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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
5th
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
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 12.0%, up from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WebLogic Suite is 3.4%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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

"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."
"The integration between IBM tools and applications is very well executed, and the support from IBM is quite good, providing a solid support structure."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is easy to use."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is one of the best servers due to its stability and paid license."
"The most valuable features are its user-friendliness and reliability in terms of application hosting."
"The integration between IBM tools and applications is very well executed."
"The solution is very stable and robust."
"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."
"WebLogic Suite provides a stable application server experience."
"The transaction handling of WebLogic and the way it is designed is excellent."
"A valuable feature is its integration with Oracle Database."
"The product is reliable."
"The feature that I have found to be the most valuable is the ease of deployment."
"What I've been seeing as the most valuable characteristics of WebLogic Suite include robustness and scalability. It's a really good solution, and I'm not saying this because my company is a partner of WebLogic Suite. I also like that with the newer versions of the solution, you can deploy WebLogic Suite faster. Oracle also provides excellent technical support."
"Robust solution; console and enterprise management tools are really easy to work."
"The solution is useful for centralizing data."
 

Cons

"The solution consumes hardware."
"Sometimes, I feel WebSphere runs a bit slow. It might be loading unnecessary libraries, impacting its performance compared to other application servers."
"The installation has room for improvement."
"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 security could be better."
"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."
"WebSphere is very cumbersome and not user-friendly."
"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."
"WebLogic requires a person with coding knowledge for easy configuration and quick integrations."
"The content search is not easy."
"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."
"This solution doesn't have connectors to other external applications."
"I would like to see the licensing policy simplified."
"This solution would benefit from the inclusion of a ripple start function for clusters."
"The support is not good."
"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

"WebSphere Application Server is expensive, so it may not be a good option for small companies."
"It's expensive."
"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."
"The price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"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 licensing policy is based on the PVU base."
"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."
"We pay around $200,000 annually."
"The product comes bundled with Oracle Premier Support."
"Scaling is costly."
"Technical support is very costly."
"The cost of the WebLogic Suite license is a bit high."
"There is a license required for this solution and the price could be reduced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
31%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

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 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?
We have an enterprise license, and the pricing is stable. The license does not apply to the current solution.
What needs improvement with WebLogic Suite?
There is no need for improvement with WebLogic Suite, although its coherence is a bit more complicated.
 

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: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.