Comparison of web server software

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Web server software allows computers to act as web servers. The first web servers supported only static files, such as HTML (and images), but now they commonly allow embedding of server side applications.

Some web application frameworks include simple HTTP servers. For example the Django framework provides runserver, and PHP has a built-in server. These are generally intended only for use during initial development. A production server will require a more robust HTTP front-end such as one of the servers listed here.

Overview

More information Server, Developed by ...
Server Developed by Software license Last stable version Latest release date
AOLserver NaviSoft Mozilla 4.5.1[1] Edit this on Wikidata February 2, 2009; 17 years ago (February 2, 2009) (discontinued)
Apache HTTP Server Apache Software Foundation Apache 2.4.68[2] Edit this on Wikidata June 8, 2026; 25 days ago (June 8, 2026)
Apache Tomcat Apache Software Foundation Apache 11.0.23[3] Edit this on Wikidata June 22, 2026; 11 days ago (June 22, 2026)
Boa Jon Nelson and Larry Doolittle GNU GPL 0.94.13[4] Edit this on Wikidata July 30, 2002; 23 years ago (July 30, 2002) (discontinued)
BusyBox httpd Glenn Engel, Vladimir Oleynik, BusyBox Team GNU GPL 1.36.1[5] Edit this on Wikidata May 19, 2023; 3 years ago (May 19, 2023)
Caddy Matt Holt Apache 2.11.4[6] Edit this on Wikidata June 3, 2026; 30 days ago (June 3, 2026)
Caudium The Caudium Group GNU GPL 1.4.18[7] Edit this on Wikidata April 12, 2012; 14 years ago (April 12, 2012)
CERN httpd CERN, W3C, Tim Berners-Lee, Ari Luotonen and Henrik Frystyk Nielsen MIT Copyright Statement with acknowledgement to CERN 3.0A[8] Edit this on Wikidata July 15, 1996; 29 years ago (July 15, 1996) (discontinued)
Cherokee HTTP Server Álvaro López Ortega GNU GPL 1.2.104[9] Edit this on Wikidata April 1, 2014; 12 years ago (April 1, 2014)
GlassFish Sun Microsystems, Oracle Corporation, since 2019 Eclipse Foundation Eclipse Public License & GNU General Public License 8.0.3[10] Edit this on Wikidata June 7, 2026; 26 days ago (June 7, 2026)
Hiawatha Hugo Leisink GNU GPLv2 12.2[11] Edit this on Wikidata May 5, 2026; 59 days ago (May 5, 2026)
HFS Rejetto GNU GPL 3.1.7[12] Edit this on Wikidata May 28, 2026; 36 days ago (May 28, 2026)
IBM HTTP Server IBM Non-free proprietary 9.0.5.17 2023-09-19
Internet Information Services Microsoft Non-free proprietary 10.0 v1809 Edit this on Wikidata October 2, 2018; 7 years ago (October 2, 2018)
Jetty Eclipse Foundation Apache 12.1.10[13] Edit this on Wikidata June 2, 2026; 31 days ago (June 2, 2026)
Jexus Bing Liu Non-free proprietary 6.2.x 2020
lighttpd Jan Kneschke (Incremental) BSD variant 1.4.84[14] Edit this on Wikidata June 17, 2026; 16 days ago (June 17, 2026)
LiteSpeed Web Server LiteSpeed Technologies GNU GPLv3 / proprietary license 6.3.5[15] Edit this on Wikidata March 14, 2026; 3 months ago (March 14, 2026)
Mongoose Cesanta Software GNU GPLv2 / proprietary license 7.22[16] Edit this on Wikidata June 24, 2026; 9 days ago (June 24, 2026)
Monkey HTTP Server Monkey Software Apache 1.8.7[17] Edit this on Wikidata April 14, 2026; 2 months ago (April 14, 2026)
NaviServer Various Mozilla 1.1 5.0.5[18] Edit this on Wikidata May 28, 2026; 36 days ago (May 28, 2026)
