What is Apache HTTP Server used for?

Apache HTTP Server is an open-source web server from the Apache Software Foundation with modules, virtual hosts, TLS, HTTP/2 and reverse proxy support. It is a good fit for hosting websites and web applications, reverse proxy in front of backend services, and shared hosting with per-directory overrides.

Is Apache HTTP Server open source?

Yes. Apache HTTP Server is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at apache/httpd and is written mainly in C.

Is Apache HTTP Server free?

Yes. Apache HTTP Server is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Apache HTTP Server?

Yes. Apache HTTP Server can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What are some alternatives to Apache HTTP Server?

Similar open-source tools in the Hosting & PaaS category include HestiaCP, Coolify and Dokploy. SaaS products in the same category include ClawStack, Ploi and Abstract27.

Is Apache HTTP Server actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Apache HTTP Server was on 2 October 2026. The project has 4k stars on GitHub.

Apache HTTP Server: open-source hosting & PaaS

About Apache HTTP Server

Apache HTTP Server, often called httpd, is an open-source web server developed by the Apache HTTP Server Project, which is part of The Apache Software Foundation. It serves websites ranging from personal sites to production infrastructure and runs on Linux, Windows, macOS and most Unix-like systems.

Configuration is flexible, with per-directory .htaccess files, virtual hosts and dynamically loaded modules. Security features include TLS/SSL, authentication modules and fine-grained access control, while performance features include multiple multi-processing modules, HTTP/2, content caching and reverse proxying. More than 100 modules cover URL rewriting, proxying, load balancing and scripting.

The code is written in C and licensed under Apache-2.0. The GitHub repository is a mirror of the project's main source repositories, with issues tracked at issues.apache.org. The project website offers downloads, documentation for the 2.4 stable branch, a wiki, mailing lists and security reports.

Key features

Per-directory configuration with .htaccess
Virtual hosts for multiple sites
Dynamic module loading
TLS/SSL and authentication modules
HTTP/2 and content caching
Reverse proxy and load balancing
Multi-processing modules

Good fit for

→Hosting websites and web applications
→Reverse proxy in front of backend services
→Shared hosting with per-directory overrides

Built with: C
Tags: web-server; httpd; apache; reverse-proxy; tls; http2; load-balancing

Apache HTTP Server: questions and answers

What is Apache HTTP Server used for?: Apache HTTP Server is an open-source web server from the Apache Software Foundation with modules, virtual hosts, TLS, HTTP/2 and reverse proxy support. It is a good fit for hosting websites and web applications, reverse proxy in front of backend services, and shared hosting with per-directory overrides.
Is Apache HTTP Server open source?: Yes. Apache HTTP Server is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at apache/httpd and is written mainly in C.
Is Apache HTTP Server free?: Yes. Apache HTTP Server is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Apache HTTP Server?: Yes. Apache HTTP Server can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What are some alternatives to Apache HTTP Server?: Similar open-source tools in the Hosting & PaaS category include HestiaCP, Coolify and Dokploy. SaaS products in the same category include ClawStack, Ploi and Abstract27.
Is Apache HTTP Server actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Apache HTTP Server was on 2 October 2026. The project has 4k stars on GitHub.