Top 5 Alternatives To Apache HTTP Server on Linux

In this guide, we want to discuss on Top 5 Alternatives To Apache HTTP Server on Linux. As you must know, Apache is the most popular web server in the world of Linux. Apache is a free and open-source web server and it also has amazing features that make it a popular web server including:

• Handling of static files
• Loadable dynamic modules
• Auto-indexing
• .htaccess
• Compatible with IPv6
• Supports HTTP/2
• FTP connections
• Gzip compression and decompression
• Bandwidth throttling
• Perl, PHP, Lua scripts
• Load balancing
• Session tracking
• URL rewriting
• Geolocation based on IP address

There are many alternatives to Apache that you can use. Also, some of them can be used as reverse proxy or FTP servers. You can follow the rest of the article to get more information.

Discuss Top 5 Alternatives To Apache HTTP Server on Linux

If you are looking for alternatives and similar Apps like Apache on Linux, you can follow the steps below to get familiar with the top 5 web servers that you can use instead of Apache on Linux.

Number 1 – Nginx HTTP Server – Top Alternative To Apache HTTP Server

The best alternative to Apache is Nginx. Nginx is a free, lightweight, portable, and open-source HTTP and Reverse proxy server. Also, it can be used for caching, load balancing media streaming, and more. It is a popular web server for its high performance and stability. Nginx is as highly configurable as Apache, but it consumes fewer resources.

Nginx can be easily installed and configured on Linux distributions. You can configure it as a reverse proxy, load balancing, caching, and more. To get Nginx guides and configurations, you can visit the Nginx Webserver Tutorials.

Number 2 – Caddy Web Server

Another alternative to Apache is the Caddy web server. It is an open-source and HTTP/2 web server that is written in Go. Caddy is a simple, efficient, and portable web server. Also, it aims to be easy to use and automatic SSL using Let’s Encrypt.

Most Linux users think that Caddy is a great alternative server to Apache. Because it consumes fewer device resources compared to similar apps, can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation, and supports MarkDown for document formatting.

Caddy has a very simple installation on Linux distros. As an example, Debian 12 Bookworm is the new version of Debian, you can see the Caddy installation steps and configurations on this distro with the following guide:

Install Caddy Web Server on Debian 12

Number 3 – Lighttpd Web Server

Lighttpd is a secure, fast, and flexible web server that can be an alternative to Apache. It is designed to be a lightweight web server. It can support many things that you want in a web server including:

• load-balancing FastCGI, SCGI, and HTTP proxy
• SSL and TLS support via OpenSSL
• authentication against an LDAP server
• flexible virtual hosting
• HTTP compression and much more.

Also, Lighttpd can be installed and configured easily on Linux distros. As an example, you can check the installation guide on an Ubuntu server by visiting this guide on Install and Configure Lighttpd on Ubuntu 22.04.

Number 4 – OpenLiteSpeed HTTP Server on Linux

OpenLiteSpeed is one of the top 5 web servers in Linux. It is an open-source, high-performance, and lightweight HTTP server. Also, it has a user-friendly web interface with many features that are a good choice for web hosting.

Compared to Apache, it offers unique strengths such as excellent performance, scalability, and user-friendly configuration. It is free to download, use, and modify.

Also, its web admin console features make it a good alternative to Apache. These features include:

• Virtual host management
• Server-level configuration
• Log management
• Security features
• Cache management

Like the other web servers, it can be easily installed and configured. As an example, you can visit the installation guide and access the admin console on AlmaLinux 9 by visiting this guide on Install OpenLiteSpeed on AlmaLinux 9.

Number 5 – LiteSpeed Web Server

As described on the official LiteSpeed site, it is a high-performance Apache drop-in replacement. It can be a good alternative to the Apache HTTP server. LiteSpeed has all popular Apache features. Also, it can interact with many control panels such as cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, and more. For example, you can easily install LiteSpeed on DirectAdmin and cPanel by visiting the following guides:

Install LiteSpeed on DirectAdmin

Set up LiteSpeed in cPanel and WHM

With LiteSpeed, you can improve your server performance and decrease your costs.

What is the most commonly used web server on Linux systems?

There are many useful web servers that you can use on your Linux distros. But Nginx and Apache are the two most used web servers worldwide. 

What is the alternative to the Apache server?

As you know there are so many servers that you can use instead of Apache. The most widely used web servers include Nginx, Caddy, Lighttpd, OpenLiteSpeed, and LiteSpeed.

Conclusion

At this point, you have learned that you can use so many web servers instead of Apache. Here we show you the Top 5 Alternatives To Apache HTTP Server on Linux Distributions. Each of them has unique features that you can use according to your needs.

So what do you think? Which one will you choose? Do you know a better web server? Please comment for us and share your opinions.