Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

devd VS lighttpd

Compare devd VS lighttpd and see what are their differences

devd logo devd

A local web server for developers

lighttpd logo lighttpd

A secure, fast, compliant, and very flexible web-server that has been optimized for high-performance environments
  • devd Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-30
  • lighttpd Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-28

devd features and specs

  • Live Reload
    devd automatically refreshes the browser when a file change is detected, which improves development workflow efficiency by reducing manual reloads.
  • Simple Setup
    Installing and running devd requires minimal setup, making it accessible and easy to use for developers looking for quick local server setup.
  • HTTPS Support
    devd supports HTTPS out of the box, allowing developers to test their applications in a secure environment without extra configuration.
  • Proxying Capabilities
    devd can act as a reverse proxy, enabling complex setups where requests can be routed to different backends, suitable for microservices architectures.
  • Cross-platform
    As a Go application, devd can run on multiple operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it highly versatile for different development environments.

Possible disadvantages of devd

  • Limited Advanced Features
    devd focuses on simplicity, which might lead to a lack of advanced server features found in more robust solutions like live data manipulation.
  • Niche User Base
    As devd is not as widely used as other local servers, community support and resources may be less abundant compared to more popular alternatives.
  • Lack of Built-in Authentication
    devd does not have built-in authentication mechanisms, which might necessitate additional setup or external solutions for development environments requiring user authentication.
  • Single-Purpose Tool
    devd is mainly a static file server with some live reload and proxy capabilities, which may not be sufficient for more complex web application setups requiring server-side logic.

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.

Analysis of lighttpd

Overall verdict

  • Overall, lighttpd is a highly recommended choice for those needing a lightweight and efficient web server, especially where system resources are constrained.

Why this product is good

  • Lighttpd is often considered a good web server because it is designed to be fast, secure, and very lightweight. It effectively handles large volumes of traffic, supports important features like FastCGI, SCGI, Auth, Output Compression, URL Rewriting, and is highly configurable. Its asynchronous architecture allows it to serve multiple requests simultaneously, making it suitable for environments with high concurrency.

Recommended for

    Lighttpd is especially suited for situations where low resource usage is a priority, such as on embedded systems or servers with limited hardware capabilities. It is also useful for hosting static content, serving as a reverse proxy, or when hosting web applications with specific performance requirements.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to devd and lighttpd)
Web Servers
12 12%
88% 88
Web And Application Servers
Web Application Bundler
100 100%
0% 0
Application Server
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 devd and lighttpd

devd Reviews

We have no reviews of devd yet.
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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, devd seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 5 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.

devd mentions (5)

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 devd and lighttpd, you can also consider the following products

nginx - A high performance free open source web server powering busiest sites on the Internet.

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

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

Caddy - The HTTP/2 Web Server with Automatic HTTPS

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

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