Apache Web Server vs IIS comparison

Apache and Microsoft are both solutions in the Application Infrastructure category. Apache is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.4, while Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.5. Apache holds a 11.3% mindshare in AIS, compared to Microsoft’s 10.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Apache users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Apache Web Server

Read 24 Apache Web Server reviews

1,574 Views
1,558 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IIS

Read 61 IIS reviews

3,165 Views
2,121 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Apache Web Server

IIS

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 2025

IIS and Apache Web Server compete in the web server category. Apache seems to have the upper hand due to its open-source nature and cross-platform compatibility.

Features: IIS integrates seamlessly with Windows and offers robust security with application pools and process isolation. It is easy to use for Microsoft ecosystem users and provides performance benefits when hosting applications. Apache, known for stability and flexibility, is the most widely used web server worldwide. It is open-source, supports multiple operating systems, and efficiently handles extensive client requests.

Room for Improvement: IIS faces compatibility issues outside Microsoft environments and can be challenging to scale. Troubleshooting is not intuitive for unfamiliar users. Apache requires detailed command-line configuration, which can be daunting for less experienced users. It lacks support for the .NET framework and structured customer support outside certain areas.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IIS is often deployed on-premises or in hybrid cloud setups, benefitting from Microsoft's support ecosystem, although initial support levels may vary. Apache's deployment is versatile but often relies on community support due to its open-source nature, making official support less straightforward.

Pricing and ROI: IIS incurs costs from Windows Server licenses, making it economically viable for organizations already using Microsoft products, with users reporting strong ROI from integration benefits. Apache, being free, offers significant cost savings, though ROI varies greatly depending on implementation and hardware expenses.

To learn more, read our detailed Apache Web Server vs. IIS Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Apache Web Server vs. IIS

December 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Apache Web Server

Ranking in Application Infrastructure

5th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IIS

Ranking in Application Infrastructure

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Server (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Apache Web Server is 11.3%, up from 10.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IIS is 10.2%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IIS	10.2%
Apache Web Server	11.3%
Other	78.5%

Application Infrastructure

Featured Reviews

Dimitrios Zigkos

Enterprise Architect at Smals vzw

Faced limitations with integration and long-term adaptability but benefited from a lightweight architecture for standalone applications

I find valuable and beneficial the independence that comes with Apache Web Server. You can build a small project using a simple application server without bothering too much about how to manage it. The compatibility with multiple operating systems has helped my operations since most of the time we use Linux. Some systems rely on Windows, but they are few; in the past, Windows was the dominant operating system for mainstream PCs and infrastructure, but not for business. All the companies I worked for had 90% Linux and maybe up to 10% Windows. The initial setup of Apache Web Server was straightforward and okay.

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Krishnakumar Natarajan

Systems Engineer at Atos

Designs and manages multiple websites while ensuring data backup and disaster recovery

I have experience with AWS, and I am most familiar with the server environment, as we just use the server environment and then use Microsoft products on an AWS environment. I have experience with Windows Server IIS, which I ran on my own on-premise data center. The website was developed and then hosted, and through IIS, we managed the servers. The manageability within the IIS environment is not very difficult. For server management, you need to ensure data backup, data restore, and you have a DR configured to keep the database intact. It was done on-premises, so I had no problem doing that. If you have to go to the cloud, then you should have the storage connected to the IIS server and also have a DR set up for that. I didn't use Microsoft Azure tools, but since it is a Microsoft product, Azure has all the portability, so you don't have to worry about compatibility on the cloud. On a scale of 1-10, I would rate this solution a 10.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The best thing about Apache is that it is open-source, so implementing my platform on-premises is less expansive than other solutions."

"The product's initial setup phase is straightforward."

"It's reliable, configurable and generally secure."

"It is more secure to use Apache and you will have fewer problems than other web services."

"The open-source nature is one of its most significant advantages."

"The most significant advantage is the ability to swiftly enable HTTPS services when my DNS is configured correctly."

"It's very stable, and it hosts one of the biggest of many biggest web applications in the world."

"The product is very cheap and stable."

More Apache Web Server pros

"The most valuable feature of IIS is the database it provides."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten."

"The product is easy to use."

"The tool shows us the operating systems where our servers and applications are running."

"We use Windows Server only for Eggplant Manager."

"The best features of IIS are that you can design your own website and manage it yourself, creating as many websites as you want."

"The solution has been reliable."

"It's very easy to publish."

More IIS pros

Cons

"The interface has room for improvement."

"By optimizing the infrastructure to allow the webserver to directly handle queries from memory—particularly by prioritizing the storage of queries in memory and processing them through the web server interface—I could potentially cut down the required instances from five hundred to two hundred."

"I would like to see improvements in the functionality and core of Apache Web Server, focusing on building an infrastructure that can be resilient and robust enough to handle resource shortages, and fast enough in edge cases without crashing under too much traffic during spikes."

