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IBM MQ vs PubSub+ Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 27, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.1
Organizations find IBM MQ reliable and cost-effective, enhancing scalability and performance while generating revenue without increasing costs.
Sentiment score
7.0
PubSub+ Platform aids digital transformation with increased productivity and cost savings, though some report higher operational costs.
It's a product which integrates the external systems with internal systems or among the systems themselves, making it an essential technology component required to integrate multiple systems.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Users have mixed experiences with IBM MQ support, highlighting both efficiency and delays, with documentation helping reduce direct support needs.
Sentiment score
7.5
Users praise PubSub+ Platform's responsive and knowledgeable support, with senior leadership involvement and prompt technical resolutions.
Our project will have its own timelines, so we expect turnaround times for medium and low priority incidents or tickets to be better than what IBM is currently offering.
The response time for IBM MQ support could be better because when we are using IBM MQ and something goes wrong, support is required as the resource availability of the IBM product is very limited.
Support can be better because sometimes we need explanations for some behaviors of the product.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
IBM MQ provides reliable scalability and flexibility, efficiently handling large workloads across various environments with improved cloud support.
Sentiment score
6.9
PubSub+ Platform efficiently scales and integrates across clouds, handling enterprise messaging; improvements needed in topic management and operations.
In our environment, we do not have horizontal scaling for IBM MQ, but as demand increases, we would just vertically scale it.
IBM MQ handles many thousands of messages in a second, indicating good scalability.
Performance-wise, it is scalable, and other features such as DR, DC, replication, and active passive mode are complex to configure, but it remains scalable.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
IBM MQ is praised for its stability, reliability, and ability to handle high transaction volumes with minimal downtime.
Sentiment score
8.2
Users praise PubSub+ for its stability, reliability, and performance under increased loads, citing minimal maintenance and high availability.
The transaction is always guaranteed with IBM MQ, which is the main reason I have been working with it for fifteen years while dealing with financial transactions or messages.
We have never had any downtime or crashes since it's been running.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM MQ needs GUI improvements, better cloud integration, modern protocol support, enhanced security, and more competitive pricing.
PubSub+ Platform needs better integration, observability, open-source options, and cost reduction to improve usability and adoption.
Having a graphical user interface would improve usability.
The pricing model for IBM MQ could be more flexible for clients.
The areas of IBM MQ that have room for improvement are its compatibility with the public clouds, specifically its compatibility with Azure or AWS.
 

Setup Cost

IBM MQ often has high costs, but its reliability and functionality can justify the price for some organizations.
Enterprise buyers value PubSub+ Platform for its transparent, flexible pricing and licensing, with adjustable costs based on usage projections.
The price of IBM MQ is definitely on the higher side.
It's possible to get some training, but the cost of this learning is expensive.
I am not exactly sure about the licensing cost compared to similar products, but I assume it is affordable since we continue to use it, and it is also used by our customers.
 

Valuable Features

IBM MQ provides reliable, secure message delivery with scalability and stability, essential for high transaction volumes in complex environments.
PubSub+ Platform offers seamless message routing and real-time event distribution with flexible management, supporting various protocols and networks.
It's time-tested, very stable, highly resilient, and has all the features to troubleshoot even if something goes wrong.
There is a saying that for the last 30 years IBM MQ has never been hacked.
These are financial transactions, so we do not want to lose the message at any cost.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM MQ
Ranking in Message Queue (MQ) Software
1st
Ranking in Message Oriented Middleware (MOM)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
169
Ranking in other categories
Business Activity Monitoring (1st)
PubSub+ Platform
Ranking in Message Queue (MQ) Software
8th
Ranking in Message Oriented Middleware (MOM)
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Event Monitoring (10th), Streaming Analytics (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Message Queue (MQ) Software category, the mindshare of IBM MQ is 26.2%, up from 20.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PubSub+ Platform is 4.7%, up from 4.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Message Queue (MQ) Software
 

Featured Reviews

Md Al-Amin - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable and secure performance consistently enhances message transfer
IBM MQ is more reliable and secure than other software. There is a saying that for the last 30 years IBM MQ has never been hacked. It is more secure and reliable. Whenever the configuration is done, I do not have to touch it again. It works fine, it is stable, and its communication is to the point and accurate. All performance-related aspects are better. Performance-wise, it is scalable, and other features such as DR, DC, replication, and active passive mode are complex to configure, but it remains scalable. The pricing model for IBM MQ could be more flexible for clients.
BhanuChidigam - PeerSpot reviewer
Performs well, high availability, and helpful support
We use approximately four people for the maintenance of the solution. My advice to others is this solution has high throughput and is used for many stock exchanges. For business critical use cases, such as processing financial transactions at a quick speed, I would recommend this solution. I rate PubSub+ Event Broker an eight out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
37%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Government
4%
Financial Services Firm
35%
Computer Software Company
11%
Retailer
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is MQ software?
Hi As someone with 45+ years of experience in the Transaction and Message Processing world, I have seen many "MQ" solutions that have come into the market place. From my perspective, while each pro...
What are the differences between Apache Kafka and IBM MQ?
Apache Kafka is open source and can be used for free. It has very good log management and has a way to store the data used for analytics. Apache Kafka is very good if you have a high number of user...
How does IBM MQ compare with VMware RabbitMQ?
IBM MQ has a great reputation behind it, and this solution is very robust with great stability. It is easy to use, simple to configure and integrates well with our enterprise ecosystem and protocol...
What do you like most about PubSub+ Event Broker?
The most valuable feature of PubSub+ Event Broker is the scaling integration. Prior to using the solution, it was done manually with a file, and it can be done instantly live.
What needs improvement with PubSub+ Event Broker?
The solution could be improved by enhancing the message pooling size for persistent messages to handle both small and large messages effectively. Additionally, providing a comprehensive dashboard t...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

WebSphere MQ
PubSub+ Event Broker, PubSub+ Event Portal
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Deutsche Bahn, Bon-Ton, WestJet, ARBURG, Northern Territory Government, Tata Steel Europe, Sharp Corporation
FxPro, TP ICAP, Barclays, Airtel, American Express, Cobalt, Legal & General, LSE Group, Akuna Capital, Azure Information Technology, Brand.net, Canadian Securities Exchange, Core Transport Technologies, Crédit Agricole, Fluent Trade Technologies, Harris Corporation, Korea Exchange, Live E!, Mercuria Energy, Myspace, NYSE Technologies, Pico, RBC Capital Markets, Standard Chartered Bank, Unibet 
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM MQ vs. PubSub+ Platform and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,491 professionals have used our research since 2012.