NGINX VS Litespeed, a weighted comparison in 2025.

Introduction

In the landscape of modern web servers, Nginx e LiteSpeed are often compared as alternatives to Apache to achieve high performance without compromise. In recent years LiteSpeed It has become very popular in the hosting market, especially shared, because it allows you to "raise the bar" of performance compared to traditional solutions LAMP Apache-based with a relatively low operational commitmentIt is a "turnkey" product that integrates application caches and a good set of defaults, so many companies - often made up of junior figures or in any case with limited system skills - are able to provide services perceived as "fast" without having to master the fine configuration of Nginx, reverse proxies, FastCGI cache o full-page cache (eg. Varnish).

This does not take away the fact that, despite the hype and aggressive marketing, technical facts matter. And precisely on two strategic fronts for the real performance in 2025, LiteSpeed ​​has shortcomings compared to NGINX: Zstandard compression (ZSTD) e HTTP 103 Early Hints.

Below we analyze why these two points matter (a lot), what NGINX offers today, thing missing in LiteSpeed ​​and what concrete impacts can be expected in terms of TTFB extension, content delivery e Core Web Vitals.

Zstandard (ZSTD): Why It's the "Right" Compression in 2025

Zstandard (ZSTD) is a modern compression algorithm, designed for be quick to compress and even quicker to decompress, with competitive compression ratios. Since 2024, it has become truly viable on the web because browsers main ones support it natively as Content-Encoding:

• Chrome 123 (March 2024) introduced support for zstd. Chrome for Developers

• Firefox 126 (May 2024) added support for zstd. FirefoxMDN WebDocs

• The standard for HTTP use is formalized in RFC 8878 (with updates in 2024 on “window sizing” in RFC 9659). datatracker.ietf.orgrfc-editor.org

What NGINX offers today on ZSTD

NGINX, by its modular nature, can enable ZSTD through a dynamic module widely used (ngx_http_zstd_filter/static) and packaged by multiple distributions:

• Open source module: zstd-nginx-module (precompressed file compressor/service .zst). GitHub

• Official distro packages (Eg. Alpine Linux: nginx-mod-http-zstd, forms .so filter + static). pkgs.alpinelinux.org+2pkgs.alpinelinux.org+2

In other words: on NGINX ZSTD is actually deployable in production today, without exotic patches, using third-party modules well maintained and available in the repos of the most common distros. This allows you to to serve Content-Encoding: zstd when the client negotiates it, reducing CPU load, lowering the compression times and improving TTFB of dynamic responses compared to Brotli, with the same perceived quality.

Confirming the practical advantages, Cloudflare – which uses NGINX as the basis of its pipeline – has introduced ZSTD on the edge: in internal tests ZSTD compresses up to 42% faster than Brotli maintaining close relationships, and beats GZIP of ~11,3% in average efficiency. The Cloudflare Blog

Where LiteSpeed ​​falls behind on ZSTD

LiteSpeed (including OpenLiteSpeed) documents support for Gzip e Brotli, but not at Zstandard including Content-Encoding for web traffic to the browser. Their official compression documentation doesn't mention ZSTD. LiteSpeed ​​Documentation

To “add” ZSTD to LiteSpeed the only practical workaround is place a reverse proxy upstream (typically a CDN including Cloudflare) That recompress to ZSTD towards compatible browsers. Cloudflare, in fact, offers ZSTD at the edge and allows you to trade it based on theAccept-Encoding of the client. Cloudflare Docs

This solution, however, introduces an important compromise: in case of cache miss CDN adds at least one hop and an extra phase of fetch from the origin, which can make TTFB worse compared to direct delivery (especially for non-cacheable dynamic HTML) – this is why many CDN articles and guides insist on improve cache hits and carefully manage the topologies of Tiered Cache to reduce latency.

Conclusion of the point: a infrastructure parity, with NGINX today is easier bring ZSTD directly on board (server-side) without forcing a CDN switch, while with LiteSpeed ​​you are forced to interpose an external reverse proxy to obtain the same Content-Encoding. This limit the optimization of TTFB extension and introduces addictions e complexity not always desired.

