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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs IIS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 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 Server
5th
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IIS
Ranking in Application Server
4th
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 9.1%, down from 12.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IIS is 6.9%, up from 6.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IIS6.9%
IBM WebSphere Application Server9.1%
Other84.0%
Application Server
 

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.
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

"What's most valuable in IBM WebSphere Application Server is its resilience. When you use the solution, you know that after the communication has been done, there will be no doubt that the data has reached its destination."
"The VPN service is quite useful."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is the best in terms of scalability and performance, as well as the support for managing distributed transactions."
"The product offers good performance."
"Network Deployment is the most useful feature for scalability. It has many features within the standard WebSphere Application Server edition."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is Portal Virtualization."
"We needed this type of integration and WebShepere is the best tool for it."
"IBM WAS is extremely scalable. It is easy to add additional servers and to divide the load over servers in all kinds of ways."
"We use the solution for our customer's web applications."
"The product is stable."
"Windows Server IIS is stable."
"The solution integrates well with most Microsoft products."
"The tool is very easy to use and efficient."
"IIS works natively with Windows Server without any issues in publishing certificates."
"It is a scalable solution."
"We use Windows Server only for Eggplant Manager."
 

Cons

"The future of IBM WebSphere Application Server remains uncertain since it's based on Java 1.8 and Java 7."
"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."
"WebSphere is very cumbersome and not user-friendly."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server hasn't changed much. It's still a heavyweight for any company compared to what you get. Unless your code base is deeply linked with it, I don't think it's a great idea to go with this solution. The current trend is toward modularity and containerization, and given the product's requirements, containerization will be difficult. There is a memory requirement as well."
"In spite of the solution's robustness, it is expensive and a bit difficult to support."
"Sometimes, I feel WebSphere runs a bit slow. It might be loading unnecessary libraries, impacting its performance compared to other application servers."
"The current trend is to move to Liberty because of the portability of its cloud and its Kubernetes, which containerize the application."
"What could be improved in IBM WebSphere Application Server is its interconnection with other products, for example, Kafka. What I'd like to see in the next release of the solution is a better graphical user interface."
"Having no support for other than a Microsoft environment and programming languages limits the usage of IIS in many cases."
"The only issue I've encountered is with certificates not working fine sometimes."
"The user interface could be improved."
"IIS has some stability issues and needs restarting."
"At the moment, we have big problems with stability, and I'm not very happy at the moment. So, the stability could be improved."
"Scalability issues and security concerns need attention from Microsoft."
"Finding different settings can be difficult if you don't know where to look."
"The documentation is not very detailed. They need to improve it and add to it. They should ensure there are lots of visuals to help users better understand the solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I don't remember the price, but there are no additional costs."
"If your application is just a web app that does not need to scale big, you can obtain a single core license of WAS Express edition, which has almost the same features with limited processing cores. If you manage a very big application farm (i.e. need to run 10 or more WAS servers) it is better to get IBM WAS Hypervisor Edition."
"It costs more than some of the others, but, you get what you pay for."
"Room for improvement would only be in the licensing. As with all IBM products the licensing can be complex and expensive. Bargain well and try to get as much discount as possible. Discounts of 85% are possible. Without the discount, I think the product is overrated."
"There is an Eclipse Plugin provided by IBM, so no need to buy IBM Rational Application Developer or Rational Software Architect tools."
"The licensing policy is based on the PVU base."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"The licensing cost is 1,000 of euros for a 30-year table."
"The yearly licensing cost is very high. The solution is very expensive."
"The cost for IIS is already included in Windows services. We don't have to pay anything extra."
"I didn't need to get an additional license for the solution since it was included in my server."
"The price of the cloud system is a bit high."
"The price of Windows Server IIS is expensive. They have a large user base, and they charge a little bit too much."
"We pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution."
"I give the price of the solution a five out of ten."
"There is no license needed to use the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
33%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
8%
 

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 Business29
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise22
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM WebSphere Application Server?
Network Deployment is the most useful feature for scalability. It has many features within the standard WebSphere Application Server edition.
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...
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...
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server
Windows Server IIS
 

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
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 WebSphere Application Server vs. IIS and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,665 professionals have used our research since 2012.