Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Oracle Fusion Middleware 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
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (3rd)
Oracle Fusion Middleware
Ranking in Application Server
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 9.6%, down from 12.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Fusion Middleware is 5.5%, up from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM WebSphere Application Server9.6%
Oracle Fusion Middleware5.5%
Other84.9%
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.
Sai Kri - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager Business Applications at NMC Healthcare
Migration to a modern interface enhances AI integration and cloud capabilities
Presently, Oracle recommends migrating to Oracle Fusion since it's a hot product now. e-Business Suite may soon be sunsetted and has an outdated UI, with few upgrades. In contrast, Oracle Fusion offers modern features, such as AI, cloud-based applications, and customization options like Redwood features. Oracle Fusion AI chatbots are embedded, benefiting projects.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is robust. The connection management and the scalability, which IBM provides to the Stack, are also valuable."
"High availability, alert management, and deployments are the most valuable features for us. We have the ND version so we can do deployments."
"Ease of administration: It has an Integrated Solutions Console, what we call the administrative console, with very detailed configurations and Help pages for each configurable item."
"IBM WAS is extremely scalable. It is easy to add additional servers and to divide the load over servers in all kinds of ways."
"The performance is good."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is one of the best servers due to its stability and paid license."
"The scalability of the product is quite good."
"The VPN service is quite useful."
"The initial setup is easy. There are many self-tutorial videos are on the Internet, and then the Oracle documents are self-explanatory."
"The most valuable features are Oracle Unified Directory and unified identity access management."
"Oracle recommends moving to Oracle Fusion as they are constantly releasing new AI, modern, web-based, and cloud-based features with updated UI. With Redwood customization and AI chatbots embedded, Oracle Fusion stands ahead of older systems."
"The scalability is good."
"One good thing, which is a little bit common across all middleware products, is that you can build asynchronous as well as synchronous processes. The SOA part is where it can maintain your state for any state-full integrations. If you have failures, you can replay all that, which is a good part."
"Oracle Fusion is stable."
"Fusion Middleware's main feature for me is that it is quite flexible, and, as middleware, it provides us with all sorts of technology and application adapters, which makes it very handy to use."
"Data integrity."
 

Cons

"The solution could improve the integration."
"The availability of the solution needs improvement."
"It should be able to serve more concurrent requests like Oracle. Oracle has more powerful stability, availability, and real-time serving."
"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."
"In spite of the solution's robustness, it is expensive and a bit difficult to support."
"They should make the solution more lightweight and not bundle everything into a single product."
"The security could be better."
"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."
"The solution's technical support needs to be improved."
"Its price can be improved. We are currently looking for more cost-efficiency. It should also have a little bit more flexibility for customizations. The customizations should be quicker."
"The price could always be better."
"The documentation might not be good enough for new users."
"For improvements, I think Oracle Fusion Middleware could be better at connecting to third-party applications. While it works well with Oracle products, it's more limited to non-Oracle systems than other middleware solutions like MuleSoft."
"I would rate the stability a nine out of ten because we did have multiple breakdowns and crashes."
"There could be improvements in the installation and integration parts of Oracle Fusion Middleware. The guides often have errors, such as web scripting issues, and can be difficult to follow."
"One thing that I would like to see is if this product can be containerized. We are moving away from virtual servers and moving more towards containerization to be able to quickly set up environments or have the flexibility of scaling them. It would be good if it can be containerized, and it works well in containerized platforms."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is a little expensive."
"When you purchase Maximo, you get WebSphere for free."
"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's expensive."
"We pay around $200,000 annually."
"It is very expensive."
"The price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"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."
"It is expensive. We are looking for a cheaper solution."
"The tool is best suited for large companies due to high licensing costs."
"The licensing costs are reasonable."
"My advice is to buy the basic modules first, gain the most benefit from them, then buy the advanced modules."
"The pricing is moderate. It's fine."
"The solution is quite expensive so is only used by larger organizations."
"We pay annually for the solution."
"The solution is expensive so pricing is rated a six out of ten."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Server solutions are best for your needs.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
34%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Performing Arts
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 Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise11
 

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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Fusion Middleware?
Oracle Fusion Middleware is generally expensive, although I'm not directly involved with the licensing aspects.
What needs improvement with Oracle Fusion Middleware?
There could be improvements in the installation and integration parts of Oracle Fusion Middleware. The guides often have errors, such as web scripting issues, and can be difficult to follow. With m...
What is your primary use case for Oracle Fusion Middleware?
I use Oracle Fusion Middleware ( /products/oracle-fusion-middleware-reviews ) primarily for installation, business intelligence installations, BPM ( /products/informatica-intelligent-data-managemen...
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server
No data available
 

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
Police Department of Izmir City
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. Oracle Fusion Middleware and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.