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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
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (5th)
WebLogic Suite
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
9th
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 October 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 9.8%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WebLogic Suite is 3.2%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM WebSphere Application Server9.8%
WebLogic Suite3.2%
Other87.0%
Application Infrastructure
 

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.
Mari Pandian - PeerSpot reviewer
Coding flexibility with good integration but users need coding knowledge
We are an Oracle partner and work with many Oracle applications for integration purposes. WebLogic is used for integrating various Oracle applications and third-party services WebLogic allows us to do the coding as per the customer's requirements. It helps us meet their needs by integrating their…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 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."
"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."
"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 integration between IBM tools and applications is very well executed."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is the best in terms of scalability and performance, as well as the support for managing distributed transactions."
"The solution is very stable and robust."
"The most valuable features are its user-friendliness and reliability in terms of application hosting."
"The most valuable feature of WebLogic is it has excellent performance and stability compared to the previous solution we used."
"The transaction handling of WebLogic and the way it is designed is excellent."
"Robust solution; console and enterprise management tools are really easy to work."
"The most valuable feature is that it provides one place where you can control all of the services."
"The solution is very scalable. It's easy to add processes even if you are new to the solution."
"WebLogic adds a lot of value to business and investments."
"The product is reliable."
"WebLogic Suite provides a stable application server experience."
 

Cons

"What could be improved in IBM WebSphere Application Server is its interconnection with other products, for example, Kafka. What I'd like to see in the next release of the solution is a better graphical user interface."
"Some things are very difficult to do, so the interface and usage could be more intuitive for those."
"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."
"They should make the solution more lightweight and not bundle everything into a single product."
"Installing or configuring a WAS server instance as a Windows Service causes a lot of problems, especially when the server needs credentials to stop."
"The current trend is to move to Liberty because of the portability of its cloud and its Kubernetes, which containerize the application."
"In spite of the solution's robustness, it is expensive and a bit difficult to support."
"Sometimes, I feel WebSphere runs a bit slow. It might be loading unnecessary libraries, impacting its performance compared to other application servers."
"This solution would benefit from the inclusion of a ripple start function for clusters."
"Compared to Apache and Microsoft platform products, WebLogic Suite has implementation complexity."
"I think the support could be much better."
"The licensing for the solution is pretty expensive. It may be the most expensive solution, if you were to compare it to the competition."
"This solution doesn't have connectors to other external applications."
"The restart capability needs to be improved because it takes us 15 minutes to restart any application."
"Support could be better. The expertise when we have some Oracle WebLogic issues and challenges is not there. The issues are not being addressed in time. This really needs to be improved going forward."
"Sometimes there are issues when we work on a VM because people use it to put all of their reports on it at the same time. Then I have to restart and rebuild the machine."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost is 1,000 of euros for a 30-year table."
"WebSphere Application Server is expensive, so it may not be a good option for small companies."
"The pricing is a little expensive."
"IBM WAS base is part of the deal when you purchase IBM FileNet P8 Content Engine."
"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 is very expensive."
"The price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"When you purchase Maximo, you get WebSphere for free."
"Technical support is very costly."
"The product comes bundled with Oracle Premier Support."
"There is a license required for this solution and the price could be reduced."
"Scaling is costly."
"The cost of the WebLogic Suite license is a bit high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
34%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
7%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
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 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?
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 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: September 2025.
868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.