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NGINX
What it is
NGINX is free, self-hosted software for serving HTTP traffic and handling proxying, caching, load balancing, and mail traffic. It can also proxy TCP and UDP traffic. Listed HTTP capabilities include SSL/TLS SNI, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3, while its reverse proxy supports caching, load balancing, and fault tolerance. It can cache and balance traffic for FastCGI, uwsgi, SCGI, and memcached servers, and its feature list includes the njs scripting language. The process model uses a master and several worker processes, with workers running under an unprivileged user. NGINX is distributed under the 2-clause BSD License and supports Linux, macOS, and Windows. Downloads include mainline, stable, and legacy versions, source code, Windows builds, and packages for several Linux distributions. F5 is identified as its primary maintainer, sponsor, and steward, and offers commercial support and enterprise editions, including NGINX Plus.
For and against
For
- Free plan with self-hosted deployment.
- Supports HTTP/2 and HTTP/3.
- Includes response caching and rate limiting.
- Available for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
- Security advisories list affected and unaffected versions.
Against
- Web application firewall is not included.
- Configuration is file-based.
- Commercial support is offered through F5 subscriptions.
The verdict
NGINX covers several server and proxy roles, with caching, load balancing, and multiple HTTP protocol features. Its file-based configuration and self-hosted model are key considerations.
Who it suits
NGINX suits teams or operators who need self-hosted web serving, proxying, caching, or load balancing. It may also fit deployments using FastCGI, uwsgi, SCGI, or memcached backends.
Plans and prices
NGINX Open Source
HTTP web server · reverse proxy · content cache · load balancer
Read 29 Sep 2026 · nginx.org
On the record
- Application integrations
- It supports caching and load balancing for FastCGI, uwsgi, SCGI, and memcached servers.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Commercial support
- F5 offers commercial support for NGINX through its Open Source Subscription Bundles.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Downloads
- The download page lists mainline, stable, and legacy versions, Windows builds, source code, and Linux packages.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Enterprise editions
- F5 provides enterprise distributions of NGINX, including NGINX Plus.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- License
- NGINX is distributed under the 2-clause BSD License.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Linux distributions
- Official packages are listed for RHEL and derivatives, Debian, Ubuntu, SLES, Alpine, and Amazon Linux.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Maintainer
- F5, Inc. is identified as NGINX's primary maintainer, sponsor, and steward since its 2019 acquisition of NGINX, Inc.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Package security
- The Linux package instructions describe verifying packages with official signing keys and signatures.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Process model
- NGINX uses one master process and several worker processes, which run under an unprivileged user.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Scripting
- The feature list includes the njs scripting language.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Security advisories
- The security page lists vulnerabilities, severity, affected versions, and versions that are not vulnerable.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Traffic handling
- It supports accelerated reverse proxying with caching, load balancing, and fault tolerance.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- Web protocols
- Its listed HTTP features include SSL/TLS SNI, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3 support.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
- What it does
- NGINX is an HTTP web server, reverse proxy, content cache, load balancer, TCP/UDP proxy server, and mail proxy server.nginx.org · read 29 Sep 2026
