Marzban vs 3x-ui: Choosing Your VPN Panel

For a small VPN service with up to 50 active users, 3x-ui on a VPS with 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM can be sufficient, but to scale to 200+ clients and build a multi-server architecture, Marzban on a master node with 4 vCPU and 8 GB RAM is the indispensable solution when comparing Marzban vs 3x-ui.

Marzban vs 3x-ui: Key Architectural Differences Explained

Choosing a control panel for your own VPN service is one of the first and most crucial decisions, determining future scalability, ease of administration, and operational stability. Many solutions exist, but among the most popular and functional for VLESS, VMess, Trojan, and ShadowSocks protocols, Marzban and 3x-ui stand out. Despite similar basic functions, their architectural principles differ fundamentally, which dictates each panel's suitability for different project scales.

Monolithic 3x-ui: Simplicity and Quick Setup

3x-ui represents a monolithic solution installed on a single VPS. This means all components – the web interface, database, Xray-core (or other backend), and monitoring system – run on the same server. This architecture ensures maximum simplicity in installation and configuration, making 3x-ui an ideal choice for individual users, small teams, or those just starting their journey in creating a personal VPN service.

Advantages:

• Fast Deployment: 3x-ui installation usually takes no more than 10-15 minutes, often with a single script. You can read more about this in our article 3x-ui on Your Own VPS: Full Panel Setup, Limits, and Monitoring.
• Low Resource Requirements: For 3x-ui to operate with a small number of users, even the most budget-friendly VPS plans with 1 vCPU and 1-2 GB RAM are sufficient.
• Ease of Maintenance: All components are in one place, simplifying diagnosis and backup.

Disadvantages:

• Limited Scalability: As the number of users grows or new locations need to be added, 3x-ui is limited by the capabilities of a single server. Adding new servers means installing separate 3x-ui instances on each, leading to fragmented management and a lack of centralized control.
• Single Point of Failure: If the primary VPS running 3x-ui fails, the entire service becomes unavailable.
• Management: Each 3x-ui server requires a separate panel login, complicating the administration of a large number of nodes.

Marzban and Multi-Server VPN Panel: Scalability and High Availability

Marzban offers a fundamentally different, distributed architecture. It consists of two main components:

1. Master Node: This is the central control server hosting the web interface, database, API, and all management logic. The master node does not directly handle user traffic but merely coordinates the operation of all connected servers.
2. Worker Nodes (Marzban Nodes): These are separate VPS servers where only Xray-core (or other proxy servers) and a special agent that communicates with the master node are installed. These worker nodes process all user traffic.

This architecture makes Marzban an ideal solution for large VPN services requiring high scalability, geographical distribution, and fault tolerance. We have already covered how to get started with Marzban in the article Marzban on VPS: Xray Panel Installation and Multi-User Setup.

Advantages:

• Unlimited Scalability: You can add new worker nodes in different geographical locations, expanding service coverage and bandwidth. All nodes are managed from a single panel.
• Fault Tolerance: The failure of one worker node does not stop the entire service. Users connected to other nodes will continue to operate, and the faulty node can be quickly replaced.
• Centralized Management: All users, subscriptions, settings, and monitoring are accessible through a single web interface on the master node.
• Flexibility: Ability to use different types of servers for the master node and worker nodes, optimizing costs and performance.

Disadvantages:

• More Complex Installation and Configuration: Requires deploying at least two servers (master and one worker node) and configuring their interaction.
• Higher Resource Requirements: The master node, although not processing traffic, requires a stable VPS with sufficient RAM and CPU for the database and web interface, especially with a large number of users and nodes.
• Potentially Higher Costs: At least two VPS instances are required for full operation.

VLESS Panel: How Marzban and 3x-ui Manage Protocols

Both panels are designed to manage a wide range of modern VPN protocols, including VLESS, VMess, Trojan, ShadowSocks, and their obfuscated variations (e.g., Reality for VLESS). This is critically important for bypassing censorship and ensuring a stable connection.

VLESS, Reality, and Other Protocol Support

Both Marzban and 3x-ui provide full support for the VLESS protocol, which has become a de facto standard for many users due to its performance and flexibility. Support for VLESS with Reality obfuscation is particularly relevant, significantly increasing resistance to blocking. Both panels allow easy creation of configurations for these protocols, generation of client links, and management of their parameters.

