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Static Web Server vs lighttpd: catalog facts
Static Web Server	lighttpd
Free Free and open source, dual-licensed under MIT and Apache 2.0.	Free Free and open source under the revised BSD licence.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted, Command line	Linux, Self-hosted
Single small binary with no dependencies TLS, security headers and Basic Auth built in	Low memory and CPU use FastCGI, rewriting, compression and auth built in
Serves static content only, with no dynamic scripting Needs separate tooling for building the site itself	Smaller ecosystem of guides than nginx or Apache Official downloads are source tarballs; most users install from distribution packages
Downloadable app, Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License: MIT OR Apache-2.0	License: BSD-3-Clause
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.