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Apache Tomcat VS lighttpd

Compare Apache Tomcat VS lighttpd and see what are their differences

Apache Tomcat logo Apache Tomcat

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

lighttpd logo lighttpd

A secure, fast, compliant, and very flexible web-server that has been optimized for high-performance environments
  • Apache Tomcat Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-24
  • lighttpd Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-28

Apache Tomcat features and specs

  • Open Source
    Apache Tomcat is an open-source software, which means it is freely available for use and modifications. This can significantly reduce the cost of ownership and allows for customization.
  • Community Support
    Being a widely-used open-source server, Tomcat has a large and active community of developers and users who contribute to its documentation, plugins, and forums, providing extensive support.
  • Lightweight
    Tomcat is designed to be a lightweight servlet container, making it faster and less resource-intensive compared to full-blown Java EE application servers.
  • Integration with Popular Frameworks
    Tomcat integrates well with popular Java frameworks such as Spring and Hibernate, making it easier for developers to deploy and manage web applications.
  • Easy to Set Up and Configure
    Tomcat is relatively easy to set up and configure, making it suitable for both development and production environments.
  • Frequent Updates
    Regular updates and patches are released to improve performance, security, and compatibility, ensuring the server is up-to-date with the latest web technologies.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Tomcat

  • Limited Functionality
    While Tomcat is a powerful servlet container, it lacks some of the advanced features found in full-fledged Java EE application servers, which might be necessary for complex enterprise applications.
  • Resource Management
    Tomcat's default configuration might not be suitable for high traffic web applications, requiring significant tweaking and tuning to handle heavy loads effectively.
  • Documentation Quality
    The documentation, while extensive, can sometimes be hard to navigate and understand, especially for beginners. This can slow down the learning curve.
  • Limited Built-in Tools
    Compared to other full-stack application servers, Tomcat comes with limited built-in tooling for monitoring, load balancing, and clustering, often requiring third-party solutions.
  • Security Concerns
    As with any open-source project, security vulnerabilities may emerge. It requires constant monitoring and timely updates to ensure security.
  • Lack of EJB Support
    Tomcat does not support Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), limiting its use in scenarios where EJB is a crucial component of the architecture.

lighttpd features and specs

  • Low Memory Footprint
    Lighttpd is known for its low memory usage, making it ideal for environments where memory resources are limited.
  • High Performance
    It is designed to handle large numbers of parallel connections efficiently, making it suitable for high-traffic websites.
  • Easy to Configure
    Lighttpd offers straightforward configuration files that are easy to understand and modify.
  • Supports FastCGI, SCGI, and CGI
    It has built-in support for various interfaces like FastCGI, SCGI, and CGI, allowing it to interact with different types of applications.
  • Event-Driven Architecture
    The event-driven design allows for non-blocking and asynchronous operations, contributing to its speed and efficiency.

Possible disadvantages of lighttpd

  • Limited Module Support
    Lighttpd has fewer third-party modules and plugins compared to more popular web servers like Apache and Nginx.
  • Community Support
    The community around Lighttpd is smaller, which might result in slower updates and fewer tutorials or examples.
  • Learning Curve
    New users might find the initial setup and configuration challenging compared to more widely-used web servers.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Some applications or tools that are designed with Apache or Nginx in mind might not work seamlessly with Lighttpd.
  • Less Frequent Updates
    The development and release cycle for Lighttpd updates may not be as frequent as for more popular web servers.

