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Azul Zing vs IBM WebSphere Application Server 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

Azul Zing
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
16th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.2
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
AI Customer Experience Personalization (34th)
IBM WebSphere Application S...
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Azul Zing is 2.8%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 4.8%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM WebSphere Application Server4.8%
Azul Zing2.8%
Other92.4%
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

it_user500349 - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
It has helped us improve our latency performance drastically
As a large scale high performance trading platform serving the high frequency trading community, latency has always been critical for our clients. Before using Azul Zing JVM, we would have had to spend a lot of effort tuning our JVM GC and profiling our application to minimize latency, which is…
CF
Senior Manager, MW & DB Automation at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Has worked seamlessly in complex clustered environments and supports long-term development efforts
IBM WebSphere Application Server is currently at version 9.0.5.23. In recent months, they released fix 23, as they periodically release fixes. Previously, they frequently increased versions, but now they maintain 9.0.5 with different releases. It's based on Java J2EE 7 and Java SDK 1.8. Oracle announced that 2030 will be the last year when Java SDK 1.8 will be supported. Oracle currently deploys Java 2.x in parallel, with the latest being version 25. The future of IBM WebSphere Application Server remains uncertain since it's based on Java 1.8 and Java 7. I haven't found any white papers or official documentation from IBM outlining their trajectory post-2030.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Performance of the JVM, especially the C4 Pauseless Garbage Collection, for continuous application execution is the most valuable feature."
"With Zing, we've now been able to re-allocate those tuning resources to general product development."
"With minimal effort, Zing has helped us improve our latency performance dramatically."
"GC Pause times are maintained in low milliseconds, which is beneficial for applications with high volume, high memory allocation rate, and a high memory footprint, and it also increases throughput by approximately 20-25% as compared to Oracle Java Development Kit based on some tests that I have done with real applications."
"With minimal effort, Zing has helped us improve our latency performance drastically."
"The non-stop garbage collector (C4 - Continuously Concurrent Compacting Collector) is the most valuable feature."
"Zing has completely solved the garbage collection problem for us."
"No other JVM on the market even comes close to competing with the Azul Zing."
"The performance is good."
"As compared to other applications, it has tremendous support. We have built internal capability so that we use it extensively internally. It is also easier to use with the outside data. You can write in ESQL, Java, or any other technology that you want to use for development. So, it is a lot more flexible in the language that it supports."
"One of the most valuable features might be the stability of the IBM WebSphere Application Server."
"The solution is robust, and the connection management and the scalability which IBM provides to the stack are also valuable."
"This solution is very good in terms of stability."
"Network Deployment is the most useful feature for scalability. It has many features within the standard WebSphere Application Server edition."
"The thing about WebSphere, as opposed to other ones that I am aware of such as JBoss and Liberty, is that WebSphere has the most comprehensive scaffolding available to it."
"The solution's data consistency is great and very reliable, which is critical for us in a transitional scenario and the most important feature that we count on."
 

Cons

"Although Azul claims to have a fast warmup, we still experience higher latency for the first trade when our system starts up on Sundays."
"It is extremely expensive."
"The profiling tools included with Zing lag behind those available for Oracle's Java implementation."
"We have encounter stability issues and that has been a source of frustration at times."
"However, like every other great product, there is always something that can be improved."
"The licensing over non-production environments considerably affects the cost of our solution as a software vendor."
"Although Azul claims to have a fast warmup, we still experience higher latency for the first trade when our system starts up on Sundays."
"Installing or configuring a WAS server instance as a Windows Service causes a lot of problems, especially when the server needs credentials to stop."
"The availability of the solution needs improvement. The product should be more enhanced and responsive."
"IBM needs to pay attention to market changes more quickly. We now have Java 9 and very soon Java EE8. We do not want to wait for two or three years after their release until they are supported by the new version."
"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."
"Based on the field and based on the build that was provided, we've noticed a lot of constraints in terms of the performance now."
"Initial setup is very simple. Just use the IBM Installation Manager and add the packages. The install wizard takes care of the rest. The only thing that can be difficult is to find the right packages on the IBM website, because of all the changes that IBM does on its website(s)."
"The installation has room for improvement."
"The installation is not straightforward and it can take three days."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The pricing is a little expensive."
"IBM WAS base is part of the deal when you purchase IBM FileNet P8 Content Engine."
"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."
"When you purchase Maximo, you get WebSphere for free."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"WebSphere Application Server is expensive, so it may not be a good option for small companies."
"The price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"There is an Eclipse Plugin provided by IBM, so no need to buy IBM Rational Application Developer or Rational Software Architect tools."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
24%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Construction Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
29%
Computer Software Company
7%
Construction Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM WebSphere Application Server?
At Royal Bank, which is a major IBM customer with mainframes and numerous IBM products, they have a specific agreement regarding pricing. The pricing structure for large enterprise customers differ...
What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Application Server?
IBM WebSphere Application Server is currently at version 9.0.5.23. In recent months, they released fix 23, as they periodically release fixes. Previously, they frequently increased versions, but no...
What is your primary use case for IBM WebSphere Application Server?
I was part of an application where I integrated IBM WebSphere Application Server with Node.js and Blue Prism. I did a lot of REST applications because at my core, I'm a developer. Currently, I'm an...
 

Also Known As

No data available
WebSphere Application Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Priceline, RBS, Credit Suisse, ING, Creditex, Nielsen, Workday, Saks Fifth Avenue, Entergy, Quotix, Puma and many more.  Visit azul.com for more.
TalkTalk, Property management group, E.SUN Bank, Ohio National Financial Services, Aviarc, Cincom Systems, FJA-US, D+H, Staples, Michigan Municipal League
Find out what your peers are saying about Azul Zing vs. IBM WebSphere Application Server and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.