Paper vs Spigot: Which Should You Use in 2026?

Paper and Spigot are the two biggest names in Bukkit-based Minecraft server software. They're closely related (Paper is a fork of Spigot), but in 2026 there are clear reasons to pick one over the other.

The short version

Use Paper. It's faster, more actively developed, has better security, and runs every Spigot plugin without modification. Spigot is essentially a legacy choice at this point.

Performance

Paper is significantly faster than Spigot in nearly every measurable way:

• Better TPS under load (handles 2–3× more entities and players)
• Async chunk loading (Spigot is mostly synchronous)
• Faster pathfinding
• More efficient lighting engine
• Better memory management

If you care about performance — and you should, especially on a free server with shared resources — Paper is the obvious choice.

Plugin compatibility

Paper supports 100% of the Bukkit/Spigot plugin API. Every plugin written for Spigot works on Paper. Plus, Paper adds its own extended API that some plugins use for better performance — those Paper-only plugins won't work on Spigot.

So in terms of compatibility: Paper has everything Spigot has, plus more.

Updates and security

Paper releases new builds frequently — usually within hours of a new Minecraft release. Spigot updates more slowly. Paper also patches security issues much faster, which matters because public Minecraft servers are constant targets for exploits.

Configuration depth

Paper adds paper-global.yml and paper-world-defaults.yml with hundreds of tuning options that don't exist in Spigot. You can disable specific entity types, tune mob spawning per dimension, optimize chunk caching, etc.

When Spigot still makes sense

Honestly, very rarely. The only reason to pick Spigot in 2026 would be if you have an extremely old plugin that for some reason breaks on Paper (this is exceedingly rare). Otherwise, always pick Paper.

Switching from Spigot to Paper

If you have an existing Spigot server, switching to Paper is trivial: stop the server, replace the JAR with the Paper JAR, restart. Your world, plugins, and configurations all carry over. On FreeMCServers.org you can simply create a new Paper server and migrate your world via the file manager.

Verdict

For 99% of free Minecraft servers in 2026, Paper is the right choice. Spigot is a fine option if you specifically need it, but there's no good reason to start a new server on Spigot today.