Nginx vs Apache vs Litespeed

Cheerag Nundlall · Nov 3, 2016

What is the best web server if compared between these nginx and apache and litespeed? I am running blogs on Apache but i heard that nginx or litespeed supported cache content better than apache hence I tend to use or give them a try in the near future. Does anyone give me an advice?

VirtuBox · Nov 3, 2016

Go with Nginx, it's faster than Apache and can handle high traffic easily.
Litespeed is probably not bad, but it's a paid software.

But if Nginx is lighter than Apache, you can have almost the same performances Apache. PHP7 and a caching system will have more impact on your blogs speed

RDO Servers · Nov 3, 2016

We use LiteSpeed and are very happy with it.

sh-admin · Nov 3, 2016

Nginx and litespeed are basically alternatives for apache when giving boost to the web services , however use of Nginx or litespeed is completely depends on the requirements. No doubt you can compare them with their features however before you opt for one you need to evaluate what contents are you going to host , is it dynamic or static , cache frequency and then optimization.

I agree that these web servers do play a vital role when it comes serving high traffic speed websites , however you need to look at server configuration , optimization and tweaking factor too. You can just can not rely on these technologies to handle speed , or high traffic issues.

Like virtubox said you can easily manage high traffic websites on Apache+PHP7 based server so its all about how you manage the things.

TheCompWiz · Nov 4, 2016

RDO Servers said:
Yes, Its never to late to make changes, just be sure to have good backups just in case something goes wrong!

Here is a good comparison between several web servers

It made me impressed with these benchmarks

LiteSpeed Enterprise was:-

3885% faster than Apache 2.2 using suPHP.
4506% faster than Apache 2.4 using suPHP.
50% faster than Apache 2.2 with mod_PHP.
273% faster than Apache 2.2 with PHP-FPM.
203% faster than Apache 2.4 with PHP-FPM.
86% faster than nginx with PHP-FPM.
16% faster than LiteSpeed Enterprise with PHP-FPM.
slightly faster than OpenLiteSpeed.

How can i have or install LiteSpeed on my VPS, I did not see it on any VPS hosting providers.

RDO Servers · Nov 4, 2016

TheCompWiz said:
It made me impressed with these benchmarks

Yes, we have been very happy with LiteSpeed!

TheCompWiz said:
View attachment 1777

How can i have or install LiteSpeed on my VPS, I did not see it on any VPS hosting providers.

Some providers offer it, some dont. You will have to ask your hosting provider if they can provide you a license, or purchase the license directly from LiteSpeed
https://www.litespeedtech.com/products/litespeed-web-server/overview

eva2000 · Feb 8, 2017

browser extensions have some that report site's http headers so you can check what web server they use

i.e. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/server-details/bdjdcpoklgpglobffdadmmjcgbknmkfh

Harry P · Mar 17, 2017

I never heard of Litespeed.
Apache is the web server that being used on all our hosting servers.

serverbundle · Mar 17, 2017

Well, Litespeed is certainly the best in terms of performance. However, it lacks a huge number of followers.
Here's a basic idea on the global web server usage https://trends.builtwith.com/web-server.
Litespeed is barely used by 1% of the top 10K websites on the Internet when compared to Apache and Nginx which make up roughly 60% of the global trend.

This doesn't mean Litespeed is bad. Both Nginx and Apache are open source software compared to Litespeed which can cost up to 90$ for an Octa-core CPU or 65$ for a Quad-Core CPU.

iserveradmin11 · Mar 18, 2017

Hello,
As we know that Apache and Nginx known to most of the crowd but Litespeed is not that popular.
But yes , all the three web servers have there own features and flaw. Or we can say that it is upto one's REQUIREMENT .
Though Apache is heavy but it is loaded of lots of features.
There by , Nginx is light weighted so we can say that it is speed alternative for heavy load servers.
Also, Litespeed is having its own benefits over Nginx. Though , it is also light weighted but it can be the drop-in replacement for Apache as various config files , Apache mods ,etc works with Litespeed.

So, once againg I will say that it would depend on one's need that which web server suits him/her.

StackArcVPS · Apr 5, 2017

NGINX all the way

BlueLeaf · Apr 15, 2017

Nginx is my choice. I've been running Nginx for years now, and I put it on all the VPS-es and dedicated servers that I get to configure. It's super fast, and it's definitely my choice over Apache and Litespeed. I configured and used Litespeed too. It's a good option too, but I would still stick to Nginx if I have to choose between them.

rankmyhub · Apr 15, 2017

Nginx is a front end cache system , its not a full fledged web server like apache or litespeed. Nginx have some cons, like we cannot have rewrites enabled in easy manner. You either have to link nignix configuration with php5-fpm or you have to keep niginx in front end of apache.

Also it should be noted that nginx cannot be directly implemented on control panels like CPanel / WHM. Yet there is something called https://engintron.com/

But most hosts does not use engintron. On the other hand litespeed is quite a good alternative to apache and gets the best of nignix and apache without compromising on CPanel /WHM. That is why performance web hosting providers like us, use LiteSpeed+CloudLinux+SSD for best possible performance.

I do not know, if some providers using litespeed for their own site and does not offer for customers, may be they are doing so. But we offer complete litespeed hosting for customers, if you are interested check the shared hosting offers section for more details.

Litespeed is good, if you want to see the performance improvement and coming from apache. We also have http2 enabled. So you will get all the best stack.

Matt Eberlie · Apr 17, 2017

Nginx with Varnish for caching. This is the best match i'm using on my servers

SolaDrive · Apr 18, 2017

If you don't want to spend the money, nginx by itself (no apache) is by far the best web engine. Litespeeds caching is great, but its expensive. If you setup nginx right though, it can handle a ton of traffic compared to apache standalone.

SakamHost · Apr 30, 2017

If you want for free go with NGINX but if you wanna pay then you will go with LiteSpeed because they are better.

Hostpad · May 1, 2017

Apache is easy to use where as nginx is difficult for normal user.But i mostly prefer litespeed which is drop replacement of apache , extreme fast & easy to use.Nginx is also fast & runs in very small configuration.

Medhahosting · Jun 22, 2017

Yes, Its never to late to make changes, just be sure to have good backups just in case something goes wrong.Like virtubox said you can easily manage high traffic websites on Apache+PHP7 based server so its all about how you manage the things.

overcast · Jul 16, 2017

When I was hosted at Arvixe, they had NGnix server at that time. And it was working really fine. Except some of the SSL issues. NGNix performance is really good. Now I am hosted at Hawkhost and they have Litespeed and their server performance is even better. During school days my site was hosted with Xisto and they had Apache, I had tons of problem with them. I am not saying such isolated incident would be indicator of good or bad server instance. But I am guessing this can be a good option for anyone who wants to manage the server.

secretlytaco · Aug 3, 2017

There's a great comparison of the two web servers from the nice people at DigitalOcean, but I personally would go for apache, if only for its compatibility and the fact that it can parse `.htaccess` files, which I've been told nginx can't do. Of course, apache is a lot slower, but the things I build don't have too much strain on traffic anyway.

Nginx vs Apache vs Litespeed

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