103 Early Hints: NGINX's Advantage in 2025

- Early Hints (HTTP 103) they are answers informative send before purchasing, of the final response, which allow the browser to start right away to pre-connect or preload critical resources (<link rel="preload">/preconnect) while the application is still generating the page. The result is a shortening the critical path of rendering and tangible improvements on FCP/LCPGoogle/Chrome documentation clearly describes the mechanism and benefits. Chrome for Developers

What NGINX offers today on Early Hints

Il June 24, 2025 NGINX has officially announced support for 103 Early Hints of mainline 1.29.0. It is a native feature, designed for prepare the ground to the browser and speed up the initial loading phase. For those who use NGINX today (August 24, 2025), this is a concrete possibility to be used to squeeze precious milliseconds from the phase of think-time server. blog.nginx.org

Where LiteSpeed ​​Falls Behind on Early Hints

To date, LiteSpeed ​​does not document a native support for 103 Early Hints. On the official forum, the topic has been the subject of feature request since 2022 and subsequent discussions, without a server-side availability announcement comparable to that of NGINX having emerged. litespeedtech.com

One might argue that “a CDN can send 103 instead of the server.” True in some cases, but this does not replace support end-to-end original side: the Early Hints best are those coordinated with the application logic (template, dependency graph of critical resources) and with minimum times between the issuance of the 103 and the final response. Send everything back to the CDN edge – in addition to the limits already mentioned on cache miss - decreases the control and the granularity with which the critical path. (For general context on Early Hints and browser-side benefits, see also MDN.) MDN WebDocs

Conclusion of the point: Nginx ha Early Hints today; LiteSpeed no. If the perceived speed (LCP) is a priority, this is a concrete advantage which adds to the possibility of using ZSTD directly on the origin.

Practical impacts on TTFB, LCP, and CPU costs

Both ZSTD is Early Hints touch different phases of the supply chain:

• ZSTD reduces i compression times server-side and often the bytes transferred (compared to GZIP), with very fast decompression client side; it is particularly effective on Dynamic HTML and non-cacheable responses, where to compress faster directly improves the TTFB extension “hot”. (Cloudflare measured average compression times lower than Brotli’s 42% at the same ratio very close). The Cloudflare Blog

• - Early Hints anticipate the connessioni and preload of critical resources, overlapping network latency with the generation time of the final response. The gain is observed on FCP/LCP and on rendering time perceived. (Guidelines and measures are detailed in Google's developer articles.) Chrome for Developers

Adding the two effects, Nginx in 2025 allows “supply chain” optimizations difficult to replicate with LiteSpeed ​​without external “prosthetics” (CDN) and with more architectural constraints.

Common Objections (and Responses)

“But LiteSpeed ​​is simpler and includes native caching (LSCache)”
Real: LSCache è comfortable and it helps a lot in shared hosting contexts. However, the simplicity does not replace missing features. If the goal is to bring ZSTD e Early Hints today on the origin, Nginx it's the fastest way and technically complete.

“CDN does ZSTD anyway”
Yup, se wish to bind you to the CDN and to accept in that cache miss let's introduce a extra latency. For dynamic HTML or custom content, enable ZSTD directly on the server is often the best choice. (On the role of cache miss in inflating the TTFB see technical analysis and best practices). Amazon Web Services Inc.The Cloudflare Blog

“Early Hints can be emulated with preconnect or HTTP/2 Push”
Server Push was deprecated/abandoned by major browsers; Early Hints I am the modern substitute and standard to orchestrate preload/preconnect before purchasing, of the definitive answer. Nginx supports them natively from June 2025, Litespeed will not.

Adoption Data: Where High-Traffic Sites Are Going

Public technology databases (today SimilarTech merged into Similarweb) confirm a coherent picture: Nginx continues to be widely adopted among the highest traffic sites, while LiteSpeed grows but stay behind in the top ranking bands.

Similarweb's technology pages provide usage overviews for Nginx e LiteSpeed; in parallel, W3Techs photograph a NGINX share ~33–34% e LiteSpeed ​​~14–15% of the total number of classified sites (updated August 2025). Similarweb w3techs.com

Note: Exact numbers vary by methodology for remote services (estimation vs. detection, sample vs. top N, etc.), but the trend among the sources is aligned: Nginx dominates the bands top and the enterprise-grade ecosystem, while LiteSpeed It is strong in shared/bulk hosting and specific segments.

A word about the hype and the expertise of the insiders

It is right to reiterate this frankly: LiteSpeed It has made life easier for many hosting companies, especially where there was no robust expertise on Nginx, proxy cache, FastCGI cache o VarnishThis doesn't make it a bad product; on the contrary, as a starting point it played (and plays) a role.

The technical point, however, is another: NGINX – already in the Open Source version (not only in the commercial edition NGINX Plus) it is possible to bring in production both i 103 Early Hints be the Zstandard compression (ZSTD), while with LiteSpeed these features they are not even available in the commercial version, moreover paid, which inevitably download the costs on who buys and on the end customer.

