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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
4th
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) (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Apache Web Server is 7.0%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NGINX Plus is 7.9%, down from 9.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
NGINX Plus7.9%
Apache Web Server7.0%
Other85.1%
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

"I do find some benefits with Nginx."
"The best thing about Apache is that it is open-source, so implementing my platform on-premises is less expansive than other solutions."
"The solution offers good security."
"Depending on what operating system you are using, you can have a website up in no time using Apache web server."
"In my experience, Apache Web Server has been a good and stable solution."
"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."
"The solution is extremely stable; we haven't had any issues with bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze, so it has been reliable."
"The open-source nature is one of its most significant advantages."
"I think installation only took a couple of minutes — no more than 10 minutes."
"It performs very well. That's one of the primary reasons we use NGINX."
"I utilize NGINX for its capability to provide visibility and discovery options, helping discover and identify networks, which is crucial for ensuring application performance, managing latency, and checking server reachability."
"When you use NGINX, you have more options and power."
"NGINX has created a resilient infrastructure for us which has reduced our downtimes."
"NGINX works much better than HAProxy in our current hardware and architecture for HTTP/HTTPS load balancing. ​​"
"Application Gateway with application-level firewall tool and load distributor and balancer (also serves for A/B testing)."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is simple to configure."
 

Cons

"Apache Server and the Nginx also do not require any licenses, and I think because of this that the support is not so good for us."
"For NGINX, I think it has NGINX Management Suite, which is GUI-based and allows you to manage your configuration via the user interface, but Apache fails to offer such capabilities to users."
"In future releases, I would like to see better server optimization."
"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."
"No support is available from Apache software foundation."
"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."
"I want the user interface to be more user-friendly."
"The interface has room for improvement."
"One area of improvement could be that NGINX could provide a means to generate self-signed SSL certificates."
"The center management system was not very good, maybe their new NGINX manager product is better."
"Make modules easier to enable or disable. The beauty and ugly side of the NGINX modules is you have to know how to compile the module. For beginners or non-very technical aspirant(s) going for NGINX, they have to learn how to compile the modules.​"
"I would like the configuration process to be more simplified."
"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."
"I would like it to have a more user-friendly graphical interface."
"I am not so happy with their pricing policy, but this is not the worse thing in my life."
"Our most challenging part was to run an older PHP website reverse-proxied through NGINX. That was not fun."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an open-source solution."
"The apache software is free, open-source."
"It is a free-of-cost solution."
"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.​"
"​NGINX is a free tool in Brazil. There are some companies which do support it.​"
"The list price of NGINX Plus is close to $5,500."
"You pay for each feature that you want."
"Nginx is free. I don't have experience with the Plus version."
"The cost is reasonable."
"​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. ​"
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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
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

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: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.