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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs WebLogic Suite comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 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 Infrastructure
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (5th)
WebLogic Suite
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 6.8%, down from 11.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WebLogic Suite is 3.2%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM WebSphere Application Server6.8%
WebLogic Suite3.2%
Other90.0%
Application Infrastructure
 

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.
TI
Department Unified Communication Head at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
platform provides reliable infrastructure for core systems while optimizing performance for enterprise needs
One of the most valuable features of WebLogic Suite is its integration with JMS services and queue services. We are planning to migrate to an API-based application structure. We use the JMS and queue mechanism, requiring optimization to handle performance challenges related to upscaling load, application load, and end-user demands. Continuous monitoring and evaluation are necessary to optimize MQs, JMS, and JVM elements related to WebLogic Suite.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution has good performance."
"It does integrate well with the Tivoli Federated Identity Management system."
"Starting with version 8, WAS provides a special folder called monitor deployment. Once you put the .war or .ear file in there, it is deployed automatically without human intervention. This greatly helps us in our continuous integration server. Once the deployment binary is ready, we write a script to copy it to that folder and then, voila! The application is up and running and accessible from its context root."
"The product offers good performance."
"It has good stability of the application server in the long term compared to other solutions."
"The most valuable features are its user-friendliness and reliability in terms of application hosting."
"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 solution is very scalable. It's easy to add processes even if you are new to the solution."
"The program is scalable."
"The most valuable feature is that it provides one place where you can control all of the services."
"I have seen benefits from the middleware capability of WebLogic Suite for creating cohesive IT ecosystems, and it's stable."
"WebLogic Suite functions well for enterprise organizations that can manage its costs and resource demands."
"It integrates well with other solutions."
"WebLogic adds a lot of value to business and investments."
"The product is reliable."
 

Cons

"They should make the solution more lightweight and not bundle everything into a single product."
"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."
"In spite of the solution's robustness, it is expensive and a bit difficult to support."
"The future of IBM WebSphere Application Server remains uncertain since it's based on Java 1.8 and Java 7."
"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)."
"WebSphere Application Server doesn't have an automated deployment option, forcing us to use third-party tools like Jenkins UCD and Palo Automated Deployment."
"Based on the field and based on the build that was provided, we've noticed a lot of constraints in terms of the performance now."
"The availability of the solution needs improvement."
"WebLogic requires a person with coding knowledge for easy configuration and quick integrations."
"This solution doesn't have connectors to other external applications."
"This solution would benefit from the inclusion of a ripple start function for clusters."
"The support is not good."
"The restart capability needs to be improved because it takes us 15 minutes to restart any application."
"The licensing for the solution is pretty expensive. It may be the most expensive solution, if you were to compare it to the competition."
"I rate the scalability of WebLogic Suite an eight out of ten."
"Compared to Apache and Microsoft platform products, WebLogic Suite has implementation complexity."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When you purchase Maximo, you get WebSphere for free."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"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."
"The pricing is a little expensive."
"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."
"The price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"The price of this product is higher than that of competitors."
"It is very expensive."
"Scaling is costly."
"The cost of the WebLogic Suite license is a bit high."
"Technical support is very costly."
"There is a license required for this solution and the price could be reduced."
"The product comes bundled with Oracle Premier Support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
33%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
 

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 Business12
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise24
 

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 do you like most about WebLogic Suite?
The solution is useful for centralizing data.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WebLogic Suite?
WebLogic Suite is high-priced, akin to a Lamborghini. Its affordability suits enterprise-level organizations with digital footprints requiring robust financial resources.
What needs improvement with WebLogic Suite?
One area for improvement in WebLogic Suite is the installation time. Otherwise, there are no other disadvantages, and they have good support from Oracle. The installation time can be an issue. It i...
 

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
State Revenue Office Victoria, Colab Consulting Pty. Ltd., Reliance Commercial Finance, Center for Railway Information Systems, Sascar, Banca Transilvania, UL, Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society, MCB Bank, Pacfico Seguros Generales
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. WebLogic Suite and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.