What Is LiteSpeed and Why It Is Better Than Apache

Intro to web servers

A web server is software that receives HTTP requests from browsers and returns web pages, images, CSS, JavaScript, and other resources. The two most-used web servers in the hosting industry are Apache (which has dominated since 1995) and LiteSpeed (which has grown fast since 2003). Nginx is the third major player, but for a shared hosting environment, LiteSpeed offers unique advantages neither Apache nor Nginx can match.

In this article we compare LiteSpeed and Apache in detail, explain why LiteSpeed is faster, how LSCache revolutionizes caching, and why more and more hosting providers are migrating to LiteSpeed.

Apache - a veteran showing its age

Apache HTTP Server is the oldest and most-used web server in the world. For decades it was the standard in the hosting industry and practically every hosting provider used it.

Apache architecture

Apache uses a process-based architecture with two main MPM (Multi-Processing Module) models: prefork and worker. The prefork MPM creates a separate process for each request - reliable but inefficient because each process uses 10-25MB of RAM. The worker MPM uses threads inside a process which is more efficient but less compatible with some PHP modules (mod_php requires prefork). In practice, most hosting servers use prefork MPM with mod_php, which is the slowest but most compatible configuration.

Apache advantages

Apache has some advantages that have kept it at the top for decades: a huge module ecosystem (mod_rewrite, mod_security, mod_ssl, hundreds of others), .htaccess support for per-directory configuration without server restart, a huge community and documentation, compatibility with practically every PHP application, and many years of stability and proven track record. Most web hosting documentation and tutorials assume an Apache server.

Apache problems

The main Apache problems are performance under load. Prefork MPM uses too much memory because every concurrent request requires a separate process. When you have 200 simultaneous connections, that's 200 processes consuming 2-5GB of RAM just for the web server. .htaccess files are read on every request, which slows I/O. mod_php loads the PHP interpreter into every Apache process even for static files. Under spike load (sudden traffic burst), Apache can exhaust all memory and bring down the whole server.

LiteSpeed - the modern replacement

LiteSpeed Web Server (LSWS) was developed specifically as a drop-in replacement for Apache with dramatically better performance. It comes in two variants: OpenLiteSpeed (free, open-source) and LiteSpeed Enterprise (commercial, with full Apache compatibility).

Event-driven architecture

Unlike Apache's process-per-request architecture, LiteSpeed uses an event-driven architecture where a single process can serve thousands of connections simultaneously. This is a fundamentally more efficient approach because it requires drastically less memory and CPU resources. LiteSpeed can serve the same number of users with 10 times less RAM compared to Apache. This architecture is similar to Nginx, but unlike Nginx, LiteSpeed reads .htaccess files.

Full .htaccess compatibility

This is the killer feature of LiteSpeed that sets it apart from Nginx. LiteSpeed reads and processes .htaccess files the same way as Apache, including mod_rewrite rules, authentication, access controls, and PHP configuration. That means you can replace Apache with LiteSpeed without a single change to the site's configuration. The WordPress platform, Joomla, Magento, and all other PHP CMS systems work identically on LiteSpeed without adjustments. Nginx, on the other hand, requires complete rewriting of all rewrite rules into its own format.

Anti-DDoS protection

LiteSpeed has built-in DDoS attack protection that automatically detects and blocks abnormal traffic patterns. Connection throttling, bandwidth throttling, and IP-level rate limiting are built into the server without the need for external modules. Apache requires mod_evasive or mod_security for similar functionality, and these modules add overhead to every request.

LSCache - a caching revolution

LSCache (LiteSpeed Cache) is the most powerful aspect of the LiteSpeed ecosystem. It's a server-level cache engine built directly into the web server, eliminating the overhead that application-level cache solutions have.

How LSCache works

Traditional cache plugins (WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache) work at the PHP level - WordPress has to start, load plugins, and then serve cached content. LSCache works at the server level - a cached page is served DIRECTLY from memory without starting PHP at all. It's like the difference between opening a can with an opener (PHP cache) and taking a ready meal off the table (LSCache). The result is a TTFB (Time to First Byte) of 10-50ms instead of 200-500ms.