• 3x-ui: Allows quick creation of Inbounds and Outbounds for VLESS, VMess, Trojan, ShadowSocks directly from the web interface. Reality configuration in 3x-ui is intuitive, with fields for specifying the target domain, SNI, Short IDs, and other parameters. All settings apply to the single Xray-core running on that same VPS.
• Marzban: Marzban's approach to protocol management is more centralized. You create Inbounds on the master node and then assign them to one or more worker nodes. This allows for flexible load distribution and offering users connections through different locations with identical protocol parameters. VLESS Reality configuration is also fully supported and managed from a single interface.

The choice of a specific panel for VLESS or Reality is not critical in terms of the protocol's functionality itself – both will perform excellently. The difference lies only in the convenience and scale of managing these protocols across one or multiple servers.

Example of creating a VLESS Reality Inbound in Marzban (configuration on the master node):

{
  "protocol": "vless",
  "port": 443,
  "listen": "0.0.0.0",
  "settings": {
    "clients": [
      {
        "id": "YOUR_UUID",
        "email": "[email protected]"
      }
    ],
    "decryption": "none",
    "fallbacks": []
  },
  "streamSettings": {
    "network": "tcp",
    "security": "reality",
    "realitySettings": {
      "show": false,
      "dest": "example.com:443",
      "xver": 0,
      "serverNames": [
        "example.com"
      ],
      "privateKey": "YOUR_PRIVATE_KEY",
      "minClientVersion": "",
      "maxClientVersion": "",
      "maxTimeDiff": 0,
      "shortIds": [
        "YOUR_SHORT_ID"
      ]
    }
  },
  "sniffing": {
    "enabled": true,
    "destOverride": [
      "http",
      "tls"
    ]
  },
  "tag": "vless-reality-in"
}

In 3x-ui, these parameters are set via convenient fields in the web interface, without the need for manual JSON editing.

User and Traffic Management: Marzban vs 3x-ui for Limits

Effective management of users and their traffic consumption is the foundation of any stable and profitable VPN service. Both panels provide mechanisms for this, but with varying degrees of flexibility and automation.

Flexible Limits and Quotas in Marzban

Marzban is inherently designed with the needs of commercial VPN services in mind, so its functionality for user and limit management is highly developed. It allows for:

• Centralized User Management: All users are created and managed on the master node. You can assign them different subscription plans, link them to specific worker nodes or groups of nodes.
• Detailed Limits: Individual limits can be set for each user regarding traffic volume (incoming/outgoing), subscription duration, and number of simultaneous connections.
• Automatic Blocking/Disconnection: Upon reaching limits, Marzban automatically blocks the user or disconnects them until the next billing period.
• Subscription Support: Ability to create predefined tariff plans (subscriptions) and assign them to users, simplifying scaling.
• Advanced Statistics: The master node collects aggregated traffic statistics for each user and each node, providing a complete overview of resource usage.

Marzban also offers powerful capabilities for creating custom hooks and scripts that can react to events (e.g., exceeding a limit) and integrate with external systems. This provides immense flexibility for implementing complex business logic. You can learn more about limits in our article User Limits and Quotas in 3x-ui and Marzban: How to Stay Within Your Plan.

Basic 3x-ui Capabilities

3x-ui also provides traffic accounting and limit setting functions, but they are geared towards a single user or a small group of users on one server. You can:

• Create Users: Each Inbound in 3x-ui can contain multiple clients (users) with unique UUIDs.
• Set Traffic Limits: For each client, you can specify a total traffic volume and an expiration date.
• Monitoring: 3x-ui displays current traffic for each Inbound and client, as well as overall server resource consumption.

However, 3x-ui lacks centralized user management across different servers. If you have multiple VPS instances with 3x-ui, you will have to manually track and manage limits on each, which quickly becomes impractical as the number of clients grows.

Quick pick

Need a dedicated server?

Bare metal with NVMe in 70+ locations — configure and order in minutes.

Browse servers

Multi-Server VPN Panel: When Do You Need Marzban Nodes?

Marzban's key advantage lies in its ability to function as a full-fledged multi-server VPN panel. This becomes critically important when your service extends beyond personal use or a small group of friends.

