Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

nginx VS OpenLiteSpeed

Compare nginx VS OpenLiteSpeed and see what are their differences

nginx logo nginx

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

OpenLiteSpeed logo OpenLiteSpeed

OpenLiteSpeed is a powerful, lightweight, open source and high performance HTTP server developed for those users who have to deal with a large number of websites at once.
  • nginx Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-28
  • OpenLiteSpeed Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-15

nginx features and specs

  • High Performance
    Nginx is known for its ability to handle a large number of concurrent connections, which makes it an excellent choice for high-traffic websites.
  • Efficiency
    Nginx uses an event-driven architecture that can handle many connections in a single thread, making it resource-efficient.
  • Versatility
    Besides being a web server, Nginx can also function as a reverse proxy, load balancer, and HTTP cache, among other roles.
  • Security
    Nginx has robust security features including SSL/TLS support, which helps in protecting data transmitted between servers and clients.
  • Ease of Configuration
    Nginx's configuration syntax is considered straightforward and easier to understand compared to some alternatives like Apache.
  • Scalability
    Nginx can easily scale out by using multiple servers or CPUs, making it suitable for growing applications.
  • Low Memory Usage
    Its architecture allows for low-memory usage, which is beneficial for systems with limited resources.
  • Support for Multiple Protocols
    Nginx supports a variety of protocols, including HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, POP3, and IMAP.

Possible disadvantages of nginx

  • Learning Curve
    The configuration syntax, while considered simple by many, can still present a steep learning curve for beginners.
  • Less Mature Ecosystem
    Compared to Apache, Nginx has fewer modules available, which can limit functionality for some specific use cases.
  • Less .htaccess Support
    Nginx does not support .htaccess files, which might be an inconvenience for users migrating from Apache who rely on this feature.
  • Error Logging
    Nginx's error logging is sometimes considered less user-friendly, making debugging and issue resolution more challenging.
  • Community Support
    While the community is growing, Nginx's user support community is still not as extensive as that of Apache.
  • Module Management
    Adding or removing modules in Nginx often requires recompiling the software, which can be inconvenient.

OpenLiteSpeed features and specs

  • High Performance
    OpenLiteSpeed is known for its high performance and efficiency. It uses an event-driven architecture that can handle thousands of simultaneous connections with minimal resource usage, making it ideal for high-traffic websites.
  • SSL Support
    It comes with native support for SSL and TLS protocols, providing a secure web environment and easy integration of SSL certificates for encrypted communication.
  • Easy-to-use Web Interface
    OpenLiteSpeed provides an intuitive web-based interface that allows users to easily manage configurations, monitor server performance, and apply updates, even without command-line expertise.
  • WordPress Optimization
    It offers features like LSCache, a server-level cache solution specifically designed for WordPress, which significantly boosts the performance and speed of WordPress sites.
  • Free and Open Source
    As an open-source web server, OpenLiteSpeed is free to use, modify, and distribute, providing flexibility and cost-effectiveness for developers and businesses.

Possible disadvantages of OpenLiteSpeed

  • Complex Configuration
    While the web interface is user-friendly, some advanced configuration tasks can be complex and may require a deeper understanding of web server management.
  • Limited Third-party Module Support
    Compared to other servers like Apache, OpenLiteSpeed has fewer available third-party modules, which could limit customization and functionalities for some users.
  • Learning Curve
    For users familiar with servers like Apache or Nginx, there might be a learning curve when transitioning to OpenLiteSpeed due to differences in configuration and management.
  • Smaller Community
    OpenLiteSpeed has a smaller user community compared to more established web servers, which might impact the availability of community support and resources.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Some legacy or highly customized applications might experience compatibility issues since OpenLiteSpeed is not as universally supported as Apache or Nginx.

nginx videos

Nginx vs Apache Webservers: Main Differences

More videos:

  • Review - Nginx Web Hosting - 5 Best Nginx Reverse Proxy That Support Millions of Web Traffic!
  • Review - NGINX as a Reverse Proxy (listening on port 80)

OpenLiteSpeed videos

Create a High Performance Web Server (CyberPanel/OpenLiteSpeed) for WordPress in 10 minutes

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to Install WordPress with OpenLiteSpeed Server for Fastest WP Sites

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to nginx and OpenLiteSpeed)
Web And Application Servers
Web Servers
95 95%
5% 5
Application Server
93 93%
7% 7
Load Balancer / Reverse Proxy

