SafeLine is a self-hosted WAF(Web Application Firewall) to protect your web apps from attacks and exploits.
SafeLine is a self-hosted WAF(Web Application Firewall) to protect your web apps from attacks and exploits.
SafeLine WAF is a security product that helps freshman to safe their websites by using a one command simple installation and easy web control panel. As a freshman to web development and home-made servers, SafeLine WAF provided another shield for my website and server; at same time it provides more information for developing and analysis. Before using SafeLine WAF, I was using Nginx Proxy Manager(NPM) for proxy websites and adding SSL certificates to website, but after a friend recommendations to this security product, it replaced NPM and shows more information and also it add another filters to visitors. As a free plan user, it provides enough fundamental functions and data analysis for user to use. It covers almost all functions that NPM has and analysis charts or WAF like CloudFlare, but free plan has a lot of limitations.
I’ve been using SafeLine WAF for about 4 months now on two of my personal web apps. What I like most is how lightweight and easy it is to deploy — I had it running with Nginx in under 10 minutes, and the dashboard gives me exactly the info I need without being overwhelming. The bot protection works surprisingly well out of the box, and I’ve seen a noticeable drop in spammy traffic. I think the documentation could be improved to give more real-world config examples. Overall, for a free self-hosted WAF, it’s really solid. I’m considering upgrading to Pro if I end up needing more detailed traffic insights.
I'm a Pro user of SafeLine WAF, really impressed by how feature-rich and well-engineered it is. It offers anti-bot challenge, rate limiting, waiting room and identity authentication, robust custom rules etc. The threat detection engine is excellent — far more accurate than other similarly priced solutions I’ve tested. Everything is clear and powerful.
I tried SafeLine WAF while building a hardened reverse proxy setup for a set of internal admin dashboards. What stood out first was how fast and easy the initial deployment was — it didn’t take more than 15 minutes to get a basic setup running with traffic flowing through it. The built-in engine did a decent job blocking scan attempts and common payloads, and I liked the fact that it logs clearly what got blocked and why. One drawback of SafeLine is that it currently doesn’t support DNS challenge, which can be inconvenient in some scenarios. But it’s still a promising project. It’s rare to find a free WAF that feels this modern and still gets regular updates. It’s a strong alternative to ModSecurity — especially if you care about visibility and want something lighter and more streamlined.
As a fintech startup founder, I highly recommend SafeLine WAF for its robust and intelligent protection tailored to modern web threats. SafeLine uses an advanced semantic analysis engine that understands the context and intent behind web requests, allowing it to detect and block sophisticated attacks such as SQL injection, XSS, SSRF, and zero-day exploits with very low false positives. This level of precision is critical for fintech companies handling sensitive financial data and requiring strong security without disrupting legitimate users. SafeLine is also very easy to deploy and manage, even without deep security expertise, which is perfect for startups. It runs efficiently on modest hardware and scales smoothly as your business grows, supporting high traffic volumes typical in fintech operations. Additionally, SafeLine offers effective bot mitigation, helping ensure your services remain available and secure against automated attacks.