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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 March 2026, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 8.7%, down from 12.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IIS is 7.1%, up from 6.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IIS7.1%
IBM WebSphere Application Server8.7%
Other84.2%
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

"IBM WebSphere Application Server is easy to use."
"I find IBM support to be very nice."
"The most valuable features are its user-friendliness and reliability in terms of application hosting."
"I would say that the clustering, achieved by using the deployment manager, is valuable, as there is a load balancing feature that uses different nodes, handled by the deployment manager, and this functionality helps with the load balancing of applications."
"The product offers good performance."
"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."
"This solution is easy to use with a GUI that is intuitive and very helpful."
"We needed this type of integration and WebShepere is the best tool for it."
"IIS is Internet Information Services, which is application infrastructure, and the main benefits include security control where you can control different access levels and integrate with other services to manage application security."
"The solution has been reliable."
"My experience with the technical support by Microsoft at large is satisfactory."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is easy to use and easy to understand."
"The initial setup is simple."
"The most valuable feature of IIS is it does not consume a lot of resources. It does not consume a lot of resources, such as memory."
"IIS's best features are its management console and stability."
"We use the solution for our customer's web applications."
 

Cons

"The solution consumes hardware."
"I find the server okay, however, using the Maker instance, the Moving instance, and the Change instance is a little bit complicated without WebSphere knowledge."
"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."
"While WebSphere mostly supports IBM HTTP Server (IHS) as the web server plugin, I think it would be beneficial if it also supported Apache and NGINX web servers. That would give customers more flexibility in their choices."
"When compared with WebLogic, Weblogic is lighter and consumes less memory."
"I think that this is a good product but I think that the cloud environment could be improved. I think that the future is in the utilization of the product in a product as a service way which is something that is lacking at this moment."
"Installing or configuring a WAS server instance as a Windows Service causes a lot of problems, especially when the server needs credentials to stop."
"WebSphere is very cumbersome and not user-friendly."
"The scalability depends on how you have set it up. If you're running IIS on a single server, it might not be as capable as if you are on many in a cluster or with load balancing and so on."
"Scalability issues and security concerns need attention from Microsoft."
"IIS needs to improve its security. Its support needs to be faster and clear. The tool's licensing could be cheaper as well."
"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."
"IIS's memory management could be improved."
"IIS could improve the error logging. There are times we are not able to see the errors. More details would be helpful. Additionally, the configuring of the IIS should be allowed through coding instead of the classic view."
"It should be more user-friendly because unless you know how IIS works as a Microsoft product, a system admin cannot just manage it."
"Having no support for other than a Microsoft environment and programming languages limits the usage of IIS in many cases."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is an Eclipse Plugin provided by IBM, so no need to buy IBM Rational Application Developer or Rational Software Architect tools."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"When you purchase Maximo, you get WebSphere for free."
"The licensing cost is 1,000 of euros for a 30-year table."
"We pay around $200,000 annually."
"WebSphere Application Server is expensive, so it may not be a good option for small companies."
"The price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"The pricing is a little expensive."
"The tool's pricing is on a yearly basis."
"I think it's part of the Windows Server, so you won't have any other costs to add in order to use the IIS service."
"There is an annual license to use this solution and the price could be better."
"I didn't need to get an additional license for the solution since it was included in my server."
"The solution provides multiple licensing options."
"The price of the cloud system is a bit high."
"IIS's pricing is reasonable."
"It is licensed with your Windows installation which makes it relatively cheap if you already have a Windows Server sitting around."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
32%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
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...
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

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: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.