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IBM Open Liberty vs Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 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

IBM Open Liberty
Ranking in Application Server
8th
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
2.8
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Ap...
Ranking in Application Server
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IBM Open Liberty is 3.8%. The mindshare of Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) is 14.1%, down from 18.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP)14.1%
IBM Open Liberty3.8%
Other82.1%
Application Server
 

Featured Reviews

FABIO LUIS VELLOSO DA SILVA - PeerSpot reviewer
Partner at SouJava
Has enabled flexible deployment of modular services with high availability and smooth dynamic updates
The best features of IBM Open Liberty are the implementation of MicroProfile and Jakarta EE, along with fault tolerance and high availability. It's easy to use and deploy new features. The profile is easy to configure and set up features. For example, using fault tolerance from MicroProfile or using servlets or JAX-RS allows for easy configuration and creation of modular applications. The configuration is modular. The main point for us in this project was high availability, high performance, and the implementation of MicroProfile and Jakarta EE. We utilized the modular architecture of IBM Open Liberty by creating different microservices using different environments. We created different configurations for different services using the configuration of IBM Open Liberty. This was very beneficial. We created different environments only by changing the configuration, depending on the functionality we needed. It was good and very flexible for us. I used the dynamic updates feature of IBM Open Liberty and different configurations in different services and servers, based on the functionality we provided for our clients. The flexibility to create different services in different environments using IBM Open Liberty was important. The high availability is guaranteed by the architecture of IBM Open Liberty, Java, and MicroProfile. The architecture guaranteed high availability, and the flexibility comes from being able to configure needed features. There's no need to load all WebSphere or functionalities in all environments. I can configure it and create a more highly available and scalable process. I implemented monitoring tools for IBM Open Liberty using Grafana and OpenTracing using the functionalities from MicroProfile and IBM Open Liberty. The monitoring tools helped with managing system performance.
reviewer2788512 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Rapid deployments have streamlined containerized web apps but support response still needs improvement
The best features Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) offers are its integration into AWS services, which is very helpful in containerization and application of Kubernetes specifically, and its user interface is very easy to use; we can deploy WAR files within stipulated time and also schedule deployments at a particular time, and it is easy to run the pipelines and integrate it with Jenkins. The most valuable feature for my team is containerization and Jenkins integration because Jenkins integration helps us eradicate code smells and build pipeline reports, and it also supports continuous CI/CD pipelining, while this orchestration aids in a microservice architecture where we will be using different types for it. Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) has positively impacted my organization by helping in quickly making web Spring Boot applications and Java-based applications, and it is very easy to adapt and learn, plus it is open source with nominal and affordable subscription plans.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The flexibility to create different services in different environments using IBM Open Liberty was important."
"It is a stable solution compared to other vendors."
"The solution is easy to use."
"The product's initial setup phase is easy."
"The most valuable feature is the UI."
"The solution's support is very good for repairing components."
"It is a very cost-effective, efficient way of deploying and managing Java applications."
"The solution has flexibility and stability."
"We’ve seen a marked reduction in downtime and a major boost in system stability, resulting in fewer outages, and one of the biggest wins has been the cost savings especially compared to Oracle WebLogic thanks to JBoss’s more affordable licensing model."
"The product integrates well with Java applications."
 

Cons

"To improve IBM Open Liberty, more integration with Kafka and message systems, and asynchronous messaging would be beneficial."
"Its support documentation could have detailed information on database integration."
"The solution's pricing could be improved because it is not cheap."
"The solution sometimes crashed and had some compatibility issues with the DevOps JAR file."
"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 tool's documentation could be improved to explain its usage and functionalities clearly. Having accessible documentation would save time for leaders like me when juniors seek information about it. The documentation should be self-explanatory and guide users on how to utilize the tool."
"The price could be improved. Customers don't want to buy the license easily."
"The stability of the solution could improve with Microsoft Windows."
"The price of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required. The product could be made cheaper."
"The login process could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is less costly than one of its competitors."
"JBoss is an expensive solution."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"Since the solution is freeware, our customers don't need to pay any licensing fees."
"It is an open-source solution."
"We pay for a maintenance license, but it is not expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
50%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise20
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Open Liberty?
To improve IBM Open Liberty, more integration with Kafka and message systems, and asynchronous messaging would be beneficial. Having more integration with Kafka, Mongo, and middleware systems that ...
What is your primary use case for Open Liberty?
I used IBM Open Liberty for an application for financial services using IBM Open Liberty and MicroProfile to process data for financial services work.
What advice do you have for others considering Open Liberty?
I used IBM Open Liberty in the past in a project, but today I'm not using it anymore. I had a good experience working with it in a financial services company. This was very beneficial. My review ra...
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?
The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was nominal, and with the right guidance, it could have saved a few more bucks. We can say that if we are charging around 0.75 cents per hour ...
What needs improvement with JBoss?
I think documentation may need improvement for Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP). Additionally, the support feature can be improved.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Tata Sky, Nissan, Swedish Board of Agriculture, Novamedia, American Product Distributors, Advanced Micro Devices, Emirates Group, E*TRADE
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Open Liberty vs. Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
880,745 professionals have used our research since 2012.