NCSA HTTPd Robert McCool Non-free proprietary 1.5.2a Edit this on Wikidata October 8, 1996; 29 years ago (October 8, 1996) (discontinued)
nginx NGINX, Inc. BSD variant 1.6.1[19] Edit this on Wikidata August 5, 2014; March 18, 2014; March 4, 2014; November 19, 2013; April 23, 2012; April 12, 2011; October 18, 2010; July 19, 2011; May 13, 2013; August 4, 2014; April 7, 2015; April 21, 2015; April 28, 2015; July 14, 2015; September 22, 2015; October 27, 2015; November 17, 2015; December 8, 2015; December 9, 2015; January 26, 2016; January 26, 2016; April 26, 2016; May 24, 2016; July 5, 2016; September 13, 2016; October 11, 2016; January 31, 2017; January 24, 2017; April 12, 2017; April 25, 2017; August 8, 2017; July 11, 2017; September 5, 2017; October 10, 2017; November 21, 2017; December 26, 2017; February 20, 2018; March 20, 2018; April 3, 2018; April 10, 2018; April 17, 2018; June 5, 2018; July 3, 2018; July 24, 2018; September 25, 2018; October 2, 2018; November 27, 2018; December 25, 2018; May 6, 2013; June 4, 2013; July 2, 2013; July 30, 2013; August 27, 2013; September 17, 2013; October 1, 2013; November 19, 2013; December 17, 2013; January 22, 2014; February 4, 2014; March 4, 2014; March 18, 2014; April 8, 2014; April 24, 2014; May 27, 2014; June 17, 2014; July 8, 2014; August 5, 2014; September 16, 2014; September 30, 2014; October 28, 2014; December 2, 2014; December 23, 2014; February 10, 2015; March 24, 2015; April 7, 2015; May 26, 2015; June 16, 2015; August 18, 2015; February 9, 2016; February 24, 2016; March 29, 2016; April 5, 2016; April 19, 2016; May 31, 2016; October 18, 2016; May 31, 2016; July 26, 2016; November 15, 2016; December 13, 2016; December 27, 2016; February 14, 2017; March 21, 2017; March 24, 2017; April 4, 2017; October 17, 2017; May 30, 2017; June 27, 2017; July 11, 2017; November 6, 2018; December 4, 2018; August 28, 2018; November 6, 2018; February 26, 2019; March 26, 2019; April 9, 2019; April 16, 2019; April 23, 2019; May 21, 2019; June 25, 2019; August 13, 2019; September 24, 2019; November 19, 2019; December 24, 2019; January 21, 2020; March 3, 2020; April 14, 2020; April 21, 2020; April 20, 2021; May 25, 2021; November 16, 2021; May 24, 2022; October 19, 2022; April 11, 2023; April 23, 2024; May 29, 2024; August 14, 2024; February 5, 2025; April 23, 2025; December 23, 2025; February 4, 2026; March 24, 2026; April 14, 2026; May 13, 2026; May 22, 2026; May 22, 2026; June 17, 2026; Error: first parameter cannot be parsed as a date or time. (August 5, 2014; March 18, 2014; March 4, 2014; November 19, 2013; April 23, 2012; April 12, 2011; October 18, 2010; July 19, 2011; May 13, 2013; August 4, 2014; April 7, 2015; April 21, 2015; April 28, 2015; July 14, 2015; September 22, 2015; October 27, 2015; November 17, 2015; December 8, 2015; December 9, 2015; January 26, 2016; January 26, 2016; April 26, 2016; May 24, 2016; July 5, 2016; September 13, 2016; October 11, 2016; January 31, 2017; January 24, 2017; April 12, 2017; April 25, 2017; August 8, 2017; July 11, 2017; September 5, 2017; October 10, 2017; November 21, 2017; December 26, 2017; February 20, 2018; March 20, 2018; April 3, 2018; April 10, 2018; April 17, 2018; June 5, 2018; July 3, 2018; July 24, 