Web server application selection is a make or break for website success. But what is the most popular web server application? As of latest statistics, Nginx is at the top with 33.8% market share. It’s known for high traffic handling. Coming closely behind is Apache with 27.6% standing as the closest competitor to have made its name on the back of its robustness and customization options.
Regardless of whether you run a tiny blog or a massive e-commerce site, these statistics are valuable information that can help inform your decision.
Do you want to find out the differences in the performance and features between these web servers? Read this article from Designveloper.
What is a Web Server?
When learning about a web server, you should consider both of its sides: computer software and physical hardware. These two aspects work effectively together to ensure a user’s requests will be seamlessly processed.
- In the software term: Most web servers use the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or its secure extension HTTPS to communicate with web browsers. Thus they’re known as HTTP servers. These servers function as software that manages a user’s access to hosted files on databases. After a user enters the targeted website’s domain name or URL (web addresses, say, https://www.designveloper.com), an HTTP server receives and processes a request. It then gives the website’s expected content to the visitor’s device.
- In the hardware term: A web server acts as a computer that contains an HTTP server (web server software) and a website’s data or files (e.g. images, JavaScript files, or HTML documents). A physical web server connects with other devices through the Internet for data exchanges. A high-traffic website may require numerous physical web servers.
How Does a Web Server Work?
In the back-end, a web browser requires a hosted file from a web server through HTTP. When the request comes to the right web server (hardware), an HTTP server (software) seeks the requested file. The server then delivers it to the browser through HTTP as well.
Below are details of some critical steps in this procedure:
1. Hosting files
Firstly, all requested files must be stored in a web server in the form of HTML documents, JavaScript files, CSS style sheets, videos, and images.
Web makers should assign their database to a dedicated web server which is frequently maintained by a hosting service provider. Not only does such a server help prevent system-related and downtime troubles. But websites can also take full advantage of their resources (i.e. RAM or CPU) to improve maximum uptime, site speed, web app security, and flexibility.
2. Communicating through HTTP
HTTP is a common protocol that consists of rules for systems to communicate together. Today, websites use either HTTP or HTTPS – HTTP with higher encryption – to process a user’s request.
After receiving the requested URL, an HTTP server will check whether it fits any existing document stored therein. If so, the server will promptly send it to a user’s device. Otherwise, an application server will create a requested file. In case none of these two possibilities happens, the web server will deliver a 404 message back.
3. Serve static or dynamic web content
A web server can be either static or dynamic.
- A static web server includes an HTTP server (software) and a physical web server (hardware). The server delivers its available files upon requests to a user’s browser.
- A dynamic web server includes a static web server and additional software which is mostly a database and an application server. Normally, dynamic content is updated and generated by an application server from a database at the time of request before being delivered by an HTTP server to a user’s device.
Take Wikipedia as a typical example. This website includes some HTML templates (static content) and a massive database rather than a pile of static HTML documents. Whenever a user requests a particular webpage, an application server adds requested content from a database into an HTML template. This dynamic content is then sent to a web browser. So for you to see a webpage on any device, static and dynamic web servers are indispensable.
What is a Web Server Application?
Software that provides web pages to users in response to their requests is a web server application. It is a bridge between the user’s browser and the content of the website. Windows machines, as web servers, process incoming requests, retrieve the needed content and send it back to the user’s browser.
An Overview
According to W3Techs, Nginx is the most popular web server application, being used on 33.8% of all of websites. Keeping up with a close second is Apache with 27.6% in usage. Cloudflare Server at 22.8% and LiteSpeed at 14.1% were other honorable mentions.
Key features
Web server applications vary in terms of features. For example, Nginx has a high performance reputation and is able to handle huge amounts of traffic through load balancing. If you want your website to be flexible and easily customizable, Apache is the option that is most commonly praised.
Use cases
Different use cases have different web server applications. In Windows environments, Microsoft IIS is frequently used; in enterprise Java EE applications, Oracle WebLogic Server is typically preferred. Java servlet and JSP processing is often carried out by using the popular Apache Tomcat product.
Security and performance
When selecting a web server application, security and performance are important considerations. Most modern web servers have these security features built into them including the SSL/TLS support and intrusion detection mechanisms. Other metrics related to performance, such as response time or the ability to handle concurrent connections, also have to be examined.
How Does a Web Server Application Work?
Web server application is software for delivering web pages in the response to their requests. Processing is done when a user types a URL in their browser and the web server receives the request. Now, the server requests the web page from its storage and sends it back to the user’s browser. This takes place in a millisecond or so, so you don’t even know that it’s happened.
The hyper text transfer protocol, HTTP, is utilized by web servers to communicate to browsers. They can work with HTTPS (HTTP Secure) to secure the communication. Examples of very popular web server applications are Apache, Nginx, and LiteSpeed. All of them have different features such as load balancing and HTTP/3 support.
Top 5 Web Server Applications for 2025
The web development industry has continued to undergo changes year after year, and it is the same case with 2025. Though this list of top 5 web server applications for 2025 might not hold the same for the years after, it still might provide you with ample information heading forward.
