Apache Web Server vs IIS vs NGINX Plus comparison

Apache and Microsoft are both solutions in the Application Infrastructure category. Apache is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.8, while Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.2. Apache holds a 11.2% mindshare in AIS, compared to Microsoft’s 11.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Apache users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Apache Web Server

Read 23 Apache Web Server reviews

1,640 Views
378 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IIS

Read 57 IIS reviews

2,196 Views
771 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

NGINX Plus

Read 31 NGINX Plus reviews

1,636 Views
512 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Apache Web Server

IIS

NGINX Plus

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Apache Web Server, IIS, and NGINX Plus based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, IBM, F5 and others in Application Infrastructure.

To learn more, read our detailed Application Infrastructure Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Application Infrastructure

June 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Apache Web Server is 11.2%, up from 9.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IIS is 11.3%, down from 12.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NGINX Plus is 9.9%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Infrastructure

Featured Reviews

Sakthivel Veeramuthu

Technology Lead at Infosys

Easy to optimize for high performance and handle heavy traffic

Most of the features I liked were related to the performance during peak hours. Because I needed to optimize the Apache web server to run it as a high performer during my customers' usage, then I needed to reduce my Apache web server resource usage for that. So that part of the thing is what I was more interested in doing. So, I mainly liked the performance and security.

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DanielWildermuth

Testtool expert at Helvetia Versicherungen

Provides integration with Eggplant but problems with stability

We use Windows Server only for Eggplant Manager. Otherwise, I'm not using it At the moment, we have big problems with stability, and I'm not very happy at the moment. So, the stability could be improved. I have been using it for a few years. The initial setup is complex. We have an…

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Michael Olayemi

Senior Software Engineer at Checkit

Enables public access and secure configurations through reverse proxy

The primary valuable feature of NGINX for me is its ability to provide a reverse proxy. I have found that this feature supports our local server, and I am able to connect through our DNS system, making it accessible publicly. Additionally, the integration with SSL certificates and the configuration capabilities make it a valuable solution for my use case. Without NGINX, users would not be able to access our application, which means there is positive ROI from using NGINX as it is crucial for the functioning of my organization.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It is more secure to use Apache and you will have fewer problems than other web services."

"The solution offers good security."

"Its community is its most valuable feature. Solving problems is easier on Apache because so many people know this product."

"The control panel is very easy to navigate. It's similar to most hosting platforms, so it's user-friendly. Once you get used to it, managing your hosting becomes easy, too."

"Apache Web Server can be used as a proxy server"

"Apache Web Server is free of cost."

"Apache has proven to be incredibly reliable, and everything has operated smoothly without encountering any issues."

"The best thing about Apache is that it is open-source, so implementing my platform on-premises is less expansive than other solutions."

More Apache Web Server pros

"IIS works natively with Windows Server without any issues in publishing certificates."

"We use the solution for our customer's web applications."

"IIS is useful for the deployment of web applications...Its stability is good."

"The tool shows us the operating systems where our servers and applications are running."

"The tool is very easy to use and efficient."

"The product's most valuable features are performance and security."

"The product is stable."

"The solution is very simple to use and easy to deploy."

More IIS pros

"The load balancing module, which is equivalent to LTM, is the focus of the PSE. So far, the features of both are identical. I believe NGINX has more features for securing these services, but in terms of load balancing, both are massive solutions."

"The most valuable features are the gateway and the ability to publish to sites."

"The overall product rating is ten out of ten."

"I think installation only took a couple of minutes — no more than 10 minutes."

"NGINX Plus' most valuable feature is the ingress controller."

"Its most valuable features are load balancing and application delivery. This is the most efficient application for these features because of stability and its efficiency."

"-"

"NGINX Plus also has NGINX App Protect. It's a separate module, which is inspired by the F5 apps."

More NGINX Plus pros

Cons

"It would be great if technical support for Apache were available in Iran. It is a very important need."

"By optimizing the infrastructure to allow the webserver to directly handle queries from memory—particularly by prioritizing the storage of queries in memory and processing them through the web server interface—I could potentially cut down the required instances from five hundred to two hundred."

"There is a security-related problem that depends on the web server's configuration."

"I want the user interface to be more user-friendly."

"Adding a reverse proxy to Apache Web Server would be a significant improvement."

"The product's initial setup process could be easier for users."

"Its stability could be better."

"A monitoring interface would be great for this product. The monitoring dashboards for Apache's models are not included in the basic installation. You can install the basic monitoring model, then connect this model to another monitoring system."

More Apache Web Server cons

"The solution should improve the cluster environment and load balancing."

"In the next release, I would like to see better integration between the cloud environment and the on-premises environment."

"The solution must improve the integration between its databases."

"IIS could improve by Microsoft Windows improving the update services. We would like to be able to update all systems that are connected. The WSA service has to be in good order to accomplish this."

"If Microsoft IIS could work well with AppOptics or things like PHP, Python, and other custom languages that run on the webserver, it would be ideal. I think there are cases where people need to use Apache instead of IIS when IIS doesn't work well with other web languages."

"In the next release, the tool should be more easily integrated and configured with other provisions. The pricing should also be made cheaper since it's very expensive now."

"The cost is a bit too high."

"Scalability issues and security concerns need attention from Microsoft."

More IIS cons

"They should do in the open source version of what they did to Advanced HTTP, TCP, and UDP load balancing."

"NGINX is a very basic load balancer and cannot do as many customizations as F5."

"Our most challenging part was to run an older PHP website reverse-proxied through NGINX. That was not fun."

"The user interface could be improved."

"I would like the configuration process to be more simplified."

"If NGINX brings some features for health check in the open source version, it would be better. "

"Improvement needed in NGINX Plus could focus on optimizing memory usage for users."