Furthermore, “real” research and development – the one that requires compile from source, integrate forms not pre-installed, manage advanced configurations, ask repeatable tests and measurements before purchasing, of the go-live – it's not within reach of those who have as their only goal sell pre-packaged packagesBringing a “perfect” service into production means knowing how to: choose toolchain e compilation flag adequate, orchestrate staging environments e canary release, to collect telemetry (RUM and synthetic), profile by collecting Tracks e flamegraph, iterate on benchmarking e A / B test, and only then fix e default solid. This craftsmanship – often necessary to enable and optimize features such as ZSTD ed Early Hints on NGINX Open Source – you don't buy it "off the shelf" and requires skills that go beyond the assembly of a turnkey solution.

In 2025, once again present LiteSpeed ​​as “the best performing solution” without mentioning the lack of ZSTD and the absence of Early Hints It's not fair to customers. I am two technical pieces which, together, make measurable difference on delivery times (TTFB extension), on the perception of speed (LCP) and, in general, on theuser experience.

Operational recommendations

With a look pragmatic, here's how you can move in 2025:

If you stay on LiteSpeed

• Currency severely the use of a CDN that offers ZSTD client-side (e.g. Cloudflare) to get you closer to the benefits of Content-Encoding: zstd. Manage the strategy of cache warming and Tiered Cache for limit the impact of the cache miss on TTFB extension. The Cloudflare Blog
• For the Early Hints, there is no origin support at the moment: the only way is delegate to the CDN where possible, knowing that it is not equivalent to management app-aware server-side. Chrome for Developers

If you can choose NGINX

• Nginx you consent today to activate ZSTD via form (ngx_http_zstd_filter/static) with ready packages on multiple distros; plan A/B tests on Dynamic HTML and static resources to calibrate the compression levels.
• Enable 103 Early Hints (NGINX 1.29.0+), precisely defining which assets include in Link: rel=preload initials and when send them, to maximize the effect on FCP/LCP. blog.nginx.org Chrome for Developers

Measure, always

• Instrumenta Server Timing, compare TTFB extension in cache HIT vs MISS and observe the field data (CrUX) – especially on pages non-cacheableGoogle/AWS technical articles show how to properly decompose end-to-end latency. web.dev

Conclusions

Let's summarize the technical facts updated to 24 August 2025:

• Zstandard (ZSTD) è supported by major browsers e deployable on NGINX via distributed/packaged modules. LiteSpeed ​​does not natively support ZSTD client side: to get it you need a CDN (e.g. Cloudflare) upstream, with the relevant compromises on TTFB extension in cache miss.

• Early Hints (HTTP 103) are available in NGINX (from June 24, 2025, see 1.29.0 mainline) to they are not documented in LiteSpeed; the theme is present only as feature request in LiteSpeed ​​communities.

• The practical impacts are clear: ZSTD Migliora CPU/TTFB especially for dynamic responses; Early Hints anticipates preconnect/preload and increases FCP/LCP. Together, they offer to Nginx un real advantage in 2025.

• Market adoption: independent observers show Nginx significantly more widespread overall and in the "high" traffic bands, with LiteSpeed growing but stronger in mass-market hosting. (SimilarTech/Similarweb for technology overviews; W3Techs for updated percentages).

Once again, therefore, we must reiterate with technical honesty which often LiteSpeed ​​enthusiasts they don't tell end customers: today LiteSpeed missing of two functions key for modern optimization of delivered and perception of speedPresenting it as the “best regardless” choice means hide substantial differences and push decisions marketing-driven more than from engineering.

For those who aim to top-level performance – especially on projects dynamic, with real traffic and Core Web Vitals stringent – Nginx in 2025 offers concrete tools e immediately usable (ZSTD + Early Hints) that LiteSpeed immense still makes available on-originThe direction of the market, as evidenced by the adoption statistics and from the attention of the main players (browsers, CDNs, vendors), it all goes there: open standards, modular components, cutting-edge features integrated at server level. And on this ground, Nginx remains the reference.

we at Managed Server Srl we have always distinguished ourselves for a tailored and technical approach to the management and resolution of problems Website PerformanceWe will continue to invest time in research and development to bring into production a superior server-side stack to what a product can offer general purpose commercial like LiteSpeed: this, to guarantee and protect our customers and their businessIt is a choice of field that also involves sacrifice numbers and sales e give up easier turnover which we could obtain by conforming to the mindset and modus operandi of certain "colleagues". We prefer don't become "one of many", but keep doing real engineering, measurable and results-oriented, instead of relying on pre-packaged solutions driven only by marketing.