1. Nginx
Nginx, pronounced as “Engine-X,” is a powerful and versatile web server application. As of December 2024, Nginx maintains 33.8% market share of all websites that use a web server, making it the 1st most popular web server application. While this represents a slight decrease compared to its previous share of the market, it still is a large percentage of the web server market.
Nginx is known for its high performance, stability, and low resource consumption. Major websites like WordPress.com, Adobe.com and Tiktok use it. Nginx is flexible enough to be used as a web server, as a reverse proxy, load balancer, and an HTTP cache.
Being able to handle a tremendous number of concurrent connections cost efficiently is one of the main reasons that make Nginx so popular. With this, high traffic websites and applications can be supported. Also, Nginx provides extensive support for modern web technology and protocol such as HTTP/2 and SSL/TLS encryption.
2. Apache
Web server applications still favor Apache in 2025. As per the recent stats, there are 27.6% of all websites using Apache whose web server we know. What’s important to see from this figure is how Apache has been reliably popular in the web hosting industry.
Apache has become hugely popular because it is open source and so flexible. Apache powers the intense web traffic on websites such as Netflix, Dropbox and Adobe. It shows that Apache is able to handle high traffic, high demand sites.
As Apache has evolved to Version 2, still the most popular, accounting for 99.7% of all Apache installations. However, with this version comes improved performance and security features to keep websites loading fast and secure.
3. Cloudflare Server
In 2025 many people turn to Cloudflare Server due to its popularity. Today it is used by 22.8% of all sites whose web server is known, which is a market leading percentage. Due to its high performance and security features, the usage is rising in this.
Being able to have not only their backbone but their backbone with edge functionality has been a game changer. Cloudflare improves the performance of web applications by bringing compute power closer to users and thereby reducing latency. Specifically, real-time data processing is possible with applications like interactive gaming and autonomous vehicles which would be greatly benefited by this.
It has also become a necessity to be secure through the zero trust security model of Cloudflare. This model assumes that each digital interaction is a potential suspect that is required to be continuously verified for the sake of higher security. Cloudflare is widely used to store web hosting for popular sites like LinkedIn, Vimeo, and the New York Times.
4. LiteSpeed
For 2025, LiteSpeed Web Server has become one of the top candidates of web server application. The Apache server is known to have high performance and scalability, and the LiteSpeed comes as a perfect alternative to it.
According to recent reports, LiteSpeed can handle thousands of concurrent clients in very low memory and CPU usage, thus making LiteSpeed an efficient choice for high traffic websites.
A study by LiteSpeed Technologies shows that their web server will double the capacity of an existing Apache server without additional hardware. Data also indicated significant performance improvements of these deployments in the real world.
WPThrive and many others have reported faster load times as well as an improvement in SEO rankings after switching to LiteSpeed Server Cache. This demonstrates real world benefits of LiteSpeed.
Due to its event driven architecture, LiteSpeed is scalable with fewer processes and less overhead. On the other hand, it supports modern web technologies such as HTTP/2, QUIC, and HTTP/3.
5. Microsoft IIS
In 2025, Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) continues to be a favorite among web developers and businesses. As per recent statistics, 4.2% of all websites using recognized web server run IIS. This figure continues to underscore its value in the web server world.
IIS is well known for its integration into other Microsoft services and sheer robustness. For example, Microsoft.com and Skype.com use IIS as their web host (among other things). 77.9% of websites running IIS are using the latest version, IIS 10.
Out of the box, IIS is one of the reasons why it enjoys so much popularity and credit, as it integrates seamlessly with Windows Server environments which make this a really nice choice for enterprises. Moreover, ASP.NET applications that use dynamic websites and web applications are widely supported by IIS.
Designveloper Can Help Build Your Web Server Application
Designveloper does an amazing job of building incredibly powerful technological solutions personally customised for your use, and web server applications are no exception. We have a long list of satisfied customers and products to our name, which you can check out on our projects page.
According to recent statistics, Nginx is the leading web server application, with 33.8% of all websites running Nginx. A high performance and its ability to handle big traffic volumes is what it’s celebrated for. At Designveloper, our team has had a lot of experience with Nginx and use it in projects to make Nginx serve high availability and scalability purposes.
Choosing Designveloper means leveraging our expertise and dedication to high-quality web server applications. Let us help you create a solution that aligns with your business goals and provides a seamless user experience.
Conclusion
For 2025, Nginx is the web server application which is most popular. According to recent statistics, Nginx is used by 33.8% of all websites. It’s a top choice for a webmaster for its handling of traffic with load balancing. If you want to take it a bit further you can check the W3Techs report for more detailed insights.
Apache is the other notable mentions having a usage rate of 27.6%, while LiteSpeed clocked 14.1%. Each is its own web server with its own strengths applicable to unique needs and preferences.
How you choose a web server is fundamental to a website’s performance and user experience. So by staying informed about the latest trends and statistics in web hosting, you are able to make a more knowledgeable decision on your web hosting needs.
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