Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to nss_http - Dynamic User Management on Linux

Name Service Switch Service that uses an HTTP server as a backend. - gmjosack/nss_http

nss_http is a Name Service Switch service for Linux that retrieves user and group information from an HTTP server instead of traditional local files or LDAP directories. It allows system administrators to manage user… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Prices are shown for the 1 we have checked on their own sites, 1 of them free or with a free tier. nss_http - Dynamic User Management on Linux launched in 2014; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   NSL – WSL for Linux▲167

   WSL-style Linux machines for Linux hosts.

   23d ago · frostyard.github.io · its alternatives →

2. 2
   ZeroHTTPd: A web server to teach Linux performance, with benchmarks▲472

   Articles in this series Part I. Iterative ServersPart II. Forking ServersPart III. Pre-forking ServersPart IV. Threaded ServersPart V. Pre-threaded ServersPart VI: poll-based serverPart VII: epoll-…

   2019 · unixism.net · its alternatives →

3. 3
   ServerBuddy – GUI SSH client for managing Linux servers from macOS▲42

   Hi HN, I've built an app for macOS that allows performing common SSH operations on Linux servers using a native GUI. The problem: Managing multiple Linux servers usually means juggling terminal windows and copy-pasting snippets/scripts. After dealing with tens of production/staging VPSes at previous jobs, I realized there had to be a better way for common operations I did on a daily basis than my collection of bash snippets. Features: - Quickly switch between different servers. Tag servers with arbitrary key values for easy search. - Real-time dashboard with CPU/memory graphs,…

   2025 · serverbuddy.app · its alternatives →

4. 4
   GMSSH▲90

   Enable everyone to manage servers simply and efficiently

   2025 · gmssh.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   A little web server in C▲178

   A little web server written in C for Linux. Supports: CGI, Reverse Proxy. Single threaded using I/O multiplexing (select).

   2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Switchboard – A mDNS based reverse proxy for personal infrastructure▲92

   Simple mDNS based reverse proxy for personal infrastructure. - whytheplatypus/switchboard

   2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Terminal UI for AWS▲390

   Terminal UI for AWS (taws) - A terminal-based AWS resource viewer and manager - huseyinbabal/taws

   Jan 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

8. 8
   termique▲90

   A free SSH client for Mac, Windows and Linux. Every host in one place, with end-to-end encrypted sync, SFTP, SSH key management, and an AI terminal assistant.

   Jun 2026 · termique.app · its alternatives →

9. 9
   Linux server monitoring web dashboard▲175

   A beautiful web dashboard for Linux. Contribute to tariqbuilds/linux-dash development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2014 · github.com · its alternatives →

10. 10
    Open-source non-blocking NIO Java HTTP Server▲59

    A full featured, stand-alone, high-performance HTTP server and client written entirely in plain Java - FusionAuth/java-http

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Caddy, a cross-platform HTTP/2 web server▲208

    Caddy is a powerful, enterprise-ready, open source web server with automatic HTTPS written in Go

    2015 · caddyserver.com · its alternatives →

12. 12
    go-nbd – A Pure Go NBD Server and Client▲113

    Hey HN! I just released go-nbd, a lightweight Go library for effortlessly creating NBD servers and clients. Its a neat tool for creating custom Linux block devices with arbitrary backends, such as a file, byte slice or what I'm planning to use it for, a tape drive. While there are a few partially abandoned projects like this out there already, this library tries to be as maintainable as possible by only implementing the most recent handshake revision and baseline functionality for both the client and the server, while still having enough support to be useful. I'd love to get your feedback :)

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

13. 13
    NSL-SH▲9

    Simplified domain and routing for Personal Server

    2025 · nsl.sh · its alternatives →

14. 14
    HTTP Prompt▲128

    An interactive command-line HTTP client

    2016 · github.com · its alternatives →

15. 15
    A proactive way of securing your Linux server▲143

    A rest application to update firewalld rules on a linux server - GitHub - prashantgupta24/firewalld-rest: A rest application to update firewalld rules on a linux server

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Sir – Git-diff-able JSON database on yer filesystem▲115

    :man: a simple, git diffable JSON database on yer filesystem. By the power of NodeJS - DO-SAY-GO/sirdb

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

17. 17
    An Admin-Friendly, User Management Server (With Passkeys and JWTs)▲17

    An admin-friendly, User Management Server (with Passkeys & JWTs) - for seamless and secure integration of user authentication - authcompanion/authcompanion2

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

18. 18DB
    DNS-based alternative to the web for structured data▲59

    2020 · num.uk · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Managing on-premise servers without Kubernetes▲19

    I’m building Nautilus, a cross-platform desktop manager for Linux servers. While there are many SSH clients out there, I wanted something that combined a high-level dashboard, a full SFTP explorer with an integrated editor, and specialized tools like a Cron job manager and Process monitor—all in a modern, lightweight desktop package. Key Technical Highlights: Tauri + Node.JS Sidecar: We use Tauri for the native windowing and Rust security, but the heavy SSH/SFTP lifting is done via a Node.js sidecar (using ssh2). This allowed us to leverage a very mature ecosystem while keeping the…

    Jul 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

20. 20
    SwitchHosts▲83

    Free and open source hosts management & switching app

    2018 · oldj.github.io · its alternatives →

21. 21ND
    Nuage – Domain names with no hassle▲79

    2016 · nuageapp.com · its alternatives →

22. 22
    Secs-man, a secrets manager you can (not) rely on▲31

    This is a tool to manage encrypted local backups of secrets. The core idea is that it aims to be usable without depending on it, meaning that even if the software disappeared from the face of Earth tomorrow, your data would still be recoverable. It also integrates nicely with NixOS (which is what I use, though it does not require NixOS to be used). I have summed up a bit of explanation and some answers to reasonable questions in a blog post: https://baldino.dev/blog/secs-man/

    Jun 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

23. 23
    Local development with .local domains and HTTPSfree tier, from $8/mo▲84

    Hi HN! I'm Jarek, and I've built this tool that allows publishing .local domains on the local network using mDNS. It also has a reverse proxy that handles HTTPS termination and port forwarding. I'm working on adding more features, like an index page with all available domains or allowing proxy redirects, so you could redirect from HTTP to HTTPS. Let me know if you have any questions or feedback!

    2023 · localcan.com · its alternatives →

24. 24
    Picosnitch – a reliable and lightweight security/privacy tool for Linux▲92

    Per-executable network bandwidth monitoring for Linux

    2022 · elesiuta.github.io · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →