What's the difference between nginx forward proxy and reverse proxy? Which one should I use? Alternatively,

Honestly, the naming is the worst part. Forward proxy *forwards* requests from clients (like a VPN), while reverse proxy *receives* requests for servers (like a load balancer).

If you’re hosting a web app, reverse proxy is 100% the move. Forward proxy is for edge cases—like scraping or hiding your team’s IPs.

Pro tip: Use Caddy if you want something simpler than nginx for reverse proxy.