WordPress LiteSpeed Cache plugin

LiteSpeed Cache for WordPress is a free plugin that integrates WordPress with the LSCache engine on the server. Beyond page caching, it offers: CSS/JS minification and combining, image lazy loading, image optimization (WebP conversion), database optimization, CDN integration, critical CSS generation, preload crawling, and ESI (Edge Side Includes) for dynamic blocks on cached pages. One plugin replaces 4-5 other optimization plugins.

ESI - smart caching

Edge Side Includes is a technology that allows caching a page with dynamic blocks. For example, the whole page is cached but the shopping cart widget shows the current number of items for each user. Without ESI, pages with any dynamic content (login status, cart, personalization) can't be cached. With ESI, 95% of the page is served from cache and only a small dynamic part is generated by PHP.

Benchmark results

Numbers speak louder than words. Here are real benchmark results from independent tests.

Static content

For serving static files (images, CSS, JS), LiteSpeed is 2-3 times faster than Apache and comparable to Nginx. In a test with 10,000 concurrent connections, Apache (prefork) serves about 5,000 requests/second before it starts losing performance, while LiteSpeed serves 25,000+ requests/second with a stable response time. Memory consumption: Apache uses 4-5GB for 10,000 connections, LiteSpeed uses 500-800MB.

PHP performance (WordPress)

For WordPress without caching, LiteSpeed with LSAPI (LiteSpeed Server Application Programming Interface) is 50% faster than Apache with mod_php and 20% faster than Nginx with PHP-FPM. LSAPI is LiteSpeed's PHP handler optimized for communication between the web server and PHP, reducing context switching overhead. With LSCache enabled, LiteSpeed is 10-100 times faster because cached pages don't run PHP at all.

Under load (spike test)

The most dramatic difference shows under spike load. When a site gets a sudden traffic spike (viral article, TV commercial, DDoS), Apache rapidly consumes all resources and starts refusing connections or even crashes the server. LiteSpeed gracefully degrades - it responds slower but keeps running. In a test with a WordPress site receiving 1,000 simultaneous users, Apache returns 503 errors for 40% of requests while LiteSpeed successfully serves 98% of requests with an average response time of 1.2 seconds.

Migrating from Apache to LiteSpeed

One of the biggest LiteSpeed advantages is migration simplicity. Because it reads .htaccess files and supports Apache modules, the transition doesn't require changes to the site.

What changes

From the user's perspective, practically nothing. Your site, .htaccess rules, PHP configuration - everything works the same. The only change you may notice is that the site is faster. The hosting provider changes the web server on the server, and you install the LiteSpeed Cache plugin for WordPress instead of your previous cache plugin (W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache). That's it.

Potential issues

In rare cases, some .htaccess tricks that depend on specific Apache modules may not work identically. The most common example is mod_pagespeed which doesn't exist on LiteSpeed (but LSCache offers all the same features). Some exotic mod_rewrite patterns may need small adjustments. But for 99% of WordPress sites, migration is completely transparent.

OpenLiteSpeed vs LiteSpeed Enterprise

OpenLiteSpeed is a free, open-source version that offers event-driven architecture and LSCache but without full .htaccess compatibility and some enterprise features. LiteSpeed Enterprise is the commercial version with full Apache compatibility, LSAPI PHP handler, WAF integration, and commercial support. For hosting providers, LiteSpeed Enterprise is the only choice because users expect complete .htaccess compatibility.

Conclusion

LiteSpeed is a superior web server compared to Apache across all relevant metrics: faster at serving static and dynamic content, uses less memory, handles spike load better, has built-in anti-DDoS protection, and offers the most powerful cache engine on the market with LSCache. All of this with full .htaccess file compatibility, which makes migration painless. At BeoHosting we use LiteSpeed Enterprise on all shared hosting servers with free LSCache for all users, delivering performance that was previously available only on expensive virtual servers and dedicated solutions.