Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Apache HTTP Server VS Prosody

Compare Apache HTTP Server VS Prosody and see what are their differences

Apache HTTP Server logo Apache HTTP Server

Apache httpd has been the most popular web server on the Internet since April 1996

Prosody logo Prosody

Prosody is a modern flexible communications server for Jabber/XMPP written in Lua.
  • Apache HTTP Server Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-21
  • Prosody Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-04

Apache HTTP Server features and specs

  • Open Source
    Apache HTTP Server is open source, meaning it is freely available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. This promotes a large, active community that contributes to its maintenance and improvement.
  • Cross-Platform
    Apache is compatible with a variety of operating systems, including Unix, Linux, and Windows, providing flexibility and widespread usability.
  • Highly Customizable
    It offers a modular architecture that allows users to enable or disable features as needed, and to extend functionality through modules.
  • Robust Documentation
    Apache provides comprehensive and detailed documentation, which makes it easier for users to install, configure, and troubleshoot the server.
  • Widespread Adoption
    With its long history and widespread use, Apache has proven to be reliable and trusted by many organizations worldwide, ensuring a level of trust and stability.
  • Rich Feature Set
    Apache includes many features out-of-the-box, such as SSL/TLS support, URL redirection, authentication, load balancing, and more.

Possible disadvantages of Apache HTTP Server

  • Performance Overhead
    Compared to some lightweight web servers like Nginx, Apache can have higher memory and CPU usage, which may not be ideal for high concurrency needs.
  • Complex Configuration
    Apache's extensive customization options can lead to a complex configuration process, which may be challenging for beginners or those without specific expertise.
  • Less Efficient in Serving Static Content
    While Apache is highly capable, it may be less efficient at serving static content compared to specialized web servers like Nginx.
  • Initial Learning Curve
    Due to its rich features and configurability, new users might face a steep learning curve when first setting up and using Apache HTTP Server.
  • Module Compatibility Issues
    Sometimes, third-party modules may not always be compatible with the latest versions of Apache, causing potential integration issues.

Prosody features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Prosody is designed to be lightweight and efficient, consuming minimal system resources compared to other XMPP servers, which makes it ideal for deployment on smaller servers or for situations requiring high performance.
  • Easy Configuration
    Prosody offers simple configuration files, allowing for easy setup and maintenance. This lowers the entry barrier for new users and administrators who may not be familiar with XMPP server configurations.
  • Flexible and Extensible
    With its modular architecture, Prosody supports plugins and modules, enabling users to extend and tailor the server to meet specific needs without modifying the core codebase.
  • Active Community
    Prosody has an active and supportive community which provides forums, tutorials, and ongoing development, ensuring that users have access to help and continual improvements.
  • Security Features
    Prosody supports state-of-the-art security features such as TLS encryption, ensuring that communications are secure and private by default.

Possible disadvantages of Prosody

  • Limited Built-in Features
    Compared to some other XMPP servers, Prosody may offer fewer features out-of-the-box, requiring users to rely heavily on modules for functionality.
  • Performance in Large Setups
    While Prosody is efficient, its performance might not scale as well in extremely large enterprise environments compared to some other dedicated enterprise XMPP solutions.
  • Less User-Friendly Advanced Configuration
    Advanced users looking to customize the server extensively may find the configuration and module system less intuitive or require additional learning compared to more GUI-based solutions.
  • Dependency on External Modules
    Since many features are implemented through third-party modules, reliability and stability can vary based on the module's maintainer and may introduce additional points of failure.

Analysis of Apache HTTP Server

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Apache HTTP Server is generally considered a good and reliable web server.

Why this product is good

  • Apache HTTP Server is one of the most widely used and established web servers in the world. It is open-source, highly configurable, and supports a wide range of features through modules. Its robustness, extensive documentation, strong community support, and flexibility are some of the reasons it remains popular.

Recommended for

  • Developers and organizations looking for a reliable and versatile web server solution.
  • Those who need extensive customization and configuration options for their web environment.
  • Users who prefer an established platform with a large community and extensive documentation.
  • Teams that require compatibility with various operating systems and environments.