Marzban Node Use Cases

1. Geographical Distribution: If your users are in different countries or regions, deploying Marzban worker nodes in geographically distributed data centers ensures optimal speed and minimal latency for each of them. For example, one node in Europe, another in Asia, and a third in North America.
2. High Availability and Fault Tolerance: With multiple worker nodes, the failure of one does not bring down the entire service. Users can be switched to other available nodes, or you can quickly deploy a new node and connect it to the Marzban master node.
3. Bandwidth Scaling: If a single server cannot handle the traffic volume or the number of concurrent connections, you can easily add new worker nodes to distribute the load.
4. Bypassing Blocks: In conditions of active censorship, the ability to quickly deploy a new node in a different location or with a different IP address becomes invaluable. Marzban allows this from a single control center.

The process of adding a new node in Marzban involves installing Docker on a new VPS, running the Marzban agent, and registering the node with the master server. This is significantly simpler than setting up a new 3x-ui instance from scratch and manually migrating users.

Example command for installing the Marzban agent on a worker node:

docker run -d --restart=always \
    --name marzban-node \
    -e MARZBAN_API_HOST="YOUR_MASTER_NODE_IP" \
    -e MARZBAN_API_PORT="6285" \
    -e MARZBAN_NODE_KEY="YOUR_NODE_KEY_FROM_MASTER" \
    -v /var/lib/marzban-node:/var/lib/marzban-node \
    -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
    --network host \
    gozargah/marzban-node:latest

This command connects a new node to the Marzban master server, allowing centralized management.

API and Automation: Integration Capabilities for Billing and Subscriptions

For professional VPN services, especially those operating on a subscription model, a powerful API for process automation is essential. Here, Marzban demonstrates clear superiority.

Marzban: API for Full Automation

Marzban comes with a full-featured RESTful API that allows programmatic management of almost all aspects of the panel:

• Creating, modifying, and deleting users
• Managing traffic limits and expiration dates
• Monitoring usage statistics
• Managing worker nodes
• Creating and managing Inbounds
• Obtaining client links

This opens up broad possibilities for integration with external systems:

• Billing Systems: Automatic account creation upon payment, subscription renewal, blocking upon expiration.
• CRM Systems: Synchronization of client data.
• Monitoring Systems: Collection of detailed metrics for performance and load analysis.
• Custom Client Portals: Users can independently manage their subscriptions, obtain QR codes and links.

Using the Marzban API allows for the creation of a fully automated VPN service, minimizing manual intervention. This is especially important for those planning to monetize their service. You can learn more about automation in the article Your Own VPN Service on VPS: Billing, Subscriptions, and Automated Provisioning.

3x-ui: Limited Automation Capabilities

3x-ui has much more limited automation capabilities. While there are third-party scripts and projects attempting to add API-like functionality, 3x-ui does not have a built-in, full-fledged API. This means that most operations (creating users, changing limits) require manual login to the web interface. For very small projects, this is not an issue, but as the number of users grows, automation becomes critically important.

Some users attempt to automate 3x-ui through web scraping or direct editing of configuration files, but these are unreliable and difficult-to-maintain solutions.

Migrating Between Panels: How to Switch Without Data Loss

The question of migration is relevant both when switching from one panel to another and when changing VPS providers. Both panels have their peculiarities in this process.

Migrating 3x-ui to Another VPS

Migrating 3x-ui is relatively simple but requires manual intervention. Since 3x-ui is a monolithic solution, transferring the service to a new VPS typically requires:

1. Creating a Backup: 3x-ui allows exporting the configuration (including all users and their limits) to a file.
2. Installing 3x-ui on the New VPS: Deploy a clean 3x-ui panel on the new server.
3. Restoring from Backup: Import the saved configuration onto the new server.
4. Updating DNS: Change the A-records of domains, if used in Inbounds, to point to the new IP address.

This process is described in our article 3x-ui Backup and Migration to Another VPS Without Losing Users. The main drawback is the need for complete DNS reconfiguration and potential downtime for users during the IP address change. For each 3x-ui instance on different servers, the migration process is individual.

Marzban Migration: Flexibility of a Distributed System

Migration in Marzban is more flexible due to its distributed architecture:

1. Master Node: To migrate the master node, it is sufficient to create a backup of its database (usually PostgreSQL or SQLite) and transfer it to a new VPS. After restoring the database and launching Marzban on the new server, all worker nodes will automatically reconnect to the new master (provided the master node's IP address or domain name is retained).
2. Worker Nodes: If you need to migrate or replace a worker node, you simply deploy a new VPS, install the Marzban Node agent on it, and connect it to the existing master node. You can then reassign users from the outdated node to the new one via the master node's web interface. This allows for node replacement with virtually no downtime for users, especially if they have connections configured to multiple servers.