Apache Tomcat videos

Introducing Apache Tomcat 8.5

More videos:

  • Review - Webinar: Introduction to Apache Tomcat 8
  • Review - Tcat - The Leading Enterprise Apache Tomcat Application Server

lighttpd videos

No lighttpd videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache Tomcat and lighttpd)
Web And Application Servers
Application Server
72 72%
28% 28
Web Servers
64 64%
36% 36
Java
100 100%
0% 0

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 Tomcat and lighttpd

Apache Tomcat Reviews

FOSS | Top 15 Web Servers 2021
Java programs are run using Apache Tomcat. To be more precise, it is a Java servlet – a Java software component that expands the functionality of a web server. Apache Tomcat, released under the Apache License version 2, is used by 0.1% of websites worldwide.
Source: www.zentao.pm
4 Open Source Application Servers (Comparison and Review)
Apache Tomcat is an open-source implementation of several Java technologies. It is the result of a collaboration of the finest developers worldwide. You can get involved with the development in a number of ways.
Source: shadow-soft.com
Top 5 open source web servers
Apache Tomcat is an open source Java servlet container that functions as a web server. A Java servlet is a Java program that extends the capabilities of a server. Although servlets can respond to any types of requests, they most commonly implement applications hosted on Web servers. Such web servlets are the Java counterpart to other dynamic web content technologies such as...
Source: opensource.com
Top 10 Open Source Java and JavaEE Application Servers
It is built upon a modular kernel powered by OSGi, and runs straight on top of the Apache Felix implementation. It is also capable of running with Equinox OSGi or Knopflerfish OSGi runtimes. HK2 abstracts the OSGi module system to provide components, which can also be viewed as services and injected into the run time and uses a derivative of Apache Tomcat as the servlet...

lighttpd Reviews

13 Best XAMPP Alternatives
Lighttpd is a simple and lightweight web server that allows you to do very fast static file serving. It can also be used as a content cache, a reverse proxy, or an HTTP accelerator. Lighttpd is not only lightning-fast but also straightforward to set up; in many cases, you only need one configuration file to work. Lighttpd has been around for some time now, so there are...
Source: thetechtian.com
Top 5 open source web servers
Great article Robin. Most of my experience is with Apache. I first started using it on Windows about 1998 or 1999. When I got into using Linux in 2001 I switched my previous install to that OS and have since deployed it many times. I have tried NGINX and lighttpd but never in production.
Source: opensource.com
Alternative web servers compared: Lighttpd, Nginx, LiteSpeed and Zeus
The huge leap for Lighttpd in January-March of 2007 is most likely due to one or more web hosting or domain registration companies switching over to Lighttpd either for their regular pages, or for parked pages, or both. If anyone knows what happened there in more detail, please feel free to let us know in the comments.
Source: www.pingdom.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apache Tomcat seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 17 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 Tomcat mentions (17)

  • Java News: WildFly 36, Spring Milestones, and Open Liberty Updates
    Versions 11.0.6 and 9.0.104 of Apache Tomcat deliver new features and improvements. The release notes can be found for both versions. - Source: dev.to / 19 days ago
  • Artifactory: Centralizing Artifact Management for DevOps Success
    Download and Install Tomcat Before downloading, confirm the latest Tomcat build package from the official website. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • How to Deploy Applications Using Tomcat on a Web Server
    First, download the latest version of Tomcat from the official Apache Tomcat website. Choose the version that suits your needs, typically the latest stable release. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Spring Boot Monitoring with Open-Source Tools
    Manual instrumentation allows you to define your Spans within the code itself rather than relying on automatic instrumentation finding the entry point for a trace. Manual instrumentation is especially helpful for applications that don’t use an application server such as Tomcat, JBoss, or Jetty. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Issue with chatgpy
    99% is a huge exaggeration. Two essential deployment tools off the top of my head: Https://tomcat.apache.org/ Https://docs.jboss.org/author/display/AS71/Developer%20Guide.html. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

lighttpd mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of lighttpd yet. Tracking of lighttpd recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache Tomcat and lighttpd, you can also consider the following products

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

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

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

XAMPP - XAMPP is a free and open-source cross-platform web server that is primarily used when locally developing web applications.

Forge - Static web hosting made simple

Eclipse Jetty - Jetty is a highly scalable modular servlet engine and http server that natively supports many modern protocols like SPDY and WebSockets.