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Apache Web Server vs NGINX Plus comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Apache Web Server
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NGINX Plus
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Apache Web Server is 6.4%, down from 11.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NGINX Plus is 7.9%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
NGINX Plus7.9%
Apache Web Server6.4%
Other85.7%
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

Dimitrios Zigkos - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise Architect at Smals vzw
Faced limitations with integration and long-term adaptability but benefited from a lightweight architecture for standalone applications
I find valuable and beneficial the independence that comes with Apache Web Server. You can build a small project using a simple application server without bothering too much about how to manage it. The compatibility with multiple operating systems has helped my operations since most of the time we use Linux. Some systems rely on Windows, but they are few; in the past, Windows was the dominant operating system for mainstream PCs and infrastructure, but not for business. All the companies I worked for had 90% Linux and maybe up to 10% Windows. The initial setup of Apache Web Server was straightforward and okay.
Nadeem-Inamdar - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Information Security Engineer at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Advanced policies and web firewall have strengthened application protection and reduced attack traffic
There were some vulnerabilities in F5. They tried to fix it, but the fixes were not available at the time because they were zero days, so they attempted to fix it, but their support was not proper. Their support should be improved because sometimes features which we need for customization take time, and they are sometimes feasible and sometimes not feasible by the team, so their support and the engineering team should improve their product. I would like to see more features regarding customization which should be built into the application, and the tool optimization should be good, and the dashboard should be more crisp and clear.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Depending on what operating system you are using, you can have a website up in no time using Apache web server."
"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."
"The Apache Web Server is our software of choice for running our web servers for the past seven (7) years."
"The product is very cheap and stable."
"Apache Web Server is freeware with no setup or licensing costs, yet it efficiently and stably runs our web applications in the cloud, including Java-based ones with Apache Tomcat and SSL for secure connectivity, providing substantial cost-savings for our organization."
"It's very stable, and it hosts one of the biggest of many biggest web applications in the world."
"The solution offers good security."
"This is a great product, it has everything."
"The web proxy and the database proxy are excellent."
"NGINX provides a cost advantage, value addition, and effective support."
"I need to highlight that the number one thing about NGINX is that it is free."
"I think installation only took a couple of minutes — no more than 10 minutes."
"Recently, we’ve needed to deploy sites over a number of servers to balance the load, which was not only painless but also super valuable."
"With NGINX, I appreciate its ability to route traffic geographically."
"NGINX is the best available tool today for the tasks it covers."
 

Cons

"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."
"If Apache master the ability of hosting websites/web apps that use Microsoft's .Net framework then it will definitely be the best web server to use."
"Regarding advice, there is a security-related problem that depends on the web server's configuration."
"I want the user interface to be more user-friendly."
"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."
"The GUI for the less experienced users needs some improvement. For some companies, it is hard to configure it if they have not had any experience."
"Adding a reverse proxy to Apache Web Server would be a significant improvement."
"There isn't a dedicated customer support available"
"One area of improvement could be that NGINX could provide a means to generate self-signed SSL certificates."
"NGINX is not cost-effective, especially for few applications, and is considered higher-priced."
"I would like to see the Grafana integration in NGINX which is already present in HAProxy. Grafana integration will help the solution visualize all the data analytics on the dashboard which is currently not present."
"Only improvement needed that I would point to is scalability. With it, I mean clusterized organisation on a low level. At the moment, the best alternative is RHEL HA."
"If NGINX brings some features for health check in the open source version, it would be better. ​"
"Compared to other similar solutions on the market, I think it's over-priced."
"The user interface could be improved."
"The biggest room for improvement would be to allow NGINX Core machines to cluster for memory zones in some way with a plug and play module. ​"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an open-source solution."
"It is a free-of-cost solution."
"The apache software is free, open-source."
"There is no licensing cost for the product."
"Compared to other similar solutions on the market, I think it's over-priced."
"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. ​"
"NGINX Plus is an open-source solution with limited additional features. When you try to get additional features in the solution, then you need to pay an extra amount to NGINX Plus."
"I use the solution's community edition which is free of cost."
"Nginx is free. I don't have experience with the Plus version."
"The solution is free, but you can spend a lot of money with a complex solution."
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Comparison Review

it_user240036 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Web Server?
There are no fees associated with the usage of Apache Web Server in my projects. If you want to have support, then there is some cost, but today I do not know how many companies pay for that servic...
What needs improvement with Apache Web Server?
I would like to see improvements in the functionality and core of Apache Web Server, focusing on building an infrastructure that can be resilient and robust enough to handle resource shortages, and...
What is your primary use case for Apache Web Server?
I am currently working with Apache Web Server in my projects because I'm an architect. Some years ago, it was the application server and the web server; it was Apache Daemon and Apache, the web ser...
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 architecture can handle the most demanding tasks. From media streaming to web applications,...
What needs improvement with NGINX Plus?
There were some vulnerabilities in F5. They tried to fix it, but the fixes were not available at the time because they were zero days, so they attempted to fix it, but their support was not proper....
 

Also Known As

Apache HTTP Server
NGINX, F5 NGINX Plus
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cisco, Intuit, General Electric, Adobe, VMware, PayPal, HP, EMC, eBay, Apple, SAP, Qualcomm, SanDisk, Allstate, FedEx
Locaweb, AppNexus, Wix, Reliam, Montana Interactive, MuleSoft, Warpwire, Discovery Education, InkaBinka, WordPress.com, Gogo, GOV.UK, NASA
Find out what your peers are saying about Apache Web Server vs. NGINX Plus and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,574 professionals have used our research since 2012.