LibreSpeed vs Nginx
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
| Feature | LibreSpeed | Nginx |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | free | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | JavaScript | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, one-click | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 15,025 | ★ 31,360 |
| First released | 2022 | 2004 |
| Replaces | — | Apache, IIS |
Why pick each one
Choose LibreSpeed if…
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- One-click install on common self-host platforms
- Mature project with 15k GitHub stars
Choose Nginx if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 31.4k GitHub stars
- Written in C
Frequently asked questions
Is LibreSpeed or Nginx better?
Neither is universally better. Nginx has the larger community, while LibreSpeed is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are LibreSpeed and Nginx free and open-source?
Yes. LibreSpeed is licensed under free and Nginx under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run LibreSpeed and Nginx with Docker?
LibreSpeed: yes. Nginx: yes.