"One area of improvement could be that NGINX could provide a means to generate self-signed SSL certificates."

More NGINX Plus cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an open-source solution."

"It is a free-of-cost solution."

"There is no licensing cost for the product."

"The apache software is free, open-source."

"This solution comes included with Windows Server."

"The solution provides multiple licensing options."

"I think it's part of the Windows Server, so you won't have any other costs to add in order to use the IIS service."

"Users can get a subscription-based license or a perpetual license for IIS."

"The solution’s pricing is yearly. The pricing is affordable and not high."

"The tool is included with Windows."

"We purchased a Microsoft Windows license and the license for IIS came in the package."

"There is no license required for the product as it is role-based. Whenever you go for a Windows platform server, the role has to be installed directly from the server manager. There is no additional cost that has to be paid for that. It is free to use."

More IIS pricing and cost advice

"NGINX is a free tool in Brazil. There are some companies which do support it."

"It's an open source solution, so it's free."

"The price is the cost to contract support with a specialized company, usually during consulting hours."

"The list price of NGINX Plus is close to $5,500."

"NGINX Plus is worth it, if you need it. If you do not need the features or support, the free and open source package is more than capable. "

"The cost is reasonable."

"Compared to other similar solutions on the market, I think it's over-priced."

"HAProxy is cheaper than NGINX."

More NGINX Plus pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user240036

Senior IT Architect at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees

Apr 10, 2016

Apache vs. Nginx

Originally posted https://zitseng.com/archives/10435 Apache or Nginx. This is a question that many website administrators have considered. It’s a question that I’ve also considered several times, and again just the past week. Apache is the most popular web server on the Internet. Nginx, on the…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

16%

University

Government

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

17%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apache Web Server?

The product's initial setup phase is straightforward.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Web Server?

Apache Web Server is a free product, with no associated setup costs or licensing fees.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Apache Web Server?

There is no need for substantial improvements as we have a dedicated team managing the server, ensuring everything ru...

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Which is better - IIS or NGINX Plus?

IIS is a flexible, secure, and manageable web server to host anything on the web. IIS’s scalable and open architectur...

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What do you like most about IIS?

The product is flexible.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IIS?

If you have a Windows license, there is no additional cost for IIS. However, you may need to pay for SSL publishing a...

See all answers

What do you like most about NGINX Plus?

It performs very well. That's one of the primary reasons we use NGINX.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NGINX Plus?

My use case involves using the free and open-source version of NGINX, making it cost-effective as I haven't incurred ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with NGINX Plus?

One area of improvement could be that NGINX could provide a means to generate self-signed SSL certificates. This woul...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft .NET Framework vs Apache Web Server

Compared 9% of the time

IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Apache Web Server

Compared 6% of the time

Zend PHP Engine vs Apache Web Server

Compared 5% of the time

Oracle SOA Suite vs Apache Web Server

Compared 4% of the time

JBoss Enterprise Application Platform vs Apache Web Server

Compared 3% of the time

More Apache Web Server Competitors

Oracle WebLogic Server vs IIS

Compared 13% of the time

Tomcat vs IIS

Compared 13% of the time

Microsoft .NET Framework vs IIS

Compared 5% of the time

JBoss vs IIS

Compared 5% of the time

IBM WebSphere Application Server vs IIS

Compared 4% of the time

More IIS Competitors

HAProxy vs NGINX Plus

Compared 12% of the time

F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) vs NGINX Plus

Compared 11% of the time

NetScaler vs NGINX Plus

Compared 11% of the time

Kemp LoadMaster vs NGINX Plus

Compared 9% of the time

VMWare Avi Load Balancer vs NGINX Plus

Compared 5% of the time

More NGINX Plus Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Apache Web Server

June 2025

Download Apache Web Server product report

Buyer's Guide

IIS

June 2025

Download IIS product report

Buyer's Guide

NGINX Plus

June 2025

Download NGINX Plus product report

Also Known As

Apache HTTP Server

Windows Server IIS

NGINX

Overview

The Apache HTTP Server Project was founded in 1995 by a group of webmasters, known as The Apache Group, with the aim of developing robust, richly-featured, freely-available and commercial-standard Web (HTTP) server source code. The result was Apache Web Server or Apache HTTP Server, which is an open-source public-domain web server.

This collaborative project has been enhanced ever since with contributions from the core development team and other volunteers situated all over the globe. Also, hundreds of users of this open-source web server have contributed code, ideas, and documentation. The project falls under The Apache Software Foundation, which manages many open-source projects.

Apache

Internet Information Services (IIS) provides a secure, easy-to-manage, modular and extensible platform for reliably hosting websites, services and applications. With IIS, you get choice and control without giving up reliability or security.

Microsoft

NGINX Plus is a versatile solution that offers load balancing, caching, proxying, and API deployment capabilities. It can be deployed on private or public clouds and is ideal for building CDN solutions. The solution can also be used to secure web applications and replace web services like Apache.

NGINX has helped organizations improve functioning, reduce downtimes, and offer a DevOps-friendly solution. Its community support and documentation are highly regarded, and its configuration is more straightforward, making it a recommended choice over HAProxy.

Sample Customers

Cisco, Intuit, General Electric, Adobe, VMware, PayPal, HP, EMC, eBay, Apple, SAP, Qualcomm, SanDisk, Allstate, FedEx

Erste Bank Group, NJVC, Samsung Electronics, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Tata Steel Europe, Urban Software Institute

Locaweb, AppNexus, Wix, Reliam, Montana Interactive, MuleSoft, Warpwire, Discovery Education, InkaBinka, WordPress.com, Gogo, GOV.UK, NASA

Buyer's Guide

Application Infrastructure

June 2025

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