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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Tomcat 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 (3rd)
Tomcat
Ranking in Application Server
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 11.0%, down from 12.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tomcat is 16.7%, down from 20.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Tomcat16.7%
IBM WebSphere Application Server11.0%
Other72.3%
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.
Erick  Karanja - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers high availability, straightforward deployment and easy to use
Tomcat could be a little bit more innovative. Tomcat could come up with a framework that's more lightweight and purely targeted at Java applications. Some other solutions are doing better right now, maybe because they have come up with MicroProfile, which I think is moving forward. It may actually beat Tomcat because of the lightweight nature of the framework, the MicroProfile. They're coming up with new solutions. So, for the future of Tomcat and to maintain the market share they might be looking for, they need to come up with initiatives to ensure that several of us have a lightweight framework to deploy applications on.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution is easy to use with a GUI that is intuitive and very helpful."
"The scalability of the product is quite good."
"One of the most valuable features might be the stability of the IBM WebSphere Application Server."
"The solution is robust. The connection management and the scalability, which IBM provides to the Stack, are also valuable."
"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 only reason why we're currently using WebSphere is that the integration of the authentication with Azure is very quick. WebSphere has something that can immediately connect with Azure Active Directory."
"Without the Admin Console it would be very hard to configure JVM settings, JDBC datasources, mail session settings, and security providers."
"The thing about WebSphere, as opposed to other ones that I am aware of such as JBoss and Liberty, is that WebSphere has the most comprehensive scaffolding available to it."
"Tomcat is easy to handle, its installation process does not take much time, and its server speed is also very good compared to other servers."
"Tomcat's best feature is the open source server. It's a flexible and lightweight solution."
"The most valuable feature is the free EE server."
"The deployment process is very fast."
"Tomcat is user-friendly and easy to set up, especially compared to WebLogic or JBoss where some specialty is required. If you are going for Tomcat, you can use their guidelines and can set it up easily."
"It is a scalable platform."
"The solution has very robust functionality."
"The product's most valuable feature is the ability to host applications."
 

Cons

"The solution consumes hardware."
"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."
"WebSphere Application Server doesn't have an automated deployment option, forcing us to use third-party tools like Jenkins UCD and Palo Automated Deployment."
"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."
"Installing or configuring a WAS server instance as a Windows Service causes a lot of problems, especially when the server needs credentials to stop."
"In spite of the solution's robustness, it is expensive and a bit difficult to support."
"WebSphere is very cumbersome and not user-friendly."
"They should make the solution more lightweight and not bundle everything into a single product."
"Tomcat's performance is less than other solutions like IBM WebSphere or JBoss."
"I would personally like it if the admin console would show more information specifically about memory being used."
"Deployment in Tomcat should be done through a GUI. We deploy applications from the backend using commands."
"Tomcat's stability could be improved, especially when handling more memory-intensive, large-scale applications."
"Tomcat needs to improve its user interface."
"Resource configuration like JNDI and queue configuration, similar to other servers, should be provided from the admin console for Tomcat."
"I have no recommendations for improvements."
"The product needs to have more updates."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost is 1,000 of euros for a 30-year table."
"When you purchase Maximo, you get WebSphere for free."
"It costs more than some of the others, but, you get what you pay for."
"WebSphere Application Server is expensive, so it may not be a good option for small companies."
"We pay around $200,000 annually."
"It is very expensive."
"There is an Eclipse Plugin provided by IBM, so no need to buy IBM Rational Application Developer or Rational Software Architect tools."
"The pricing is a little expensive."
"This is an open-source product and it's free to use."
"The solution is free."
"I give the pricing an eight out of ten."
"Tomcat is open-source and free to use."
"The tool is free."
"I rate the product's price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low price."
"The solution is open source so is free."
"If it is a community version of the solution, no payment is required. However, if it is a Linux version, we must buy the solution from JBoss."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
33%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
7%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
24%
Government
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise23
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise28
 

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 do you like most about Tomcat?
Tomcat's ease of use has positively impacted project timelines. Tomcat already has high availability – it doesn't go down so often and doesn't require a lot of maintenance. As long as your applicat...
What needs improvement with Tomcat?
Regarding improvements in Tomcat, I personally haven't used it very extensively, but all Apache products are very useful for our web applications. Although the web server setup is a little differen...
What is your primary use case for Tomcat?
We use Tomcat for various purposes, and our company finds it to be perfect; we are getting all the solutions out of that. There is still no chance of any migration to any other technology, but addi...
 

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
1. Adobe Systems 2. Amazon 3. Apple 4. AT&T 5. Bank of America 6. Boeing 7. Cisco Systems 8. Citigroup 9. Dell 10. eBay 11. Facebook 12. General Electric 13. Google 14. Hewlett-Packard 15. IBM 16. Intel 17. JPMorgan Chase 18. Microsoft 19. Netflix 20. Oracle 21. PayPal 22. Salesforce 23. Samsung 24. Sony 25. Target 26. Twitter 27. Uber 28. Verizon 29. Visa 30. Volkswagen 31. Walmart 32. Yahoo
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. Tomcat and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.