IBM WebSphere Application Server vs IIS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM WebSphere Application S...
Ranking in Application Server
5th
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IIS
Ranking in Application Server
4th
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Market share comparison

As of June 2024, in the Application Server category, the market share of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 12.3% and it increased by 20.1% compared to the previous year. The market share of IIS is 7.2% and it decreased by 5.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server
Unique Categories:
Application Infrastructure
12.5%
 

Featured Reviews

SakthivelVeeramuthu - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 11, 2024
Integration capabilities are good, and handles connectivity between applications and databases
Network Deployment is the most useful feature for scalability. It has many features within the standard WebSphere Application Server edition. WebSphere's security meets our application's needs. For security, we can integrate WebSphere with LDAP. Additionally, we can configure SSO certificates or third-party certificates for secure communication between our application and even the database. We can use SSL certificates to secure both frontend and backend connections. Combined with LDAP and SSL certificates, the security features are excellent. Integration capabilities are good. That's a key strength of WebSphere. It integrates easily with various other software vendors, which is why many companies use it.
SS
Apr 3, 2023
Good port and page mapping and good integration with firewalls
We are using .net website on this solution. It's great for our website hosting. All custom web pages and websites we develop are on it.  For all of our custom pages, websites, and web applications, we use this.  It's very handy to restart the back pages and restart the website engine.  It's very…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of this solution is Portal Virtualization."
"WebSphere Application Server's best features include the data subscription and connection viewer."
"It has good stability of the application server in the long term compared to other solutions."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is easy to use."
"This solution is easy to use with a GUI that is intuitive and very helpful."
"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."
"IBM WAS is extremely scalable. It is easy to add additional servers and to divide the load over servers in all kinds of ways."
"Network Deployment is the most useful feature for scalability. It has many features within the standard WebSphere Application Server edition."
"The solution is simple and very easy to manage compared to Linux."
"The solution is easy to use."
"The product is flexible."
"The graphical user interface makes it easy for users to configure the sites."
"The solution is easy to use and connects with Microsoft."
"It is a scalable solution."
"It is an easy-to-use and secure program."
"We use Windows Server only for Eggplant Manager."
 

Cons

"I think that this is a good product but I think that the cloud environment could be improved. I think that the future is in the utilization of the product in a product as a service way which is something that is lacking at this moment."
"The main issue we faced was its limited compatibility with non-Java technologies, which can result in difficulty detecting potential bugs and requiring additional integration efforts."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server hasn't changed much. It's still a heavyweight for any company compared to what you get. Unless your code base is deeply linked with it, I don't think it's a great idea to go with this solution. The current trend is toward modularity and containerization, and given the product's requirements, containerization will be difficult. There is a memory requirement as well."
"In the next release of this solution, I would like to see support for the Arabic language."
"When compared with WebLogic, Weblogic is lighter and consumes less memory."
"The solution could improve the integration."
"They should make the solution more lightweight and not bundle everything into a single product."
"The solution consumes hardware."
"The solution's scalability needs improvement."
"There is an issue with the network. The tool's price is also high."
"The solution must improve the integration between its databases."
"In the next release, the tool should be more easily integrated and configured with other provisions. The pricing should also be made cheaper since it's very expensive now."
"Performance-wise, certain improvements in IIS are needed...IIS is not scalable. Its scalability is less."
"The solution's black box is not fast."
"The solution is slow and could have better performance."
"The product could be more compatible with Linux and macOS, particularly when applying user configuration policies."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"The pricing is a little expensive."
"I don't remember the price, but there are no additional costs."
"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 price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"We pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution."
"The price of Windows Server IIS is expensive. They have a large user base, and they charge a little bit too much."
"There is an annual license to use this solution and the price could be better."
"It is licensed with your Windows installation which makes it relatively cheap if you already have a Windows Server sitting around."
"There is no license needed to use the solution."
"I didn't need to get an additional license for the solution since it was included in my server."
"The licensing cost is dependent on the usage."
"The tool's pricing is on a yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
30%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

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?
It's expensive. I'd rate the pricing nine out of ten, with one being inexpensive and ten being expensive.
What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Application Server?
While WebSphere mostly supports IBM HTTP Server (IHS) as the web server plugin, I think it would be beneficial if it also supported Apache and NGINX web servers. That would give customers more flex...
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?
The product is cost-effective. We do not have to buy it. The tool is included with Windows. We license the Windows environment on a monthly basis. It is expensive. Sometimes, it is cheaper to run L...
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server
Windows Server IIS
 

Learn More

 

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
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 Application Server vs. IIS and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
787,226 professionals have used our research since 2012.