IBM WebSphere Application Server vs NGINX Plus comparison

IBM and F5 are both solutions in the Application Infrastructure category. IBM is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.0, while F5 is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.8. IBM holds a 7.3% mindshare in AIS, compared to F5’s 9.3% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of F5 users who would recommend it.

IBM WebSphere Application S...

Read 32 IBM WebSphere Application Server reviews

3,188 Views
1,435 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

NGINX Plus

Read 32 NGINX Plus reviews

3,866 Views
1,546 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

IBM WebSphere Application S...

NGINX Plus

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 2025

IBM WebSphere Application Server and NGINX Plus compete in application deployment management. WebSphere seems to have the upper hand in enterprise settings due to its comprehensive features, whereas NGINX Plus excels in performance and simplicity, appealing to agile environments.

Features: IBM WebSphere Application Server offers robust enterprise integration, extensive security features, and efficient clustering capabilities. NGINX Plus delivers high-performance support for HTTP, an advanced load balancing system, and microservices optimization. WebSphere enriches larger enterprises with middleware functionality, while NGINX Plus ensures speed and efficiency for fast-paced operations.

Room for Improvement: IBM WebSphere could improve by simplifying configurations, enhancing user interface intuitiveness, and streamlining middleware integration. NGINX Plus could enhance scalability features, expand native security capabilities, and optimize configuration processes further.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NGINX Plus boasts a straightforward deployment process and responsive customer service, suitable for businesses prioritizing agility. IBM WebSphere, despite its complex deployment requirements, offers extensive support options advantageous for enterprises needing detailed assistance.

Pricing and ROI: IBM WebSphere generally involves higher initial costs but can offer significant ROI in extensive enterprises through its comprehensive features and robust support. NGINX Plus, with lower initial costs, offers quick ROI through its simple yet effective functionalities, making it cost-effective for startups and cloud-native applications.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. NGINX Plus Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. NGINX Plus

December 2025

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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

3rd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Server (5th)

NGINX Plus

Ranking in Application Infrastructure

4th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 7.3%, down from 11.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NGINX Plus is 9.3%, down from 11.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM WebSphere Application Server	7.3%
NGINX Plus	9.3%
Other	83.4%

Application Infrastructure

Featured Reviews

Costica Florea

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.

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Michael Olayemi

Senior Software Engineer at Checkit

Enables public access and secure configurations through reverse proxy

The primary valuable feature of NGINX for me is its ability to provide a reverse proxy. I have found that this feature supports our local server, and I am able to connect through our DNS system, making it accessible publicly. Additionally, the integration with SSL certificates and the configuration capabilities make it a valuable solution for my use case. Without NGINX, users would not be able to access our application, which means there is positive ROI from using NGINX as it is crucial for the functioning of my organization.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find IBM support to be very nice."

"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."

"IBM WebSphere Application Server is the ultimate product; there is nothing superior to IBM WebSphere Application Server, and while there are other options such as Tomcat, JBoss, and Oracle's solution, IBM WebSphere Application Server stands above them all."

"The integration between IBM tools and applications is very well executed, and the support from IBM is quite good, providing a solid support structure."

"The most valuable features are its user-friendliness and reliability in terms of application hosting."

"Network Deployment is the most useful feature for scalability. It has many features within the standard WebSphere Application Server edition."

"The scalability of the product is quite good."

"WebSphere Application Server's best features include the data subscription and connection viewer."

More IBM WebSphere Application Server pros

"When you use NGINX, you have more options and power."

"-"

"This solution has everything."

"When I worked in a security research center, we tested NGINX to support DoS and DDoS attacks, and its results were great."

"With NGINX, I appreciate its ability to route traffic geographically."

"The most valuable features are the gateway and the ability to publish to sites."

"I need to highlight that the number one thing about NGINX is that it is free."

"I utilize NGINX for its capability to provide visibility and discovery options, helping discover and identify networks, which is crucial for ensuring application performance, managing latency, and checking server reachability."

More NGINX Plus pros

Cons

"The future of IBM WebSphere Application Server remains uncertain since it's based on Java 1.8 and Java 7."

"The current trend is to move to Liberty because of the portability of its cloud and its Kubernetes, which containerize the application."

"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."

"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."

"The main issue we faced was its limited compatibility with non-Java technologies, which can result in difficulty detecting potential bugs and requiring additional integration efforts."

"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."

"The business logic side of it is sort of missing in the sense that if I want to track and measure velocity, it is not really available. You have to buy another application and embark on a separate implementation. Instead of having different licensing, IBM DataPower should be integrated with WebSphere. It will allow us to build the business layer and rules a lot more efficiently, rather than developing rules within the application. It would be good if we can set up the business layer through parametrization rather than development. IBM DataPower has the business rule and the controls, and if it can be integrated, it would be fantastic. It will help the application in working better in terms of security features and business logic. If you're going to use it for open banking, you will be able to monitor velocity on the total pricing."

"Some things are very difficult to do, so the interface and usage could be more intuitive for those."

More IBM WebSphere Application Server cons

"Improvement needed in NGINX Plus could focus on optimizing memory usage for users."

"They tried to fix it, but the fixes were not available at the time because they were zero days, so they attempted to fix it, but their support was not proper."

"It would be good if NGINX provided a graphical user interface."

"Initially, I experienced hiccups whenever I installed the application. As with any application, there were initial issues, however, after receiving support, everything was rectified."

"One area of improvement could be that NGINX could provide a means to generate self-signed SSL certificates."

"The scaling should be built into the software rather than configured from an outside source."

"They should do in the open source version of what they did to Advanced HTTP, TCP, and UDP load balancing."

"The KPI should be more focused on load balancing and the latency in application calling from the end system."

