Varnish Cache
Varnish Cache is an open-source, BSD-2-Clause HTTP accelerator and reverse caching proxy built in C, serving developers and enterprises operating web servers, CDNs, and Kubernetes deployments that need in-memory caching, in-process TLS termination, and programmable policy control via the VCL configuration language.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersOslo, Norway
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Varnish Cache does
Varnish Cache is an open-source HTTP accelerator and reverse caching proxy distributed under the BSD-2-Clause license. It sits between clients and origin servers, serves cached HTTP responses from in-memory storage, and terminates TLS in-process without requiring sidecar proxies. The system is built in C, uses a domain-specific configuration language called VCL (Varnish Configuration Language) that compiles to native code for line-rate policy decisions, and is engineered for a structurally lean cache-hit path of three system calls (read, poll, writev) with zero kernel memory operations during cache-hit traffic through pre-allocated workspaces and mempools. Cached objects honor standard HTTP cache headers, and structured logging is delivered via shared memory (varnishlog, varnishstat) without disk I/O. The distribution is described as a cloud-native packaging of the upstream Vinyl Cache project and ships as official Docker images, a Kubernetes Helm chart via OCI registry, and native DEB and RPM packages for Debian/Ubuntu and RHEL-compatible Linux distributions.
The project is maintained and stewarded by Varnish Software, a private company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden (organization number 556805-6203). Varnish Software hosts the DEB/RPM package registries, maintains the Helm chart and documentation, and is the channel through which commercial support, specialized advice, extra modules, and tooling are sold to enterprises requiring hands-on assistance. The go-to-market is community-led and product-led: open-source users adopt via self-serve documentation and one-command Docker/Helm installs, while commercial customers contract directly with Varnish Software on quote-based, multi-year arrangements. No publicly disclosed pricing exists for commercial support, no revenue is disclosed for either entity, no named enterprise customers or customer logos are present in the input, and no venture-capital funding history is on record.
The addressable user base consists of operators of web servers, CDN infrastructure, and cloud-native Kubernetes deployments that need high-performance HTTP caching, TLS termination, origin protection, and traffic acceleration. Distribution is global and self-serve via Docker Hub, the OCI Helm registry, and the Varnish Software package repositories, with community support routed through Discord, StackOverflow, and a LinkedIn user group. The codebase is publicly hosted on GitHub (github.com/varnish/varnish), and an Intel/Varnish Software joint benchmark of 1.5 Tbps per server on Varnish Enterprise validates the performance ceiling of the TLS code path shared with the open-source distribution.
Varnish Cache firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Varnish Cache
- Legal name
- Varnish Software
- Website
- https://varnish-cache.org
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Varnish Cache is an open-source, BSD-2-Clause HTTP accelerator and reverse caching proxy built in C, serving developers and enterprises operating web servers, CDNs, and Kubernetes deployments that need in-memory caching, in-process TLS termination, and programmable policy control via the VCL configuration language.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Varnish Cache industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Web Acceleration / HTTP Caching
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Computer Storage Devices (3572)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Edge Storage & Distributed Caching (KV/Object, Edge Cache) (HDABAGAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Traditional CDN (Static & Dynamic Content Acceleration) (HDABAGAA), Edge Compute & Edge Caching Platforms (MPAHAIAC)
Keywords
Where Varnish Cache is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oslo
- HQ country
- Norway
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
Varnish Cache business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Open Source Distribution (Free): Varnish Cache is distributed freely under the BSD-2-Clause open source license. Users can download, deploy, and use the software without charge.
- Commercial Support (via Varnish Software): Commercial support, specialized advice, and hands-on assistance is available through Varnish Software, the company behind Varnish. This represents a professional services/managed services revenue stream for the commercial entity.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Open Source (Free) |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Commercial Support |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
Varnish Cache product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Varnish Cache is an open-source HTTP accelerator and reverse caching proxy that sits in front of origin servers, serves cached responses from in-memory storage, and terminates TLS in-process without sidecars. It uses VCL (Varnish Configuration Language), which compiles to native code, to define caching policies at line rate. The product ships as container images, Helm charts, and native DEB/RPM packages and is freely distributed under BSD-2-Clause, with commercial support and extra modules available through Varnish Software.
Product overview
Varnish Cache is a single unified open-source HTTP accelerator product—a reverse caching proxy distributed by the Vinyl Cache project. It provides core caching functionality through in-memory response storage with native TLS termination, and uses VCL (Varnish Configuration Language) as its programmable configuration layer. The product ships as container images and Helm charts for Kubernetes deployment, and native packages for DEB- and RPM-based Linux distributions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Varnish Cache
Quantifiable outcome
- 1.5 Tbps throughput measured per server on Varnish Enterprise
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Varnish Cache
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Varnish Cache technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Varnish Cache partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered moderate and core.
