Spoiler Alert: LiteSpeed is my choice for its superb server-side cache. Apache is a solid pick too – I just have to add the Comet Cache plugin. Nginx is right out – no support for .htacess.
Apache, Nginx (pronounced engine-x), and LiteSpeed compose the vast majority of the web server market. Comparisons of the three are readily available on the interwebs, so I won’t get into that – just a quick summary:
- Apache is the patriarch of modern web servers. It played a key role in the early growth of the interwebs. It is free, open-source, and cross-platform (usually run on Linux). Apache dominated the web server market for many years but now is facing fierce competition from …
- Nginx is also free, open-source, and cross-platform (but lives most happily on Linux). Compared to Apache it is offers much better performance but is not 100% Apache-compatible. For example, Apache offers configuration flexibility using an .htaccess file, Nginx does not.
- LiteSpeed is proprietary. Like Nginx it offers much better performance than Apache. It is a drop-in replacement, compatible with Apache features including .htaccess files. It ships with the superb LiteSpeed cache feature (https://wppov.com/site-speed/caching-plugin/).
According to w3techs, as of the date of this post Nginx is used by 34% of all websites, Apache by 33%, and LiteSpeed by only 9% but slowly gaining year by year. w3techs shows Cloudflare server at 19%, which seems kinda dumb – Cloudflare is a proxy, not a web server.
If I dig further, I find that Nginx is used most by high-traffic sites, followed by Apache, with LiteSpeed a distant third.
Why does LiteSpeed lag so far behind in market share? Not sure. I think maybe hosting providers are spooked by the “proprietary” label. LiteSpeed costs a bit, the other two are free. But LiteSpeed is much higher performance than Apache, which saves on server hardware – so I’m not sure hosting providers really think it through. There is likely some open-source enthusiasm/anti-proprietary activism at play as well.
So, which to use? I rule out Nginx immediately – htaccess is a must-have for me, Nginx does not support it.
Apache is tried and true – proven over many years. It is a solid choice.
LiteSpeed is my choice, hands down. LiteSpeed offers much better performance than Apache, but does that mean my website will run faster on LiteSpeed? Well, yes and no. Budget web hosts (the only hosts I use) are likely to take advantage of the better performance to cram more sites into same server. But the built-in server side LiteSpeed cache has no equal – so yes, my site will be faster.
LiteSpeed Technologies offers a helpful – though likely incomplete – list of hosting providers who offer LiteSpeed server.
