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IBM Open Liberty vs IIS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 8, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

IBM Open Liberty
Ranking in Application Server
7th
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
2.8
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IIS
Ranking in Application Server
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IBM Open Liberty is 4.7%. The mindshare of IIS is 7.4%, up from 7.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IIS7.4%
IBM Open Liberty4.7%
Other87.9%
Application Server
 

Featured Reviews

FABIO LUIS VELLOSO DA SILVA - PeerSpot reviewer
Partner at SouJava
Has enabled flexible deployment of modular services with high availability and smooth dynamic updates
The best features of IBM Open Liberty are the implementation of MicroProfile and Jakarta EE, along with fault tolerance and high availability. It's easy to use and deploy new features. The profile is easy to configure and set up features. For example, using fault tolerance from MicroProfile or using servlets or JAX-RS allows for easy configuration and creation of modular applications. The configuration is modular. The main point for us in this project was high availability, high performance, and the implementation of MicroProfile and Jakarta EE. We utilized the modular architecture of IBM Open Liberty by creating different microservices using different environments. We created different configurations for different services using the configuration of IBM Open Liberty. This was very beneficial. We created different environments only by changing the configuration, depending on the functionality we needed. It was good and very flexible for us. I used the dynamic updates feature of IBM Open Liberty and different configurations in different services and servers, based on the functionality we provided for our clients. The flexibility to create different services in different environments using IBM Open Liberty was important. The high availability is guaranteed by the architecture of IBM Open Liberty, Java, and MicroProfile. The architecture guaranteed high availability, and the flexibility comes from being able to configure needed features. There's no need to load all WebSphere or functionalities in all environments. I can configure it and create a more highly available and scalable process. I implemented monitoring tools for IBM Open Liberty using Grafana and OpenTracing using the functionalities from MicroProfile and IBM Open Liberty. The monitoring tools helped with managing system performance.
Krishnakumar Natarajan - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at Atos
Designs and manages multiple websites while ensuring data backup and disaster recovery
I have experience with AWS, and I am most familiar with the server environment, as we just use the server environment and then use Microsoft products on an AWS environment. I have experience with Windows Server IIS, which I ran on my own on-premise data center. The website was developed and then hosted, and through IIS, we managed the servers. The manageability within the IIS environment is not very difficult. For server management, you need to ensure data backup, data restore, and you have a DR configured to keep the database intact. It was done on-premises, so I had no problem doing that. If you have to go to the cloud, then you should have the storage connected to the IIS server and also have a DR set up for that. I didn't use Microsoft Azure tools, but since it is a Microsoft product, Azure has all the portability, so you don't have to worry about compatibility on the cloud. On a scale of 1-10, I would rate this solution a 10.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a stable solution compared to other vendors."
"The flexibility to create different services in different environments using IBM Open Liberty was important."
"The solution is the easiest way to publish applications which have been designed by older development tools."
"It is a lightweight web host that is easy to configure for simple webpages."
"The solution is easy to use."
"The interface, simplicity, and ease of management are all good features that make this user-friendly."
"The most valuable parts of IIS are the interface, simplicity, and ease of management."
"The solution is easy to use and connects with Microsoft, and the solution is very robust."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The most valuable feature of IIS is the database it provides."
 

Cons

"Its support documentation could have detailed information on database integration."
"To improve IBM Open Liberty, more integration with Kafka and message systems, and asynchronous messaging would be beneficial."
"IIS's memory management could be improved."
"We've never had any issues with the solution, but it's still nice to have overall improvements on it. It could be easier and faster to use, for example."
"Finding different settings can be difficult if you don't know where to look."
"IIS could improve by having some features related to URL rewrite, ARR (Application Request Routing) and HTTPS certificate generation."
"IIS needs immediate improvements, especially in the area of security management."
"Microsoft products can only work within the Windows environment, which limits their versatility."
"Sometimes if you are using IIS in large-scale scenarios, meaning that if you are deploying an application within IIS service and you are expecting a large number of users to use this application, you can sometimes find some problems, meaning that the service can shut down by itself unexpectedly if you don't configure your IIS with the correct configuration that can handle this number of users."
"This solution needs to be easier for cases where you want to have an IIS cluster."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is less costly than one of its competitors."
"The licensing cost is dependent on the usage."
"We purchased a Microsoft Windows license and the license for IIS came in the package."
"There is an annual license to use this solution and the price could be better."
"There is no license needed to use the solution."
"The cost for IIS is already included in Windows services. We don't have to pay anything extra."
"I was using the trial version of IIS inside my virtual machines."
"The tool's pricing is on a yearly basis."
"The solution provides multiple licensing options."
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893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
46%
Insurance Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise22
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Open Liberty?
To improve IBM Open Liberty, more integration with Kafka and message systems, and asynchronous messaging would be beneficial. Having more integration with Kafka, Mongo, and middleware systems that ...
What is your primary use case for Open Liberty?
I used IBM Open Liberty for an application for financial services using IBM Open Liberty and MicroProfile to process data for financial services work.
What advice do you have for others considering Open Liberty?
I used IBM Open Liberty in the past in a project, but today I'm not using it anymore. I had a good experience working with it in a financial services company. This was very beneficial. My review ra...
Which is better - IIS or NGINX Plus?
IIS is a flexible, secure, and manageable web server to host anything on the web. IIS’s scalable and open architecture can handle the most demanding tasks. From media streaming to web applications,...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IIS?
For the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for IIS, as a Microsoft product, I didn't think much about separately purchasing an IIS product as it is part of Microsoft Windows. We bought a developmen...
What needs improvement with IIS?
I see that IIS has maintained the same interface for a long time, so they could potentially use more automation or integrate Copilot into it to make it easier to use. I have not accessed or checked...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Windows Server IIS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Erste Bank Group, NJVC, Samsung Electronics, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Tata Steel Europe, Urban Software Institute
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Open Liberty vs. IIS and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.