- IntelmoderateIntel collaborated with Varnish Software to measure Varnish Enterprise performance, achieving 1.5 Tbps throughput per server on a single CDN node. This benchmark validates the high-performance TLS code that also powers Varnish Cache open source.
- Varnish SoftwarecoreVarnish Software is the company behind Varnish Cache, maintaining the open source project and providing commercial support. They host the package repositories (DEB/RPM), maintain the Helm chart, provide documentation, and offer commercial support options for enterprise customers needing hands-on assistance.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Varnish Cache competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- NGINX (F5): The dominant open-source HTTP server and reverse proxy with caching capabilities, now owned by F5. NGINX is the most direct competitor to Varnish Cache, offering similar reverse-proxy and content-caching functionality with broader enterprise distribution via F5.
- HAProxy: Open-source load balancer and reverse proxy widely used for HTTP acceleration and caching. HAProxy competes with Varnish in high-performance reverse-proxy deployments, particularly for sites prioritizing TCP/HTTP throughput and TLS performance.
- Envoy Proxy: Cloud-native service proxy originally built at Lyft and now a CNCF graduated project. Envoy is the de facto data plane for service mesh and ingress in Kubernetes, directly competing with Varnish Cache for HTTP caching, TLS termination, and reverse-proxy workloads in cloud-native architectures.
- Apache Traffic Server: Open-source caching proxy originally from Yahoo and now an Apache top-level project. ATS competes head-to-head with Varnish Cache as a reverse caching proxy for high-traffic web and CDN deployments, with comparable performance and configurability characteristics.
- Squid Cache: Long-established open-source caching and forwarding HTTP proxy. Squid competes with Varnish Cache in caching-forward-proxy and reverse-proxy use cases, though it is generally positioned as more legacy-oriented than Varnish's cloud-native focus.
Broad incumbents
- Cloudflare: Global edge platform offering CDN, DDoS protection, and reverse-proxy-style caching as a managed service. Cloudflare absorbs reverse-proxy caching into a much broader edge and security portfolio, competing with Varnish for organizations that prefer managed edge solutions over self-hosted caching.
- Fastly: Edge cloud platform with programmable CDN capabilities (Compute@Edge) using Varnish-derived technology. Fastly competes with Varnish in the programmable edge caching space, targeting large media, e-commerce, and SaaS customers with high-performance content delivery.
- Akamai: Largest global CDN provider offering edge caching, security, and content acceleration at scale. Akamai is a broad incumbent that overlaps with Varnish's reverse-proxy caching use cases but addresses them through a fully managed, distributed edge platform.
Emerging players
- Redis: Widely adopted in-memory key-value store used as a distributed cache and data layer. While Redis operates at a different layer (application data caching rather than HTTP caching), it competes for the same in-memory caching budget and is often evaluated alongside Varnish in caching architecture decisions.
Others
- Memcached: Distributed in-memory object caching system. Memcached is an adjacent caching technology rather than a direct competitor; it is frequently deployed alongside or compared with Varnish for application-level caching scenarios, and overlaps conceptually in the in-memory caching ecosystem.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Varnish Cache social profiles
Digital presenceVarnish Cache financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Varnish Cache leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Varnish Cache funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Varnish Cache M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Varnish Cache
What does Varnish Cache do?
Varnish Cache is an open-source HTTP accelerator and reverse caching proxy that sits in front of origin servers, serves cached responses from in-memory storage, and terminates TLS in-process without sidecars. It uses VCL (Varnish Configuration Language), which compiles to native code, to define caching policies at line rate. The product ships as container images, Helm charts, and native DEB/RPM packages and is freely distributed under BSD-2-Clause, with commercial support and extra modules available through Varnish Software.
Is Varnish Cache a public or private company?
Varnish Cache is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Varnish Cache founded?
Varnish Cache was founded in -1. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Varnish Cache based?
Varnish Cache is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, in the Europe region.
How does Varnish Cache make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Open Source Distribution (Free) is the primary driver. The others are commercial Support (via Varnish Software).
Who are Varnish Cache's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are NGINX (F5), HAProxy, Envoy Proxy, Apache Traffic Server and Squid Cache. Broad incumbents are Cloudflare, Fastly and Akamai. Redis is listed as an emerging player. Memcached is listed as an others.
Does Varnish Cache have an API?
No public API is recorded for Varnish Cache.
What industry is Varnish Cache in?
Varnish Cache's product category is Web Acceleration / HTTP Caching. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDABAGAI, Edge Storage & Distributed Caching (KV/Object, Edge Cache), with a secondary code of HDABAGAA, Traditional CDN (Static & Dynamic Content Acceleration). Its NAICS code is 518 and its SIC code is 7374.