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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs IBM WebSphere Message Broker comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 2025

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 WebSphere Application S...
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (5th)
IBM WebSphere Message Broker
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
17th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 5.0%, down from 11.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM WebSphere Message Broker is 2.7%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM WebSphere Application Server5.0%
IBM WebSphere Message Broker2.7%
Other92.3%
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

CF
Senior Manager, MW & DB Automation at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Has worked seamlessly in complex clustered environments and supports long-term development efforts
IBM WebSphere Application Server is currently at version 9.0.5.23. In recent months, they released fix 23, as they periodically release fixes. Previously, they frequently increased versions, but now they maintain 9.0.5 with different releases. It's based on Java J2EE 7 and Java SDK 1.8. Oracle announced that 2030 will be the last year when Java SDK 1.8 will be supported. Oracle currently deploys Java 2.x in parallel, with the latest being version 25. The future of IBM WebSphere Application Server remains uncertain since it's based on Java 1.8 and Java 7. I haven't found any white papers or official documentation from IBM outlining their trajectory post-2030.
MANUEL VALDIVIA - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Routes messages efficiently across our services, but the features for scalability need improvement
One of the key benefits has been its ability to expose services and securely integrate applications within our architecture. It's been integral in maintaining a stable infrastructure despite its limitations with dynamic service creation and flexibility compared to newer technologies like Kubernetes. The main challenge has been scalability during peak usage times.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Once you deploy your application, it will be very stable with no issues at all."
"The solution's data consistency is great and very reliable, which is critical for us in a transitional scenario and the most important feature that we count on."
"The solution is robust, and the connection management and the scalability which IBM provides to the stack are also valuable."
"IBM WAS is the backbone for our enterprise content management suite which delivers the primary processes for our customers. Without a good application server, it would be hard to provide a secure layer of midddleware upon which the other applications run. IBM WAS improves the stability of the entire solution and provides a high quality platform for running web-based solutions."
"High availability, alert management, and deployments are the most valuable features for us. We have the ND version so we can do deployments."
"The technical support from IBM is very good and responsive."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is Portal Virtualization."
"This solution is very good in terms of stability."
"Integration and mapping are easy, which is a major advantage."
"Setup is very easy; we had proper documentation for setup, so it didn't take much time, and setup takes a maximum of two or three hours and I can set up the complete application."
"Overall, in comparison to other solutions specific to the banking domain, this product is quite good."
"We have a large number of use cases for this product, and it is built into the underlying infrastructure for most of our applications."
"It is a scalable solution...The setup is easy."
"The transactions and message queuing are the most valuable features of the solution."
"IBM WebSphere Message Broker is one of the best middleware solutions"
"We are using three or four services in the backend for reformatting messages, and it is straightforward to use."
 

Cons

"The future of IBM WebSphere Application Server remains uncertain since it's based on Java 1.8 and Java 7."
"The installation is not straightforward and it can take three days."
"The footprint could be reduced so that we can use a smaller virtual machine to run the application. We could also use more scripts. I would like this solution to be more script oriented, rather than GUI oriented."
"The licensing could be improved, and I would like it to give the longevity of the lifespan of the visions. In the next release, I would like to be able to download and extract the files so that I can just use my application server."
"WebSphere Application Server doesn't have an automated deployment option, forcing us to use third-party tools like Jenkins UCD and Palo Automated Deployment."
"The current trend is to move to Liberty because of the portability of its cloud and its Kubernetes, which containerize the application."
"IBM needs to pay attention to market changes more quickly. We now have Java 9 and very soon Java EE8. We do not want to wait for two or three years after their release until they are supported by the new version."
"They should make the solution more lightweight and not bundle everything into a single product."
"The images and size of the containers are too big and I think that they should be more lightweight."
"They are expensive and not worth the money we are spending on them."
"My biggest complaint about this product is the price."
"I find the installation configuration is quite difficult compared to other solutions."
"As our business requirements evolve, we require more dynamic capabilities to adapt and scale our services accordingly."
"It is currently a weighty product."
"Technical support is good but they could have a better response time."
"The product's features are not being upgraded or enhanced by the vendor"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is quite expensive."
"It is very expensive."
"We used to pay about $100,000-$120,000 US or somewhere around there. That was a bit cost-prohibitive for us to continue."
"The price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"My company is on a perpetual or permanent license agreement with IBM WebSphere Application Server. There's also a pay-per-use option, but customers rarely choose that option. Most of the customers are on the perpetual license deal that's all-inclusive. As the license cost is quite expensive, I'm rating it two out of five."
"There is an Eclipse Plugin provided by IBM, so no need to buy IBM Rational Application Developer or Rational Software Architect tools."
"The price of this product is higher than that of competitors."
"The pricing is a little expensive."
"IBM software can be costly, but having a contract has helped manage and potentially lower costs over time."
"IBM products are generally more stable and have more features, but also come at a greater cost."
"The licensing cost of IBM WebSphere Message Broker needs to be reduced"
"The solution is expensive."
"The price is very high and it's the main reason that we are searching for alternatives."
"I feel with IBM, when you want certain functions or features, you have to continuously purchase add-ons. There are always additional fees."
"The solution is expensive."
"This product is more expensive than competing products."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
30%
Computer Software Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Construction Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise23
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM WebSphere Application Server?
At Royal Bank, which is a major IBM customer with mainframes and numerous IBM products, they have a specific agreement regarding pricing. The pricing structure for large enterprise customers differ...
What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Application Server?
IBM WebSphere Application Server is currently at version 9.0.5.23. In recent months, they released fix 23, as they periodically release fixes. Previously, they frequently increased versions, but no...
What is your primary use case for IBM WebSphere Application Server?
I was part of an application where I integrated IBM WebSphere Application Server with Node.js and Blue Prism. I did a lot of REST applications because at my core, I'm a developer. Currently, I'm an...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM WebSphere Message Broker?
IBM software can be costly, but having a contract has helped manage and potentially lower costs over time.
What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Message Broker?
There could be greater flexibility and agility in service creation for the product. As our business requirements evolve, we require more dynamic capabilities to adapt and scale our services accordi...
What is your primary use case for IBM WebSphere Message Broker?
We use the product for exposing services at the application level, integrating with various architectures like WebSphere, and handling static service creation.
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server
WebSphere Message Broker
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

TalkTalk, Property management group, E.SUN Bank, Ohio National Financial Services, Aviarc, Cincom Systems, FJA-US, D+H, Staples, Michigan Municipal League
WestJet, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Sharp Corporation, Michelin Tire
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. IBM WebSphere Message Broker and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.