This approach provides much higher fault tolerance and convenience for infrastructure maintenance. Migration from 3x-ui to Marzban is theoretically possible but would require manual transfer of each user and their settings to Marzban, as there is no direct tool for this. This is a labor-intensive process that is best planned in advance.

Quick pick

Need a dedicated server?

Bare metal with NVMe in 70+ locations — configure and order in minutes.

Browse servers

Marzban vs 3x-ui Comparison: Detailed Table

To clearly illustrate the differences between the panels, here is a detailed comparison based on key criteria.

Choosing a Panel: Scale and Resource Recommendations

The choice between Marzban and 3x-ui should be based on your current needs and plans for developing your VPN service. There's no need to "use a sledgehammer to crack a nut" by choosing a complex system for simple tasks.

When is 3x-ui Sufficient?

3x-ui is an excellent choice for the following scenarios:

• Personal Use: You want to set up a VPN for yourself and a few family members or friends.
• Small Groups: Serving up to 50-100 active users on a single server.
• Budget Solutions: When every dollar counts, and you want to use the cheapest possible VPS.
• Quick Start: You need to launch a VPN as quickly as possible, without deep dives into architecture.
• Single Geographical Region: All your users are concentrated in one region, and there's no need to distribute servers across different locations.

For 3x-ui, the following VPS configurations are recommended:

• Up to 20 users (light traffic): 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 20 GB SSD, 1 Gbps port. Estimated cost from $5/month.
• Up to 50 users (medium traffic): 2 vCPU, 2-4 GB RAM, 40 GB NVMe, 1 Gbps port. Estimated cost from $10-15/month.

When is a Multi-Node Setup with Marzban Necessary?

Marzban becomes indispensable when your project outgrows "personal" use or requires a professional approach:

• 100+ Users: Manually managing a large number of clients becomes impossible.
• Commercial VPN Service: Monetization, subscriptions, billing automation.
• Multi-Regional Coverage: The need to provide access through servers in different countries for better speed and block circumvention.
• High Availability: Requirement to minimize service downtime.
• Integration with External Systems: If you need an API to connect with billing, CRM, or other tools.
• Managing Dozens or Hundreds of Nodes: If you plan to expand your infrastructure to a large number of servers.

For 500 active users, a master node with 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, and an 80 GB NVMe disk is sufficient, while worker nodes can have more modest specifications.

It is important to remember that worker node resource requirements depend heavily on bandwidth, the number of concurrent connections, and the protocols used. Nodes handling a large volume of traffic (e.g., 1 TB+ per month) may require more RAM and a more powerful CPU.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to install Marzban or 3x-ui?

Installing 3x-ui on a clean VPS typically takes no more than 10-15 minutes using a script. Marzban requires a bit more time, about 20-30 minutes, to set up the master node and the first worker node, as two servers need to be configured.

Can I use Marzban for a personal VPN?

Yes, you can use Marzban for a personal VPN, but it would be overkill. For one or two users, 3x-ui running on a VPS with 1 vCPU and 1 GB RAM will be much simpler to set up and more cost-effective than deploying two servers for Marzban.

Which panel is better for bypassing VLESS Reality blocks?

Both panels equally support VLESS Reality well. The choice between them does not affect the effectiveness of bypassing blocks, but rather the convenience of managing and scaling your infrastructure when using this protocol. It's more important to choose a reliable VPS provider and configure Reality correctly.

Can I use Marzban and 3x-ui simultaneously?

Technically, yes, you can have multiple servers running 3x-ui and simultaneously deploy Marzban. However, this would lead to fragmented management and negate the benefits of Marzban's centralization. It's better to choose one system and stick with it, migrating from 3x-ui to Marzban as your needs grow.

Quick pick

Need a dedicated server?

Bare metal with NVMe in 70+ locations — configure and order in minutes.

Browse servers

Conclusion

The choice between Marzban and 3x-ui directly depends on the scale of your VPN service and your plans for its development. If you are looking for a simple and quick solution for personal use or a small group of up to 50-100 people, 3x-ui on a single VPS with 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM will be the optimal choice. However, if you plan to create a commercial service, serve hundreds of users, deploy servers in different countries, and require billing automation and centralized management, then Marzban, with its multi-node architecture and powerful API on a master node with 4 vCPU and 8 GB RAM, is the only correct solution.

SSD NVMe

Ready to launch your VPS?

NVMe VPS with 60-second activation: full root access, 20+ locations, pay with card or crypto.

Choose a plan