Pangolin – Secure Self-Hosted Reverse Proxy with Identity and Access Control
Managing secure access to internal applications has always been a challenge for developers, sysadmins, and DevOps teams. Enter Pangolin – a secure, self-hosted reverse proxy that comes with built-in Identity and Access Management (IAM).
Whether you’re looking to protect internal dashboards, developer tools, or SaaS applications, Pangolin offers a modern, efficient, and privacy-focused solution.
🚀 What is Pangolin?
Pangolin is an open-source reverse proxy built with a security-first mindset. Unlike traditional reverse proxies that rely on external tools for authentication and authorization, Pangolin integrates these capabilities natively.
🔑 Key Features
- 🔐 Built-in Authentication (Google, GitHub, OIDC, SAML, LDAP, etc.)
- 🛡️ Access Control Rules (per app, user, group, etc.)
- 🖥️ Modern Web UI for configuration
- 🧠 Single Sign-On (SSO) support
- 🌍 Self-hosted – full control over your data
- 📦 Lightweight and Docker-ready
🧩 Why Choose Pangolin?
Setting up identity and access management across multiple services often requires complex integrations. Pangolin simplifies this by bringing identity directly into the proxy.
Perfect for:
- Internal tools like Grafana, Prometheus, Jenkins, etc.
- Admin dashboards and internal SaaS portals
- Microservices needing centralized access control
- Teams requiring SSO and audit logging
🏗️ How Pangolin Works
Pangolin sits in front of your services as a reverse proxy with identity-aware access. Users are prompted to authenticate, and access is granted based on your configuration.
graph LR
A[User] --> B[Pangolin Reverse Proxy]
B --> C[Authentication Provider]
C --> B
B --> D[Protected Internal App]
⚙️ Features Overview
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 🔐 Authentication | Supports OIDC, OAuth2, LDAP, SAML, and more |
| 👥 Role-Based Access | Fine-grained access control by user, email, or group |
| 🖼️ Web UI | Configure apps and rules visually |
| 📜 Audit Logging | Log who accessed what and when |
| 🧾 Policy Management | YAML-based configuration or UI-driven |
| 📦 Easy Deployment | Docker and Kubernetes compatible |
| 🌍 Multi-Tenant Support | Separate IAM policies per app or tenant |
🆚 Pangolin vs Other Reverse Proxies
| Feature | Pangolin | OAuth2-Proxy | Authelia | Traefik Forward Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Authentication Built-in | ✅ Yes | ❌ External | ✅ Yes | ❌ External |
| Web UI for Config | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Role-Based Access Control | ✅ Built-in | ⚠️ Limited | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Multi-Provider Auth Support | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Single Binary Deployment | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Complex | ✅ Yes |
| Docker Support | ✅ Official | ✅ Official | ✅ Official | ✅ Official |
| Complexity | ⭐ Low | ⭐⭐ Medium | ⭐⭐⭐ High | ⭐⭐ Medium |
🔧 Deploy Pangolin with OctaByte
Want to use Pangolin without dealing with servers, SSL, or configs?
OctaByte offers:
- 🚀 One-click Pangolin deployment
- 🔒 Free SSL certificates
- 🛡️ Security hardening
- 💾 Automated backups
- 🧑💼 24/7 support
- ☁️ Dedicated Virtual Machines
We handle everything. You focus on your applications.
📦 Real-World Use Cases
- Startups protecting dev tools with GitHub login
- Agencies offering secure client dashboards
- Enterprises managing microservices access via RBAC
- Education platforms restricting internal apps to staff
🌐 Resources
📣 Final Thoughts
Pangolin is an all-in-one reverse proxy and identity solution that’s easy to deploy, secure by design, and flexible for real-world teams.
Whether you’re a solo dev or running an enterprise infrastructure — Pangolin provides SSO, IAM, and reverse proxy capabilities in one simple stack.
Let OctaByte deploy Pangolin for you — fast, secure, and managed.
