub/Sub and cron jobs.
EnvoyOpen source edge and service proxy for cloud-native applications.
F
G
GarageS3-compatible object storage server for self-hosted, geo-distributed deployments, written in Rust.
GinGo web framework with a Martini-like API for building web services, REST APIs and web applications.
go-zeroGo web and RPC framework with code generation from API definitions, built-in resilience components and the goctl command-line tool.
- Gophenberg
Plugin-first CMS with a Go backend, a React admin built on the Gutenberg block editor and optional Astro themes, backed by PostgreSQL.
GORMGo ORM library that maps structs to database tables, with associations, hooks, transactions and auto migrations.
- Grafana
Open source application for querying, visualizing, alerting on and exploring metrics, logs and traces.
- Grafana Loki
Horizontally scalable log aggregation system that indexes log labels rather than the text of log lines.
H
- HashiCorp Vault
Server for storing, accessing and encrypting secrets, with an HTTP API, a CLI and a web interface, that applications can call for credentials and keys.
Hasura GraphQL EngineOpen-source GraphQL server that generates a GraphQL API over existing databases and other data sources, with a hosted Hasura Cloud edition.
HiawathaOpen source web server for Unix-like systems, focused on security and a small footprint, with CGI, FastCGI and reverse proxy support.
HyperswitchOpen-source payments orchestration platform that routes transactions across payment processors, with a vault, a control center and reconciliation, self-hosted or hosted by Juspay.
I
InngestWorkflow orchestration platform for durable functions with step retries, scheduling and flow control, run by applications through language SDKs and self-hostable as a single server.
J
JaegerOpen-source distributed tracing platform that collects, stores and shows traces from requests that cross services.
K
L
legoACME client and library written in Go that obtains, renews and revokes TLS certificates from Let's Encrypt and other ACME servers.
LeptosRust framework for building reactive web applications, client-side or full-stack with server rendering and server functions.
- Litekart
Self-hosted ecommerce platform whose Go backend, GoCommerce, serves the API and an admin panel for a separate SvelteKit storefront.
LiteSpeed Web ServerWeb server from LiteSpeed Technologies, sold under paid licenses, that reads Apache configuration files and includes a WebAdmin console.
M
N
NATSMessaging server that routes messages between applications and services by subject, with optional persistence through JetStream.
nginxC-based HTTP web server with reverse proxy, content cache, load balancer and mail proxy features.
ntfySelf-hostable HTTP publish-subscribe server that delivers published messages as push notifications to phones, desktops and browsers.
O
OAuth2 ProxyGo reverse proxy that adds OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect authentication in front of web applications.
- Ocsigen Eliom
OCaml framework for building client and server web and mobile applications as a single program.
- Ory Hydra
OpenID Certified OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect server that issues tokens and connects to an existing login and consent app.
P
PagefindStatic search library that builds a search index from built HTML at build time and serves search from static files.
PgDogPostgreSQL connection pooler, load balancer and database sharder written in Rust.
PocketBaseOpen-source Go backend shipped as a single executable, with an embedded SQLite database, realtime subscriptions, authentication and a dashboard.
PostgRESTStandalone web server that serves a RESTful API directly from a PostgreSQL database schema.
Q
R
RedictDistributed key/value store, an independent LGPL-licensed fork of Redis.
RedisIn-memory data store used as a cache, database and streaming engine, offered under source-available and open-source licenses.
RocketAsync web framework for Rust with typed routes, request guards and built-in form and JSON handling.
RustFSS3-compatible distributed object storage server written in Rust.
S
- SeaweedFS
Distributed file system and S3-compatible object store, written in Go, shipped as one weed binary.
SigNozOpen-source observability platform built on OpenTelemetry that covers logs, metrics, traces, alerts and dashboards.
SockudoSelf-hosted realtime server written in Rust that serves Pusher-compatible WebSocket and HTTP APIs.
- Sonic
Schema-less search backend server written in Rust that indexes words against identifiers.
SuperTokensOpen source user authentication server, Core, with frontend and backend SDKs, self-hosted or as a managed cloud service.
SurrealDBMulti-model database, built in Rust, that stores document, graph, relational and time-series data in one engine and can run embedded or as a server.
SvixOpen source webhook service that sends webhooks with retries, signatures and a customer-facing portal, self-hosted or as a hosted service.
T
TemporalOpen-source durable execution platform whose server runs workflows and retries failed steps, self-hosted or as Temporal Cloud.
- TiDB
Open-source distributed SQL database, MySQL compatible, that supports hybrid transactional and analytical workloads.
- Topcoat
Rust framework that renders full-stack web apps as HTML on the server, with client reactivity compiled from the same Rust code.
TraefikCloud-native application proxy and reverse proxy that discovers routes from container, orchestrator and file providers.
TypesenseOpen-source search server with an HTTP API that indexes collections of documents for instant search, self-hosted or as Typesense Cloud.
V
- validator
Go package that validates struct and field values using struct tags.
ValkeyBSD-licensed in-memory key-value datastore for caching, message queues and primary database use, forked from Redis.
- Vapor
Server-side Swift HTTP web framework for building backends, web apps, APIs and HTTP servers.
- VictoriaMetrics
Time series database and monitoring solution that stores metrics pushed by applications and agents, with a Prometheus-compatible query API.
Vinyl CacheCaching HTTP reverse proxy, installed in front of any HTTP server to cache its responses, configured with the Vinyl Configuration Language (VCL).
VitessCloud-native, horizontally scalable distributed database system built around MySQL.
W
- wbsx
Command-line toolkit that builds websites and web apps from XML with XSLT stylesheets.
Z
- zs
Static site generator written in Go that builds Markdown and HTML files into a site, with plugins, hooks and routes.
Which of these is best?
We can't tell from here. What suits an editor-heavy marketing site can be wrong for a static documentation site. The list is alphabetical and nobody paid for a place on it.




