Nginxvs
MySQL
MySQL: The world's most popular open source database
Nginx
High-performance web server and reverse proxy
As of 30 August 2026, Nginx is free to use. Nginx is a web server that can also be used as a reverse proxy, load balancer, mail proxy and HTTP cache. Softwr lists it under Web Development. Nginx is made by F5 Networks (Nginx Inc), launched in 2002, available on Windows, macOS, Linux.
Overview
What Nginx does
Nginx is a web server that can also be used as a reverse proxy, load balancer, mail proxy and HTTP cache. Known for its high performance, stability, rich feature set, simple configuration, and low resource consumption.
What people use it for
- HTTP web server and static file serving
- Reverse proxy and load balancer
- TLS/SSL termination (SNI, HTTP/2, HTTP/3)
- Content caching
- Kubernetes Ingress Controller backend
- TCP/UDP stream proxying
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Nginx.
- Open-source nginx has no admin API for changing arbitrary config at runtime; dynamic reconfiguration requires editing the config file and reloading via 'nginx -s reload'
- No official built-in GUI or dashboard for management or live metrics in the open-source edition
- Advanced capabilities such as active health checks, dynamic upstream reconfiguration without reload, and a full API gateway feature set are exclusive to the paid NGINX Plus product, not open-source nginx
- No published list price for NGINX Plus on the current F5 product page; pricing requires contacting sales
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Nginx
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- NginxvsDjango
Django: The web framework for perfectionists with deadlines
- NginxvsNext.js
Next.js: The React framework for the web
- NginxvsFlask
Flask: A lightweight WSGI web application framework
Pricing
What Nginx costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Open Source
Free
- Web server
- Reverse proxy
- Load balancing
- SSL termination
- Community support
Capabilities
Features
High-performance web server
Reverse proxy
Load balancing
HTTP caching
SSL/TLS termination
Gzip compression
Rate limiting
Static file serving
Docker
Integration with Docker
Kubernetes
Integration with Kubernetes
Let's Encrypt
Integration with Let's Encrypt
Cloudflare
Integration with Cloudflare
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
How much does nginx cost?
nginx is free and open source software distributed under the 2-clause BSD License. Enterprise distributions, commercial support, and training are available from F5 Inc. at custom pricing.
SourceBehind it
Who makes Nginx
- Company
- F5 Networks (Nginx Inc)
- Based in
- Moscow, Russia
- Founders
- Igor Sysoev, Maxim Konovalov
Timeline
Nginx over time
Keep looking
Where to go from Nginx
- Nginx alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Nginx pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Nginx badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Web Development softwareThe full category
- Best Web Development softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Web Development software for
Compare Nginx with
- Apache HTTP Server
- Django
- MySQL
- Next.js
- Flask
- FastAPI
- MUI
- React
- npm
- Astro
- Wix Studio
- Docusaurus
- TypeScript
- Radix UI
- Remix
- shadcn/ui
- Chakra UI
- Turbopack
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Nginx, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Nginx
Nginx alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Nginx pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Nginx
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Nginx badge
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Best Web Development software alternatives
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