2018; September 25, 2018; October 2, 2018; November 27, 2018; December 25, 2018; May 6, 2013; June 4, 2013; July 2, 2013; July 30, 2013; August 27, 2013; September 17, 2013; October 1, 2013; November 19, 2013; December 17, 2013; January 22, 2014; February 4, 2014; March 4, 2014; March 18, 2014; April 8, 2014; April 24, 2014; May 27, 2014; June 17, 2014; July 8, 2014; August 5, 2014; September 16, 2014; September 30, 2014; October 28, 2014; December 2, 2014; December 23, 2014; February 10, 2015; March 24, 2015; April 7, 2015; May 26, 2015; June 16, 2015; August 18, 2015; February 9, 2016; February 24, 2016; March 29, 2016; April 5, 2016; April 19, 2016; May 31, 2016; October 18, 2016; May 31, 2016; July 26, 2016; November 15, 2016; December 13, 2016; December 27, 2016; February 14, 2017; March 21, 2017; March 24, 2017; April 4, 2017; October 17, 2017; May 30, 2017; June 27, 2017; July 11, 2017; November 6, 2018; December 4, 2018; August 28, 2018; November 6, 2018; February 26, 2019; March 26, 2019; April 9, 2019; April 16, 2019; April 23, 2019; May 21, 2019; June 25, 2019; August 13, 2019; September 24, 2019; November 19, 2019; December 24, 2019; January 21, 2020; March 3, 2020; April 14, 2020; April 21, 2020; April 20, 2021; May 25, 2021; November 16, 2021; May 24, 2022; October 19, 2022; April 11, 2023; April 23, 2024; May 29, 2024; August 14, 2024; February 5, 2025; April 23, 2025; December 23, 2025; February 4, 2026; March 24, 2026; April 14, 2026; May 13, 2026; May 22, 2026; May 22, 2026; June 17, 2026)
OpenBSD httpd Reyk Floeter ISC 7.9[20] Edit this on Wikidata May 19, 2026; 45 days ago (May 19, 2026)
OpenLink Virtuoso OpenLink Software GNU GPL and proprietary versions 7.2.17[21] Edit this on Wikidata May 7, 2026; 57 days ago (May 7, 2026)
Oracle HTTP Server Oracle Corporation Non-free proprietary 14c (14.1.2.0.0)[22] 2025-06-??[23]
Oracle iPlanet Web Server Oracle Corporation BSD 7.0.27 2017-10-01
Oracle WebLogic Server Oracle Corporation
(formerly BEA Systems)		 Non-free proprietary 15c (15.1.1.0.0) 2025-12-01[24]
Resin Open Source Caucho Technology GNU GPLv3 / proprietary license 4.0.67[25] Edit this on Wikidata November 20, 2024; 19 months ago (November 20, 2024)
Resin Professional Caucho Technology Non-free proprietary 4.0.67[25] Edit this on Wikidata November 20, 2024; 19 months ago (November 20, 2024)
Tengine Taobao (Alibaba Group) BSD 3.1.0[26] Edit this on Wikidata October 27, 2023; 2 years ago (October 27, 2023)
thttpd Jef Poskanzer for ACME Laboratories BSD variant 2.29[27] Edit this on Wikidata May 23, 2018; 8 years ago (May 23, 2018)
TUX web server Ingo Molnár GNU GPL 3.2.6.18 2006-09-20 (discontinued)
WEBrick Ruby Community BSD 2-clause 1.9.2[28] Edit this on Wikidata November 26, 2025; 7 months ago (November 26, 2025)
Xitami iMatix Corporation BSD 2.5c2[29] Edit this on Wikidata July 24, 2002; 23 years ago (July 24, 2002) (discontinued)
Yaws Claes Wikström BSD 3 clause 2.3.1[30] Edit this on Wikidata May 29, 2026; 35 days ago (May 29, 2026)
Zeus Web Server Zeus Technology Non-free proprietary 4.3r5 2010-01-13 (discontinued)
Zope Zope Corporation Zope 6.1[31] Edit this on Wikidata April 22, 2026; 2 months ago (April 22, 2026)
Server Developed by Software license Last stable version Latest release date
Close

