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JBoss 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

JBoss
Ranking in Application Server
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Tomcat
Ranking in Application Server
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of JBoss is 17.7%, up from 17.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tomcat is 19.9%, down from 20.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server
 

Featured Reviews

Srinadh  Puli - PeerSpot reviewer
Automation aids installation while management consolidation needs improvement
We are currently using Ansible for Jira installations and all the management tasks. We perform some tasks manually, however, Ansible helps in automating some of these processes I find JBoss to be lightweight and easier to manage compared to WebSphere. It allows for simple modification of…
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

"The greatest benefit of JBoss is that it was procured by IBM, thereby offering exceptional support for our banking operations."
"JBoss is more flexible and keeps up with modern technologies, supporting newer versions of different libraries."
"The solution is easy to use."
"The stability is great."
"We use JBoss mainly for application deployments and application servers."
"JBoss is more flexible and keeps up with modern technologies, supporting newer versions of different libraries."
"The high availability is great."
"JBoss has made it very easy to implement web applications."
"The product's initial setup phase was simple."
"It is easy to set up."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it supports Java Enterprise."
"Tomcat is reliable and secure, which makes it valuable for our application deployment."
"The deployment process is very fast."
"The most valuable feature is how simple it is to deploy the solution."
"Web apps are very easy to deploy."
"I would rate the pricing a ten out of ten, where one is high price and ten is low price. The pricing is pretty low."
 

Cons

"Scalability is a concern because it is not online, which limits online processes. This aspect can be improved."
"The solution could improve by providing more integration."
"The login process could be improved."
"It would be great if the product came with a feature where the remarks made on the board can be saved on an individual's laptop to make it more user-friendly."
"The solution sometimes crashed and had some compatibility issues with the DevOps JAR file."
"The price of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required. The product could be made cheaper."
"It can have automation features. Everybody is focused right now on automation. In terms of saving cost, automation is always the first thing that comes to light."
"The product could be cheaper."
"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."
"Deployment in Tomcat should be done through a GUI. We deploy applications from the backend using commands."
"If Apache can come up with a better solution to provide better security, that would be ideal."
"Tomcat's stability could be improved, especially when handling more memory-intensive, large-scale applications."
"Tomcat is used mainly for database connections. As of now, we configure that environment for any database configuration. But if any utility can integrate where we can pass the database connection as a string of details, then it should encrypt them and keep them inside. From that security perspective, Tomcat requires improvement. They should integrate this security feature."
"Tomcat needs to improve its stability."
"Security integration in Tomcat is complicated. We need to use another tool to solve the security issues."
"The setup is complex and could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Since the solution is freeware, our customers don't need to pay any licensing fees."
"We pay for a maintenance license, but it is not expensive."
"The pricing of JBoss is more reasonable than that of WebLogic."
"Despite the price increase after being acquired by IBM, JBoss still maintains its competitiveness. The package provided is more geared towards cloud-based deployments, whereas our setup is more traditional, which makes it slightly more expensive for us. As most vendors are transitioning towards cloud-centric solutions, companies like ours need to adapt accordingly."
"It is an open-source solution."
"I rate the product price as eight on a scale, where one means it is a very cheap solution, and ten points mean that it is a very expensive tool."
"The solution is cost-efficient compared to other products. Pricing is rated an eight out of ten."
"There is no licensing cost. The solution is free to use."
"It is an open-source tool and is free of cost."
"The solution is open source so is free."
"Tomcat's pricing is very cheap."
"Tomcat is open-source and free to use."
"This is an open-source product and it's free to use."
"The price of the solution is good."
"It is an expensive product."
"We are using the open-source version."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
25%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
47%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
6%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about JBoss?
The product's initial setup phase is easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for JBoss?
JBoss is the cheaper option out of the three when compared to WebSphere and WebLogic. Though I haven't done a detailed price comparison, the licensing fee is cheaper, and due to its flexibility, th...
What needs improvement with JBoss?
They are trying to make it less heavyweight since app servers often deliver a lot of functionality. Still, if we aren't leveraging them, they can be too much for certain use cases. Making it lighte...
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?
Resource configuration like JNDI and queue configuration, similar to other servers, should be provided from the admin console for Tomcat. Currently, it is done manually. The server config file must...
What is your primary use case for Tomcat?
I am using the solution at running level three. It is for running web applications.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Tata Sky, Nissan, Swedish Board of Agriculture, Novamedia, American Product Distributors, Advanced Micro Devices, Emirates Group, E*TRADE
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 JBoss vs. Tomcat and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.