More NGINX Plus cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"We pay around $200,000 annually."

"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."

"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."

"When you purchase Maximo, you get WebSphere for free."

"The licensing cost is 1,000 of euros for a 30-year table."

"I don't remember the price, but there are no additional costs."

More IBM WebSphere Application Server pricing and cost advice

"NGINX Plus is an open-source solution with limited additional features. When you try to get additional features in the solution, then you need to pay an extra amount to NGINX Plus."

"HAProxy is cheaper than NGINX."

"You pay for each feature that you want."

"The list price of NGINX Plus is close to $5,500."

"The price is the cost to contract support with a specialized company, usually during consulting hours."

"NGINX is a free tool in Brazil. There are some companies which do support it."

"There's an open-source version of NGINX that is free."

"I am not so happy with their pricing policy, but this is not the worse thing in my life. I can tolerate it."

More NGINX Plus pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

34%

Computer Software Company

Insurance Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	23

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	11

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Application Server?

See all answers

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,...

See all answers

What do you like most about NGINX Plus?

It performs very well. That's one of the primary reasons we use NGINX.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NGINX Plus?

Pricing is reasonable and that is fine.

See all answers

Comparisons

JBoss Enterprise Application Platform vs IBM WebSphere Application Server

Compared 20% of the time

Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) vs IBM WebSphere Application Server

Compared 16% of the time

Tomcat vs IBM WebSphere Application Server

Compared 13% of the time

Oracle WebLogic Server vs IBM WebSphere Application Server

Compared 7% of the time

IIS vs IBM WebSphere Application Server

Compared 4% of the time

More IBM WebSphere Application Server Competitors

IIS vs NGINX Plus

Compared 17% of the time

Apache Web Server vs NGINX Plus

Compared 14% of the time

HAProxy vs NGINX Plus

Compared 10% of the time

NetScaler vs NGINX Plus

Compared 9% of the time

LoadBalancer Enterprise vs NGINX Plus

Compared 3% of the time

More NGINX Plus Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Application Server

January 2026

Download IBM WebSphere Application Server product report

Buyer's Guide

NGINX Plus

January 2026

Download NGINX Plus product report

Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server

NGINX

Overview

IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS) is a middleware platform developed by IBM. It provides a range of services and tools to help organizations develop, deploy, and manage Java-based applications. WAS is part of IBM's WebSphere product family and provides a secure, scalable, and highly available platform for developing and running web-based applications. WAS provides a secure, scalable, and highly available platform, making it an attractive solution for organizations looking to develop and deploy enterprise-grade applications.

IBM WebSphere Application Server Features

IBM WebSphere Application Server has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Application deployment: IBM WAS enables organizations to deploy and manage applications in a secure and scalable environment.

Clustering: The clustering feature can help organizations ensure high availability and improve application performance.

Load balancing: The solution Includes load balancing capabilities to distribute application workloads and improve performance.

Security: IBM WAS offers a range of security features, including authentication, authorization, and encryption, to help organizations secure their applications and data.

Monitoring and management: The solution’s range of tools for monitoring and managing applications, including the IBM WebSphere Administrative Console allows organizations to optimize application performance and resolve issues easily.

Integration: IBM WAS integrates with a range of IBM and third-party products, including IBM WebSphere MQ, IBM DB2, and more, to provide a comprehensive platform for developing and running web-based applications.

IBM WebSphere Application Server Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing IBM WebSphere Application Server. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Improved application performance: The IBM WAS platform offers a scalable and secure platform for deploying and managing applications, enabling organizations to improve application performance and reduce downtime.

High availability: IBM WAS provides clustering and load-balancing capabilities to help organizations ensure high availability.

Improved security: With a large range of security features, including authentication, authorization, and encryption, the solution helps organizations secure their applications and data.

Simplified management: IBM WAS is designed with a set of tools for monitoring and managing applications, enabling organizations to optimize performance and resolve issues efficiently.

Increased flexibility: The solution integrates with a range of IBM and third-party products, providing organizations with a flexible platform for developing and running web-based applications.

Improved developer productivity: It supports the latest Java EE specifications, allowing developers to use the latest technologies and development methodologies when building applications.

Better customer experience: Organizations can deliver faster and more reliable applications, improving the overall customer experience.

Scalability: IBM WAS provides a scalable and secure platform for deploying and managing applications, so organizations can quickly respond to changing business requirements.

Reviews from Real Users

IBM WebSphere Application Server is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are that it is stable, supports many languages, and is resilient.

Princewill O., Head Banking Application Customization and Reporting at a financial services firm, states, “[The solution is] very stable, supports many languages, and helpful for faster time to market.”

"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,” says Nicolae C., System and Solutions Architect at Seidor.

Another PeerSpot reviewer, an Enterprise Technical Leader at a tech services company mentions, “[It is an] enterprise-level product with extensive console capabilities, including the ability to control multiple JVM containers.”

IBM

NGINX Plus is a versatile solution that offers load balancing, caching, proxying, and API deployment capabilities. It can be deployed on private or public clouds and is ideal for building CDN solutions. The solution can also be used to secure web applications and replace web services like Apache.

NGINX has helped organizations improve functioning, reduce downtimes, and offer a DevOps-friendly solution. Its community support and documentation are highly regarded, and its configuration is more straightforward, making it a recommended choice over HAProxy.

Sample Customers

TalkTalk, Property management group, E.SUN Bank, Ohio National Financial Services, Aviarc, Cincom Systems, FJA-US, D+H, Staples, Michigan Municipal League

Locaweb, AppNexus, Wix, Reliam, Montana Interactive, MuleSoft, Warpwire, Discovery Education, InkaBinka, WordPress.com, Gogo, GOV.UK, NASA

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. NGINX Plus

December 2025

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