Features

Some features may be intentionally not included to web server to avoid featuritis. For example:

  • TLS/HTTPS may be enabled with a separate stunnel daemon that terminates TLS and redirects raw HTTP packets to http daemon.
  • NGINX and OpenBSD httpd authors decided not to include CGI interpretation but instead use FastCGI. For OpenBSD was developed a slowcgi gateway.
  • BusyBox httpd doesn't have automatically generated directory listing but it may be implemented as a CGI script
More information Server, Security ...
Server Security Virtual
hosting		 Dynamic content[a] Runs in user
or kernel space		 Administration console Additional protocol support
Basic access
authenti-
cation		 Digest access
authenti-
cation		 SSL/TLS
https		 CGI FCGI SCGI WSGI Java
Servlets		 SSI ISAPI SSJS IPv6 HTTP/2 QUIC HTTP/3
AOLserver Yes No Yes[b][c][d][32] Yes Yes No Unknown No No Yes Unknown Unknown user Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
Apache HTTP Server Yes Yes Yes[e][c][33][f][34] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[e] No[g] Yes Yes[h] Unknown user Yes[i] Yes Yes No No
Apache Tomcat Yes Yes Yes[j][35] Yes Yes No Unknown No Yes Yes No[k] Unknown user Yes Yes[l] Yes Unknown Unknown
Boa No No Yes[m] Yes Yes No Unknown No No No No No user Unknown Yes No No No
BusyBox httpd Yes No No No Yes No No No No No[n] No No user No Yes No No No
Caddy Yes No Yes Yes Partial[o] Yes No No No No[p] No No user No Yes Yes Yes Yes[q]
Caucho Resin Server Yes Yes paid version[c] Yes Yes Yes Unknown No Yes Yes No Unknown user Yes Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown
Caudium Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unknown No Yes Yes Unknown Unknown user Yes Yes[r] Unknown Unknown Unknown
Cherokee HTTP Server Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Unknown user Yes Yes[37] Unknown Unknown Unknown
HFS Yes No No[38] No No No Unknown No No No Unknown Unknown user Unknown No Unknown Unknown Unknown
Hiawatha HTTP Server Yes Yes Yes[s][39] Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No Unknown user Yes Yes No[40] No[40] No[40]
IBM HTTP Server Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unknown No No Yes No Unknown user Yes Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown
Internet Information Services Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No[t] Yes Yes Yes kernel and user[41] Yes Yes Yes Unknown Unknown
Jetty Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unknown Unknown No Yes Unknown Unknown Yes user Unknown Unknown Yes Unknown Unknown
Jexus No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No Yes user Yes No Unknown Unknown Unknown
lighttpd Yes Yes Yes[c][42] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No[g] Yes No No user No Yes Yes No No
LiteSpeed Web Server Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No[g] Yes No Unknown user Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[43]
Mongoose Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes No No user Yes Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown
Monkey HTTP Server Yes No Yes[s] Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No user No Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown
NaviServer Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Unknown No No Yes Unknown Unknown user Yes Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown
NCSA HTTPd Yes Yes Unknown Partial[u] Yes Unknown Unknown No No Yes No No user No No No No No
nginx Yes Yes (module) Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No[44] Yes No Unknown user No Yes[45] Yes[46] Yes Yes
OpenBSD httpd Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No user No Yes No No No
OpenLink Virtuoso Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes Yes No No user Yes No No Unknown Unknown
Oracle HTTP Server[47] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unknown No No Yes No Unknown user Yes[v] Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown
Oracle iPlanet Web Server Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unknown No Yes Yes No Yes user Yes Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown
thttpd Yes Unknown No Yes Yes No Unknown No No No No Unknown user No Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown
TUX web server No No No Yes Yes No Unknown No No No No Unknown kernel Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
Xitami Yes Unknown paid version Yes Yes Unknown Unknown No Unknown Yes Unknown Unknown user Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
Yaws Yes Unknown Yes Yes Yes Yes Unknown No No Yes No Unknown user Unknown Yes Unknown Unknown Unknown
Zeus Web Server Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unknown No No[g] Yes Yes Unknown user Yes No Unknown Unknown Unknown
Close
  1. [a]
    The "dynamic content" columns indicate whether the server itself implements the given feature. Other features may be available by delegation (e.g. Apache HTTP Server can delegate to Apache Tomcat for Servlet support).
  2. [b]
    support for using RSA BSAFE
  3. [c]
    support for using openSSL
  4. [d]
    support for using Network Security Services
  5. [e]
    via modules
  6. [f]
    support for using GnuTLS
  7. [g]
    This server implements AJP; compatible third-party Servlet containers can be integrated to provide seamless Servlet support.
  8. [h]
    This server can use the mod_isapi module for this support.
  9. [i]
    via Geronimo
  10. [j]
    support for using Java Secure Socket Extension
  11. [k]
    While Tomcat does not implement ISAPI directly, it integrates well with Apache mod_jk which contains an ISAPI module for this purpose.
  12. [l]
    Requires a JVM and OS that support IPv6.
  13. [m]
    with external patch
  14. [n]
    Implemented as CGI script httpd_ssi
  15. [o]
    CGI implemented for WebSocket connections
  16. [p]
    Same capabilities as SSI available with templates
  17. [q]
    The experimental_http3 option "enables experimental draft HTTP/3 support...This option will go away in the future".[36]
  18. [r]
    Version 1.4.8 of Caudium mentions IPv6 support but this is not explicitly specified on the official website. Maintainers have been sent a Documentation Update Query; please remove this warning notice when they update their website
  19. [s]
    support for using PolarSSL
  20. [t]
    Servlet Engines are supported via isapi_redirect.
  21. [u]
    Due to lack of support for HTTP/1.1, name based virtual hosts are not fully implemented.
  22. [v]
    via Enterprise Manager

