ModPageSpeed vs GetPageSpeed

TL;DR

These are different kinds of thing. GetPageSpeed is a packaging service: a well-regarded repository of prebuilt nginx modules for RHEL-family distributions, installable from a YUM repo without compiling anything yourself. Its catalog is broad — Brotli, headers-more, GeoIP2, ModSecurity, and many more — and ngx_pagespeed is one package among them. ModPageSpeed is the optimization core itself: We-Amp maintains mod_pagespeed 1.15 (the commercially continued native module, with a current dependency graph and tracked security fixes) and ships ModPageSpeed 2.0, a ground-up C++23 rewrite that adds AVIF and ML-predicted image quality.

The distinction that matters: the open-source ngx_pagespeed / PSOL project was built by Google and then archived — it no longer receives upstream development. GetPageSpeed packages that project; We-Amp continues it. If you want a trusted RHEL repo for many nginx modules and are happy running the upstream pagespeed as-is, GetPageSpeed is a genuinely convenient choice. If you want the pagespeed core itself to be maintained — patched, on a current dependency graph, and moving forward into the 2.0 rewrite that adds AVIF — that’s We-Amp.

At a glance

When to choose GetPageSpeed

• You run RHEL, AlmaLinux, Rocky, or CentOS and want one trusted YUM repo for many prebuilt nginx modules — pagespeed being just one of them. The breadth of the catalog is the point.
• You’re comfortable running the upstream open-source ngx_pagespeed as-is and don’t need ongoing core development, AVIF, or vendor support specifically for the optimizer.
• You want packaging convenience — no compiling nginx modules from source — and you’re already standardized on GetPageSpeed’s repo for other modules.
• You don’t need Debian/Ubuntu packages, and the Apache, IIS, or Envoy ports aren’t relevant to your stack.

When to choose ModPageSpeed

• You want the pagespeed core itself maintained — a current dependency graph, tracked CVEs, and patched releases — rather than a frozen upstream conveniently packaged.
• You want AVIF (not present in the archived PSOL) from the 2.0 worker, with origin-side, Accept-header-driven format selection; 1.15 transcodes WebP the same way.
• You want Debian/Ubuntu and RHEL coverage from one first-party signed repo, or you need the Apache, IIS, or Envoy ports, or the 2.0 reverse-proxy / ASP.NET Core options.
• You want commercial support and a roadmap behind the optimizer — not just packaging of someone else’s archived module.

How they relate

Both can get ngx_pagespeed running on nginx through a package manager — that overlap is real. The difference is who stands behind the core. GetPageSpeed packages the open-source module and keeps the package building; We-Amp continues the core’s development (1.15) and rebuilt it from scratch (2.0). One is a distribution channel for a frozen upstream; the other is the upstream’s maintained successor.

This isn’t a knock on GetPageSpeed’s packaging — it’s a respected service and its module catalog is genuinely useful. If you already use its repo for Brotli, headers-more, or GeoIP2, keep it for those. You can still get a maintained pagespeed from We-Amp’s signed repo alongside it; only enable one pagespeed module at a time.

Install side-by-side

GetPageSpeed (RHEL-family): enable the GetPageSpeed repo, then install the packaged module (the pagespeed package may require the subscription “Extras” tier — see the vendor):

sudo dnf install https://extras.getpagespeed.com/release-latest.rpm
sudo dnf install nginx-module-pagespeed   # upstream ngx_pagespeed, packaged

mod_pagespeed 1.15 (We-Amp’s maintained module) — one signed repo for Debian/Ubuntu and RHEL families:

curl -fsSL https://packages.modpagespeed.com/install.sh | sudo sh
sudo apt install nginx-module-pagespeed   # or: sudo dnf install nginx-module-pagespeed

Both give you an nginx pagespeed module installed from a package manager. The difference is what’s inside: an archived upstream project, or its actively maintained continuation with a current dependency graph and tracked security fixes. See the mod_pagespeed 1.15 page for the full directive set.