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare nginx and OpenLiteSpeed

nginx Reviews

Top 5 Open Source Load Balancers in 2024
While NGINX is renowned for its prowess as a web server, its load balancing capabilities are equally commendable. NGINX, also known as "engine x," stands as a multifaceted powerhouse, excelling as an HTTP and reverse proxy server, mail proxy server, and a generic TCP/UDP proxy server. Originally crafted by Igor Sysoev, NGINX has a storied history, having long powered...
13 Best XAMPP Alternatives
Nginx is an open-source, high-performance web server used by tech companies, including Pinterest, Airbnb, Cloudflare, and Zendesk. It has been called the new Apache for its ability to scale more efficiently than other web servers, and many developers prefer it because it’s easy to deploy. Nginx also integrates with many programming languages via FastCGI.
Source: thetechtian.com
7 Best Containerization Software Solutions of 2022
If your enterprise is undergoing digital transformation, the NGINX application platform can help you modernize your legacy applications and deliver new microservices‑based applications – with performance, reliability, security, and scale.
Source: techgumb.com
Apache, IIS, NGINX, GWS : What’s Your Choice?
Utilizing a specific type of virtual or physical server determines the type of web server software you use. If you prefer Microsoft, then you will prefer to use IIS (Internet Information Services / Server) by Microsoft as your primary web server application solution. If you use Linux distribution, you have other alternatives like Apache, NGINX and LiteSpeed.
Source: www.milesweb.in
10 Awesome Open Source Load Balancers
Nginx is a battle-tested piece of software written in C and initially introduced in 2004. Since then, it has grown to be an all-in-one reverse proxy, load balancer, mail proxy, and HTTP cache. It offers L7 load balancing support for HTTP, HTTPS, FastCGI, uWSGI, SCGI, Memcached, and gRPC backends. Nginx’s process worker model is highly scalable and deployed at large scales in...

OpenLiteSpeed Reviews

We have no reviews of OpenLiteSpeed yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, nginx seems to be a lot more popular than OpenLiteSpeed. While we know about 60 links to nginx, we've tracked only 3 mentions of OpenLiteSpeed. 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.

nginx mentions (60)

  • Deploying a Simple Flask API Using Gunicorn, Supervisor & Nginx
    Nginx: A reverse proxy to handle client requests and route them to Gunicorn. - Source: dev.to / 6 days ago
  • Setup K8s cluster on GCP VMs
    Welcome to nginx! If you see this page, the nginx web server is successfully installed and Working. Further configuration is required. For online documentation and support please refer to href="http://nginx.org/">nginx.org. Commercial support is available at href="http://nginx.com/">nginx.com. Thank you for using nginx. - Source: dev.to / 8 days ago
  • How to Set Up a Subdomain with Nginx and SSL on DigitalOcean
    I've always been passionate about contributing to the tech community, and this article is my way of sharing what I've learned. Before diving in, it's beneficial to have a basic understanding of deploying to a DigitalOcean droplet, whether through a CI/CD pipeline or manually uploading your JAR files and running the app on the server. In this guide, I’ll walk you through setting up Nginx, and Certbot, and securing... - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Nginx vs Traefik: Which Reverse Proxy is Right for You?
    Before diving into the specifics of Nginx and Traefik, let’s quickly define what a reverse proxy is. A reverse proxy sits between the client (browser or other services) and your backend services (web servers or applications). It handles incoming requests, routes them to the appropriate backend service, and forwards the response to the client. Reverse proxies are typically used for:. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Dev.to on your own domain xyz.com.
    One of the most popular reverse proxies is nginx. Let's see how we can use it as I did in the video at the top. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

OpenLiteSpeed mentions (3)

  • How to install the OpenLiteSpeed Web Server on CentOS 7
    In today's interconnected world, web servers serve as the backbone of internet infrastructure, playing a crucial role in hosting websites and web applications. OpenLiteSpeed, an open-source web server from LiteSpeed Technologies, is one such tool that's gaining popularity due to its speed, efficiency, and comprehensive security features. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • My Wordpress Hosting Experience - Comments?
    LiteSpeed (and the free-to-use version, OpenLiteSpeed) is a web server application, not hardware. It's a (more or less) drop-in replacement for Apache that uses the same type of config files, but offers some features that Apache doesn't have out of the box. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Autoptimize, Litespeed Cache and WP Cloudflare Super Page Cache in WordPress combined works. But clear cache often messes up site.
    You need to be using Litespeed or OpenLitespeed for the Litespeed plugin to do anything. Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing nginx and OpenLiteSpeed, you can also consider the following products

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

lighttpd - A secure, fast, compliant, and very flexible web-server that has been optimized for high-performance environments

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

Caddy - The HTTP/2 Web Server with Automatic HTTPS

Traefik - Load Balancer / Reverse Proxy

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