# Apache HTTP Server

52 Hacker News commenters recommended Apache HTTP Server and 32 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 10 years (5 owners).

**Verdict:** Long-running, mature web server that people trust for reverse proxies, shared hosting and simple sites; critics find its configuration complex and its default settings risky.

## Why people recommend it

- Reliable and long-running in production (6 comments): "I can rely on gifts to the world like Linux, Debian, PostgreSQL, Apache, Nginx, Caddy, and Yggdrasil without any problems for decades." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50026936)) "It works, has been running for over a decade, and no one has ever complained about the speed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45938013)) "The fact they both survived with their market share for so long is a good sign" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48139453))
- Mature code that handles edge cases (2 comments): "Nginx, Caddy, Apache, etc have found and fixed a million edge cases you'd never think of" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49768195)) "Plain apache or nginx with webdav, basic auth(proven code, minimal attack surface)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46899136))
- Many modules and add-ons (2 comments): "It comes with the kitchen sink and has plenty of add-ons for all those extra cases you might want." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50069773)) "Some use Apache for a tighter integration with some modules such as PHP" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45938770))
- Default choice for hosting (2 comments): "Throw it on a debian box running nginx or apache and you'll probably be set" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47848761)) "shared hosting services offer Apache web server by default" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45937193))

## What people warn about

- Insecure or surprising default settings (3 comments): "This is because of a deeply annoying default in Apache, where for "security reasons" the underlying script doesn't get to see auth details" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48082754)) "Apache strips out the response body for 5xx HTTP codes for security, and it's not configurable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50050205)) "the default apache configs probably put a web developer in violation of the GDPR" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47365117))
- Slow and poor performance claims (3 comments): "Its lack of progress, lack of features, poor performance and lack of security makes me never consider it again." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50068633)) "Apache and NGINX busted pissed me off when creating simple ultra fast proxies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49033276)) "nginx/apache and other prebaked servers are even slower, at 100k req/s" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49519584))
- Complex rules and configuration (2 comments): "What killed Apache for me were the complexity of various rules and how challenging it is to define a proxy for a WebSocket connection." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45943915)) "a Caddyfile is very short, much shorter than a typical Apache or nginx configuration" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45880966))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Zeroserve](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zeroserve.md): 17 recommend
- [lighttpd](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lighttpd.md): 10 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Apache HTTP Server", https://hackerapproved.com/p/apache-http-server/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).