# Varnish, release history and use on real websites. An HTTP accelerator and cache placed in front of the web server. It keeps generated pages in memory and serves them to the next visitors without the CMS generating them again, cutting load and response time. - **Status:** Stable. A stable project with a long history, still the standard for large news and e-commerce sites; often hidden behind a CDN. - **Category:** [Servers & Hosting](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server) - **First release:** 2006 - **License:** BSD-2-Clause - **Latest version:** 9.1.0 (16 Sep 2026) - **Official website:** https://varnish-cache.org - **Documentation:** https://varnish-cache.org/docs/ - **GitHub:** https://github.com/varnishcache/varnish-cache - **Page:** https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/varnish ## Varnish on audited websites 115 of the 16,845 websites audited by be1st run Varnish (<1%). That ranks it #19 of the 34 technologies in Servers & Hosting we have seen in audits. ### Websites running Varnish vs all websites - **Web score:** 74 (all websites 72) - **SEO:** 79 (all websites 79) - **Security:** 62 (all websites 59) - **Performance:** 76 (all websites 72) - **AI Readiness:** 29 (all websites 31) ### Most used in Servers & Hosting 1. [Cloudflare](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/cloudflare): 22% (3,772) 2. [Vercel](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/vercel): 22% (3,635) 3. [Google CDN](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/google-cdn): 16% (2,700) 4. [nginx](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/nginx): 14% (2,284) 5. [OpenResty](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/openresty): 10% (1,707) 6. [Apache HTTP Server](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/apache-http-server): 9.3% (1,574) 7. [jsDelivr](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/jsdelivr): 7.2% (1,221) 8. [cdnjs](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/cdnjs): 6.0% (1,019) 9. [Netlify](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/netlify): 5.8% (971) 10. [AWS CloudFront](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/aws-cloudfront): 5.1% (859) ## Varnish versions and release history 12 release lines since 2018, as listed by endoflife.date. The latest version is 9.1.0, released 16 Sep 2026. Supported according to endoflife.date: 9.1 (until 16 Sep 2027), 9.0 (until 16 Mar 2027), 6.0 (until 15 Apr 2027). Varnish Cache is now called Vinyl Cache; endoflife.date lists its release lines under the new name. | Version | Released | Latest release | Support | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 9.1 | 16 Sep 2026 | 9.1.0 (16 Sep 2026) | Supported, until 16 Sep 2027 | | 9.0 | 16 Mar 2026 | 9.0.2 (16 Sep 2026) | Supported, until 16 Mar 2027 | | 8.0 | 15 Sep 2025 | 8.0.2 (18 May 2026) | End of life, since 15 Sep 2026 | | 7.7 | 17 Mar 2025 | 7.7.3 (20 Aug 2025) | End of life, since 15 Mar 2026 | | 7.6 | 13 Sep 2024 | 7.6.5 (20 Aug 2025) | End of life, since 15 Sep 2025 | | 7.5 | 18 Mar 2024 | 7.5.0 (18 Mar 2024) | End of life, since 15 Mar 2025 | | 7.4 | 15 Sep 2023 | 7.4.3 (18 Mar 2024) | End of life, since 15 Sep 2024 | | 7.3 | 15 Mar 2023 | 7.3.2 (18 Mar 2024) | End of life, since 15 Mar 2024 | | 7.2 | 15 Sep 2022 | 7.2.1 (11 Oct 2022) | End of life, since 15 Sep 2023 | | 7.1 | 15 Mar 2022 | 7.1.2 (10 Oct 2022) | End of life, since 15 Mar 2023 | | 7.0 | 15 Sep 2021 | 7.0.3 (5 Aug 2022) | End of life, since 15 Sep 2022 | | 6.0 (LTS) | 15 Mar 2018 | 6.0.18 (18 May 2026) | Supported, until 15 Apr 2027 | Sources: [endoflife.date](https://endoflife.date/vinyl-cache), checked 8 Nov 2026. ## Other technologies in Servers & Hosting - [unpkg](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/unpkg): 2.8% of websites - [Fastly](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/fastly): 1.6% of websites - [BunnyCDN](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/bunnycdn): 1.2% of websites - [Microsoft IIS](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/microsoft-iis): 1.0% of websites - [LiteSpeed](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/litespeed): <1% of websites - [Caddy](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/caddy): <1% of websites - [Amazon S3](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/amazon-s3): <1% of websites - [Google Cloud](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/google-cloud): <1% of websites - [Azure](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/azure): <1% of websites - [Hostinger CDN](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/hostinger-cdn): <1% of websites - [GitHub Pages](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/github-pages): <1% of websites - [Akamai](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server/akamai): <1% of websites [All 35 in Servers & Hosting](https://be1st.ai/technologies/server) ## Questions about Varnish ### What is Varnish? An HTTP accelerator and cache placed in front of the web server. It keeps generated pages in memory and serves them to the next visitors without the CMS generating them again, cutting load and response time. The be1st catalog lists Varnish under Servers & Hosting. License of Varnish: BSD-2-Clause. ### What is the latest version of Varnish? The latest version of Varnish is 9.1.0, released 16 Sep 2026 (source: endoflife.date). ### Which Varnish versions are still supported? According to endoflife.date, these Varnish release lines are supported: 9.1 (until 16 Sep 2027), 9.0 (until 16 Mar 2027), 6.0 (until 15 Apr 2027). ### How many websites use Varnish? 115 of the 16,845 websites audited by be1st run Varnish (<1%), as of 8 Nov 2026. ### When was Varnish first released? Varnish was first released in 2006; the oldest version listed by endoflife.date dates from 2018. ### Is Varnish still a modern choice? Varnish is a stable, mature choice rather than a new one. A stable project with a long history, still the standard for large news and e-commerce sites; often hidden behind a CDN. Numbers: latest audit of each of 16,845 websites audited by be1st, as of 8 Nov 2026.