"So far, for us, everything is okay."

"In future releases, I would like to see better server optimization."

"For NGINX, I think it has NGINX Management Suite, which is GUI-based and allows you to manage your configuration via the user interface, but Apache fails to offer such capabilities to users."

"Adding a reverse proxy to Apache Web Server would be a significant improvement."

"The GUI for the less experienced users needs some improvement. For some companies, it is hard to configure it if they have not had any experience."

More Apache Web Server cons

"I am using an older version of Windows Server IIS and the general management and navigation to get something done is not as straightforward as I hope it to be. The interface could be improved."

"We've never had any issues with the solution, but it's still nice to have overall improvements on it. It could be easier and faster to use, for example."

"Occasionally, we encounter performance issues with IIS where it becomes unresponsive and requires a solution restart."

"The solution's scalability needs improvement."

"The areas of this solution that need improvement are monitoring, debugging, and troubleshooting."

"The cost is a bit too high."

"The documentation is not very detailed. They need to improve it and add to it. They should ensure there are lots of visuals to help users better understand the solution."

"If Microsoft IIS could work well with AppOptics or things like PHP, Python, and other custom languages that run on the webserver, it would be ideal. I think there are cases where people need to use Apache instead of IIS when IIS doesn't work well with other web languages."

More IIS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a free-of-cost solution."

"There is no licensing cost for the product."

"The apache software is free, open-source."

"It is an open-source solution."

"It is licensed with your Windows installation which makes it relatively cheap if you already have a Windows Server sitting around."

"The solution’s pricing is yearly. The pricing is affordable and not high."

"There is no license required for the product as it is role-based. Whenever you go for a Windows platform server, the role has to be installed directly from the server manager. There is no additional cost that has to be paid for that. It is free to use."

"The licensing cost is dependent on the usage."

"The product's price is not high."

"I didn't need to get an additional license for the solution since it was included in my server."

"We purchased a Microsoft Windows license and the license for IIS came in the package."

"IIS's pricing is not expensive."

More IIS pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	11

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	29
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	22

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apache Web Server?

The product's initial setup phase is straightforward.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Web Server?

There are no fees associated with the usage of Apache Web Server in my projects. If you want to have support, then there is some cost, but today I do not know how many companies pay for that servic...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Apache Web Server?

I would like to see improvements in the functionality and core of Apache Web Server, focusing on building an infrastructure that can be resilient and robust enough to handle resource shortages, and...

See all answers

Which is better - IIS or NGINX Plus?

IIS is a flexible, secure, and manageable web server to host anything on the web. IIS’s scalable and open architecture can handle the most demanding tasks. From media streaming to web applications,...

See all answers

What do you like most about IIS?

The product is flexible.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IIS?

For the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for IIS, as a Microsoft product, I didn't think much about separately purchasing an IIS product as it is part of Microsoft Windows. We bought a developmen...

See all answers

Comparisons

NGINX Plus vs Apache Web Server

Compared 24% of the time

Magic xpa Application Platform vs Apache Web Server

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft .NET Framework vs Apache Web Server

Compared 5% of the time

Windows Server AppFabric vs Apache Web Server

Compared 4% of the time

InterSystems Ensemble vs Apache Web Server

Compared 4% of the time

More Apache Web Server Competitors

NGINX Plus vs IIS

Compared 22% of the time

Tomcat vs IIS

Compared 8% of the time

Oracle WebLogic Server vs IIS

Compared 6% of the time

Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) vs IIS

Compared 6% of the time

Oracle Application Server vs IIS

Compared 4% of the time

More IIS Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Apache Web Server

January 2026

Download Apache Web Server product report

Buyer's Guide

IIS

January 2026

Download IIS product report

Also Known As

Apache HTTP Server

Windows Server IIS

Overview

The Apache HTTP Server Project was founded in 1995 by a group of webmasters, known as The Apache Group, with the aim of developing robust, richly-featured, freely-available and commercial-standard Web (HTTP) server source code. The result was Apache Web Server or Apache HTTP Server, which is an open-source public-domain web server.

This collaborative project has been enhanced ever since with contributions from the core development team and other volunteers situated all over the globe. Also, hundreds of users of this open-source web server have contributed code, ideas, and documentation. The project falls under The Apache Software Foundation, which manages many open-source projects.

Apache

Internet Information Services (IIS) provides a secure, easy-to-manage, modular and extensible platform for reliably hosting websites, services and applications. With IIS, you get choice and control without giving up reliability or security.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Cisco, Intuit, General Electric, Adobe, VMware, PayPal, HP, EMC, eBay, Apple, SAP, Qualcomm, SanDisk, Allstate, FedEx

Erste Bank Group, NJVC, Samsung Electronics, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Tata Steel Europe, Urban Software Institute

Buyer's Guide

Apache Web Server vs. IIS

December 2025

Free Report: Apache Web Server vs. IIS

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