Apache HTTP Server videos

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Prosody videos

Pat Pattison - Introduction to Prosody in songwriting

More videos:

  • Review - Prosody and alliteration in musical compositions | Dr. B. Balasubramanyan | 29.12.2019

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache HTTP Server and Prosody)
Web And Application Servers
Group Chat & Notifications
Web Servers
100 100%
0% 0
Communication
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Apache HTTP Server and Prosody

Apache HTTP Server Reviews

9 Best XAMPP Alternatives Cross Platform Web Server
However, compared to XAMPP and other popular web servers in the market Apache HTTP Server is a bit more complicated and is a little difficult to navigate for a complete newbie, but if you want to understand web development from the very fundamentals and understand how Apache as a web server software works then this software can be of great help to you.
Litespeed vs Nginx vs Apache: Web Server Showdown
The most commonly used Web Server is by far Apache HTTP Server from the Software Apache Foundation. Created in 1995 by Rob McCool and Brian Behlendorf, among others. The name is a pun for A PatCHy server, as at the time of it’s inception, Apache was based on some existing code, along with some perhaps “hacky or clunky” software packages, enabling it to run. Additionally, the...
Source: chemicloud.com
10 Best alternatives of XAMPP servers for Windows, Linux and macOS
Apache is an open-source and free web server software that owns about 46% of websites worldwide. The official name is Apache HTTP Server and is maintained and developed by the Apache Software Foundation. This allows website owners to serve content on the web – hence the name “webserver”.
Top 5 open source web servers
As the Apache HTTP Server has been the most popular web server since 1996, it "benefits from great documentation and integrated support from other software projects." You can find more information on the Apache Foundation project page.
Source: opensource.com

Prosody Reviews

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apache HTTP Server should be more popular than Prosody. It has been mentiond 70 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Apache HTTP Server mentions (70)

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Prosody mentions (15)

  • Lua: The Little Language That Could
    There's also the http://prosody.im/ XMPP server that's written in Lua, and it's very successful there. The other major XMPP server implementation is in Erlang and they are equally praised, so that should tell something about Lua's versatility. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Lua: The Little Language That Could
    Lua on its own right can be fun too! If you are looking for a project to contribute to, there's for instance the Prosody XMPP server that's written in it, and contributes to the betterment of internet by promoting federated protocols. Source: about 2 years ago
  • A History of Lua
    You can write largish standalone application in Lua and it is not always a poor choice - Prosody [1] first comes to mind. But qualities which make it a good embedded language make it less _attractive_ for other uses. Lua has very simple syntax and small stdlib which allows its implementation to be very small - you can add Lua to your application and not increase its size significantly. But when the size is not a... - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • Chat app to allow messaging between my daughter and I?
    If you are really set on a LAN-only setup you could look at Prosody (combined with an Android app such as Conversations) which Snikket is based upon. It's not as "ready to go, out of the box" as Snikket and therefore requires a slightly higher skill level, but in exchange it is a lot more customizable and adaptable to different kinds of deployment scenarios. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Ask HN: What is your recommended stack for real time chat?
    My choice, because it's the stack I know very well, would be Prosody ( https://prosody.im/ - I'm one of the devs) and a web client such as Converse.js ( https://conversejs.org/ ). XMPP is highly extensible, Prosody is highly modular, which make them a good foundation for building on top of. That said, the right stack is generally the one that matches your requirements, and (if this isn't primarily a learning... - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache HTTP Server and Prosody, you can also consider the following products

Microsoft IIS - Internet Information Services is a web server for Microsoft Windows

Openfire - Openfire (formerly Wildfire) is a cross-platform instant messaging (IM) and groupchat server.

Apache Tomcat - An open source software implementation of the Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages technologies

Matrix.org - Matrix is an open standard for decentralized persistent communication over IP.

LiteSpeed Web Server - LiteSpeed Web Server (LSWS) is a high-performance Apache drop-in replacement.

Apache Vysper - Apache Vysper aims to be a modular, full featured XMPP (Jabber) server.