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IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs IIS 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 Message Broker
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (8th)
IIS
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Message Broker is 1.9%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IIS is 11.1%, down from 12.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

BrajendraKumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers large-sized business information processing with a time-saving setup and impressive stability
I primarily use two previews of the product for Dev and two for QA as part of the production process. Whatever tools our company is using, the cost of a license in IBM WebSphere Message Broker is about 80% of all these software or tools. The message routing capabilities satisfy workflow efficiency. The product supports message formats of XML, JSON, and SSID, which are around 24 KB to 50 KB in size. The solution supports communication protocols like STTP and TCP. Features like DataGraph need to be introduced in IBM WebSphere Message Broker. Some of the clients of our organization are using an outdated version of IBM WebSphere Message Broker for which the vendor doesn't provide direct support anymore. For the aforementioned version, our company professionals can solve the queries on their own without seeking support from IBM. During the installation of a prior version of IBM WebSphere Message Broker, sometimes I have to configure the failovers through the cluster, where issues arise, and I often seek help from the support team. The solution is being used by some medicine companies in our organization that receive sales orders from the EDR or JDE. I would not recommend the product to others as its becoming obsolete and they can rather choose a middleware solution from Amazon or Azure. But I would overall rate the product a nine out of ten.
VikramSingh6 - PeerSpot reviewer
A simple and easy-to-use solution but not recommended for public apps
I would rate the overall solution a six out of ten. We have around five to six developers and engineers for the solution’s deployment and maintenance. You can use the solution if your website is not too big or complicated. However, if it is big and complicated, then you need to use Apache or Red Hat. This tool can be used for internal purposes. But if you plan to host a public app, then I wouldn’t recommend the tool.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's reliable for our day-to-day operations, ensuring fast and secure data integration across different systems."
"It has many interfaces and you can connect to any backend source that has another format, and convert it to the desired format."
"Straightforward development and deployment."
"It is a scalable solution...The setup is easy."
"The documentation, performance, stability and scalability of the tool are valuable."
"IBM WebSphere Message Broker is one of the best middleware solutions"
"Integration and mapping are easy, which is a major advantage."
"The solution has good integration."
"IIS is easy to configure in terms of websites and other solutions."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is easy to use and easy to understand."
"The most valuable feature of IIS is that it's free, and it works."
"It's good and offers good usability."
"IIS works natively with Windows Server without any issues in publishing certificates."
"The solution is easy to use and connects with Microsoft."
"The solution is highly reliable."
"The product is scalable."
 

Cons

"The user interface is designed mainly for experts, much in the way a BPM or another integration tool is."
"Stability and pricing are areas with shortcomings that need improvement."
"The product's features are not being upgraded or enhanced by the vendor"
"Technical support is good but they could have a better response time."
"The images and size of the containers are too big and I think that they should be more lightweight."
"Technical support is very slow and needs to be improved."
"The solution can add container engines such as docker."
"There is some lag in the GUI. There have been some performance issues and maybe it's because of the application data."
"This solution needs to be easier for cases where you want to have an IIS cluster."
"The documentation isn't very good and the options are very complex."
"Scalability issues and security concerns need attention from Microsoft."
"Performance-wise, certain improvements in IIS are needed...IIS is not scalable. Its scalability is less."
"The only issue I've encountered is with certificates not working fine sometimes. It's influenced by the server's service performance."
"The tool needs to improve its performance."
"The price of the solution could be less to improve."
"We've never had any issues with the solution, but it's still nice to have overall improvements on it. It could be easier and faster to use, for example."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM software can be costly, but having a contract has helped manage and potentially lower costs over time."
"The licensing cost of IBM WebSphere Message Broker needs to be reduced"
"The solution is expensive."
"This product is more expensive than competing products."
"The price is very high and it's the main reason that we are searching for alternatives."
"The solution is expensive."
"I feel with IBM, when you want certain functions or features, you have to continuously purchase add-ons. There are always additional fees."
"IBM products are generally more stable and have more features, but also come at a greater cost."
"They offer a one-time payment model for the product license, and we pay annually for support."
"The price of Windows Server IIS is expensive. They have a large user base, and they charge a little bit too much."
"It is licensed with your Windows installation which makes it relatively cheap if you already have a Windows Server sitting around."
"The cost for IIS is already included in Windows services. We don't have to pay anything extra."
"I didn't need to get an additional license for the solution since it was included in my server."
"The product's price is not high."
"The solution provides multiple licensing options."
"The licensing cost is dependent on the usage."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM WebSphere Message Broker?
IBM software can be costly, but having a contract has helped manage and potentially lower costs over time.
What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Message Broker?
There could be greater flexibility and agility in service creation for the product. As our business requirements evolve, we require more dynamic capabilities to adapt and scale our services accordi...
What is your primary use case for IBM WebSphere Message Broker?
We use the product for exposing services at the application level, integrating with various architectures like WebSphere, and handling static service creation.
Which is better - IIS or NGINX Plus?
IIS is a flexible, secure, and manageable web server to host anything on the web. IIS’s scalable and open architecture can handle the most demanding tasks. From media streaming to web applications,...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IIS?
If you have a Windows license, there is no additional cost for IIS. However, you may need to pay for SSL publishing at times.
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Message Broker
Windows Server IIS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

WestJet, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Sharp Corporation, Michelin Tire
Erste Bank Group, NJVC, Samsung Electronics, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Tata Steel Europe, Urban Software Institute
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. IIS and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.