Operating system support

More information Server, Windows ...
Server Windows Linux macOS BSD Solaris eComStation OpenVMS AIX IBM i z/OS HP-UX
AOLserver No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Unknown No Unknown Unknown
Apache HTTP Server Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Apache Tomcat Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Boa Unknown Yes Yes Yes Unknown No No Unknown No Unknown Unknown
BusyBox httpd No[48] Yes Unknown Yes No No No No No No No
Caddy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
Caucho Resin Server Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Caudium[49] No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Unknown Unknown
Cherokee HTTP Server No[50] Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Unknown No Unknown Unknown
HFS Yes No No No No No No No No No No
Hiawatha with Cygwin[51] Yes[51] Yes[51] Yes[51] Yes[51] No No No No No No
IBM HTTP Server Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Internet Information Services Yes No No No No No No No No No No
Jetty Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Unknown No Yes Unknown
Jexus No Yes No Yes Unknown No No No No No No
lighttpd Yes
(Cygwin)		 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes
LiteSpeed Web Server No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Unknown No Unknown Unknown
Mongoose Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Monkey HTTP Server No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No
NaviServer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unknown Unknown Yes No Unknown Unknown
NCSA HTTPd Unknown Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Unknown No Unknown Yes
nginx Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes
OpenLink Virtuoso Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes
Oracle HTTP Server Yes Yes No Unknown Yes No No Yes No Unknown Unknown
Oracle iPlanet Web Server Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes No No Yes
thttpd Yes
(Cygwin)		 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Unknown No Unknown Unknown
TUX web server No Yes No No No No No No No No No
Xitami Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Unknown Yes
Yaws Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Unknown Unknown
Close

See also

References

External links

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