Based on 401 and 2 real audits
| Metric | AWS CloudFront | lighttpd | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | 39 | 63 | lighttpd |
| Accessibility | 89 | 78 | AWS CloudFront |
| Best Practices | 87 | 100 | lighttpd |
| SEO | 91 | 96 | lighttpd |
| Security | 66 | 71 | lighttpd |
| TTFB | 238ms | 77ms | lighttpd |
| Composite | 72 | 76 | lighttpd |
lighttpd outperforms AWS CloudFront in 6 of 7 categories, with a stronger composite score (76 vs 72). AWS CloudFront leads in accessibility.
Choose AWS CloudFront when your primary concern is accessibility. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.
Choose lighttpd when your primary concern is server response time and performance. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.
Scores are medians across 401 audited AWS CloudFront sites and 2 audited lighttpd sites in the BeaverCheck database. Every audit runs the same 100+ checks — Lighthouse performance, security headers, accessibility, SEO, server response time — against a real URL. No vendor input, no sponsorship, no affiliate links. Read the full methodology →
Small sample: one or both technologies have fewer than 10 audited sites. Treat these numbers as directional — medians stabilize around 20–30 audits per side.
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