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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Oracle WebLogic Server 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
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (5th)
Oracle WebLogic Server
Ranking in Application Server
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 12.8%, up from 11.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle WebLogic Server is 24.4%, down from 26.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server
 

Featured Reviews

BharathirajaSukumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient load balancing and the clustering, achieved by using the deployment manager, is valuable
I believe that the system is already good. However, for improvement or enhancement, it is user-friendly, but it could offer better choices on the front end for different aspects or options. Sometimes, I have to search extensively for features, as there are no upfront tabs. There is a lack of visible, easy, user-friendly, and straightforward options for the number of features.
Saikat Nag - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers efficient load distribution with a scope of high scalability
Our organization configures Oracle WebLogic Server in such a way that a load balancer becomes available. The network requests are segregated to the Oracle WebLogic Server as the managing server and different nodes are configured. Using the product as a load balancer helps automate request transfer from one non-functional node to another functional node. Due to Oracle WebLogic Server, the endpoints remain unaffected whenever a node goes down. The clustering feature enhances our organization's performance and reliability. In our organization, the health of the Oracle WebLogic Server environment is maintained and managed using Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM). I would definitely recommend others to use Oracle WebLogic Server. Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The scalability of the product is quite good."
"It has good stability of the application server in the long term compared to other solutions."
"It does integrate well with the Tivoli Federated Identity Management system."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is the best in terms of scalability and performance, as well as the support for managing distributed transactions."
"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."
"One of the most valuable features might be the stability of the IBM WebSphere Application Server."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is easy to use."
"What I find most valuable in Oracle WebLogic Server is its flexibility in administering and managing applications, along with the built-in dashboards that offer high visibility into vulnerabilities."
"In the newer system, reconfigurability and the fact that it is easy to configure, make it very valuable."
"Oracle WebLogic Server is more secure and has full functionalities that can be used for big applications."
"What I like best about Oracle WebLogic Server is its integration with other software."
"Oracle WebLogic Server has a bunch of ready features that are easy to use and understand."
"Oracle WebLogic Server is secure."
"We have some hosted servers as well as some of our own. It performs well."
"It's a very stable solution."
 

Cons

"When we run into memory or locking issues, we resort to using third-party tools. However, it would be preferable to have native tools for debugging this type of problem."
"WebSphere is very cumbersome and not user-friendly. It used to have its own JVM, which presented challenges such as different architecture and memory leaks."
"Some things are very difficult to do, so the interface and usage could be more intuitive for those."
"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."
"Initial setup is very simple. Just use the IBM Installation Manager and add the packages. The install wizard takes care of the rest. The only thing that can be difficult is to find the right packages on the IBM website, because of all the changes that IBM does on its website(s)."
"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 Application Server doesn't have an automated deployment option, forcing us to use third-party tools like Jenkins UCD and Palo Automated Deployment."
"Oracle WebLogic Server's configuration could be improved because we need to do multiple configurations when setting up anything."
"Having clearer mechanisms to directly map a database-level connection problem to the corresponding WebLogic thread would greatly enhance the administrator's convenience."
"Oracle's support team fails to understand the real problem of the customer, which is why they take time to resolve issues."
"Configuration can be a significant challenge, demanding a deep understanding and expertise."
"I've had issues with some of the tracking features tracking and have had to go back to several generations of code to fix problems where things were touched."
"The quarterly updates can sometimes lead to instability depending on the configuration of systems."
"In the future, I would like to see better support for the REST interface."
"This is a complex application."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"WebSphere Application Server is expensive, so it may not be a good option for small companies."
"The price of this product is higher than that of competitors."
"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."
"IBM WAS base is part of the deal when you purchase IBM FileNet P8 Content Engine."
"The price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"It is expensive."
"Its high expense is a significant drawback"
"My company uses a licensed version of the product, so we get Oracle's support."
"Fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"Pricing for Oracle WebLogic Server is expensive."
"The licensing fees are annual and depend on the model."
"In our country, this is an expensive product."
"The solution's licensing is high-priced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
32%
Computer Software Company
14%
Insurance Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Government
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
In Korea, when you buy IBM iOS, the WebSphere base version is included with iOS. That means no additional cost.
What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Application Server?
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.
What needs improvement with Oracle WebLogic Server?
There is an option to use the WebLogic console as a service, but the WebLogic scripting tool can be used for the administration of the domain without the console. This is important for some cases d...
What is your primary use case for Oracle WebLogic Server?
I primarily work from an infrastructure point of view with Oracle WebLogic Server ( /products/oracle-weblogic-server-reviews ). I am involved in the installation, base installation of the product, ...
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server
WebLogic Application Server
 

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
Colab Consulting Pty. Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Sascar, Banca Transilvania, UL, Center for Railway Information Systems, SPAR Austria Group, Reliance Commercial Finance, Industrial Bank of Korea, Al Jaber Group, Safe Water Kenya, Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. Oracle WebLogic Server and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.