If you are choosing plugin-based server software today, the decision usually comes down to Paper or Spigot, since both run the same plugins built on the Bukkit API. They are not unrelated projects, though: Spigot is a fork of CraftBukkit, and Paper is itself a fork of Spigot, built specifically to fix its performance ceiling.
What is Spigot?
Spigot extends CraftBukkit (the original plugin-enabled Minecraft server) with additional performance tuning and configuration options. For years it was the default choice for any server running plugins, and it remains widely compatible since almost everything built for Bukkit runs on it without changes.
What is Paper?
Paper forks Spigot and rewrites large parts of its internals for performance: async chunk loading and generation, smarter entity tracking, and a long list of micro-optimizations that add up under real player load. Critically, Paper keeps full compatibility with the Bukkit and Spigot plugin APIs, so the switch from Spigot to Paper is, in the overwhelming majority of cases, a drop-in replacement with no plugin changes required.
Performance
This is where the comparison is the least close. Paper consistently holds a higher TPS (ticks per second) than Spigot under equivalent load, particularly with many players or a large explored world, thanks to its async chunk work and reduced main-thread overhead. Spigot has not meaningfully closed this gap in years.
Plugin compatibility
Both run Bukkit/Spigot plugins. The practical difference is ecosystem direction: most actively maintained plugins today are tested against Paper first, and a growing number use Paper-only APIs for features Spigot simply does not expose. Running Spigot increasingly means missing out on some plugins entirely, not just running them slower.
Configuration and extras
Paper exposes a large paper-global.yml / paper-world-defaults.yml set of settings that let you tune behavior Spigot does not let you touch at all, anti-xray being a good example: it is a built-in Paper feature with no Spigot equivalent.
Which should you use?
For a new server in 2026, choose Paper. There is no longer a meaningful performance, stability, or compatibility reason to run Spigot instead, and Paper's active development means security fixes and new Minecraft version support land faster too. Spigot mainly still gets used on legacy setups that have not been touched in years, or the rare plugin that has genuinely never been tested on Paper (vanishingly uncommon at this point).
If you are not sure which version to run once you have picked Paper, a version checker can confirm exactly what a given build reports before you commit to it. Tick Hosting's control panel installs Paper with a single click on every plan, including the free tier, no manual jar swapping required. Get one running from Tick Hosting's plans page.