Oracle GlassFish vs Tomcat comparison

Oracle and Apache are both solutions in the Application Server category. Oracle is ranked #10, while Apache is ranked #1 with an average rating of 9.0. Oracle holds a 3.9% mindshare in AppS, compared to Apache’s 12.9% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Apache users are willing to recommend the solution.

Oracle GlassFish

Read 1 Oracle GlassFish review

485 Views
485 Comparison Views

0% willing to recommend

Tomcat

Read 53 Tomcat reviews

2,755 Views
2,755 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Oracle GlassFish

Tomcat

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Oracle GlassFish and Tomcat based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Apache, Red Hat, Oracle and others in Application Server.

To learn more, read our detailed Application Server Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Application Server

March 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 884,873 peers since 2012

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

Oracle GlassFish

Ranking in Application Server

10th

Average Rating

6.0

Number of Reviews

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

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of Oracle GlassFish is 3.9%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tomcat is 12.9%, down from 19.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Server Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Tomcat	12.9%
Oracle GlassFish	3.9%
Other	83.2%

Application Server

Featured Reviews

it_user517413

Technical Lead Developer

Offers EE Support. I would like to see integration with MQ systems.

The products offers EE support. It offers ease of use. I would like to see integration with MQ systems.

Read full review

Sanjay Sahu

Project Manager at Capgemini

Customization and flexibility enhance web applications while support effectively resolves queries

Regarding improvements in Tomcat, I personally haven't used it very extensively, but all Apache products are very useful for our web applications. Although the web server setup is a little different, it has everything we have been using, and as of now, everything is good with no deficiencies that need improvement. I think that Tomcat needs a more robust logging error details feature; the current logging feature is available, but it should be more user-friendly. This improvement would make error handling more user-friendly.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The products offers EE support."

"The product offers EE support."

"Tomcat's best feature is the open source server. It's a flexible and lightweight solution."

"The solution is convenient. It is a comfortable and easy-to-use solution for my use cases."

"Our company doesn't face any stability issues while using Tomcat."

"We can use Apache Tomcat for Java server applications."

"Tomcat brings the biggest benefit through its simplicity; it is not just simple in terms of interface, it is simple for managing or very quickly running this server."

"Tomcat is a lightweight application server, which makes it easy to deploy and install small applications."

"The ease of use of Tomcat is its most valuable feature. Once we grade particular software, we simply download it and we keep an eye on if Tomcat is working."

"The product is easy to use."

More Tomcat pros

Cons

"I would like to see integration with MQ systems."

"Sometimes we face issues with the private and public networks and ensuring that once Tomcat is installed, that it is secure."

"The interface is not user-friendly."

"Tomcat is a polished product that has been around for a long time. It should be simple and high-performing, with the ability to grow and maintain stability. The fewer features it has, the more stable it will be."

"Resource configuration like JNDI and queue configuration, similar to other servers, should be provided from the admin console for Tomcat."

"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."

"I would personally like it if the admin console would show more information specifically about memory being used."

"It will be useful if a direct report concerning a particular server configuration or application usage is readily available in the dashboard."

"Tomcat's stability could be improved, especially when handling more memory-intensive, large-scale applications."

More Tomcat cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"It is an expensive product."

"Tomcat is open-source and free to use."

"The solution is free."

"It is an open-source tool and is free of cost."

"The price of the solution is good."

"If it is a community version of the solution, no payment is required. However, if it is a Linux version, we must buy the solution from JBoss."

"It's open-source. We don't pay for the license."

"Tomcat is not costlier than other solutions."

More Tomcat pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Server solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

21%

Government

13%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	23
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	28

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

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...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Tomcat?

Tomcat lacks a visual tool for configuring. Everything is from the command line. I would like a visual tool for configuration to be added to Tomcat, as I see this feature missing.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Tomcat?

I work with Tomcat as a programmer, but not as an administrator. My major use case involves using Tomcat, mostly enclosed in any Java image for a Java application for REST API. I do not work with t...

See all answers

Comparisons

Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) vs Oracle GlassFish

Compared 25% of the time

Oracle WebLogic Server vs Oracle GlassFish

Compared 17% of the time

IIS vs Oracle GlassFish

Compared 13% of the time

IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Oracle GlassFish

Compared 12% of the time

IBM Open Liberty vs Oracle GlassFish

Compared 7% of the time

More Oracle GlassFish Competitors

Oracle WebLogic Server vs Tomcat

Compared 16% of the time

Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) vs Tomcat

Compared 14% of the time

IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Tomcat

Compared 13% of the time

IIS vs Tomcat

Compared 9% of the time

Fujitsu Interstage Application Server vs Tomcat

Compared 5% of the time

More Tomcat Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Server

March 2026

Download Oracle GlassFish product report

Buyer's Guide

Tomcat

February 2026

Download Tomcat product report

Also Known As

GlassFish

No data available

Overview

Oracle GlassFish Server is a robust open source platform that offers exhaustive and accessible documentation, intuitive administration and configuration features, interoperability with Microsoft Windows, feature-rich integration with NetBeans and Eclipse, and alignment with Oracle Solaris, OpenSolaris, and MySQL.

Oracle

Tomcat is a reliable and efficient web server, popular for hosting and running Java-based applications. It is praised for its scalability, compatibility with different operating systems and development frameworks, and its ability to handle heavy workloads.

Users appreciate Tomcat's ease of use, robust performance, reliable server functionality, seamless integration with various platforms, extensive documentation, and strong community support.

Apache

Sample Customers

TravelMuse, Clarity Accounting

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 Apache, Red Hat, Oracle and others in Application Server. Updated: March 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our list of best Application Server vendors.

We monitor all Application Server reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.