IBM WebSphere Application Server vs IIS comparison

IBM and Microsoft are both solutions in the Application Server category. IBM is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.6, while Microsoft is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.6. IBM holds a 11.1% mindshare in AppS, compared to Microsoft’s 5.9% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

IBM WebSphere Application S...

Read 31 IBM WebSphere Application Server reviews

3,724 Views
2,048 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

IIS

Read 59 IIS reviews

3,167 Views
1,203 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

IBM WebSphere Application S...

IIS

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

IBM WebSphere Application Server and IIS are both in the enterprise application server sector. IIS seems to have the upper hand due to its cost-effectiveness and tight integration with Microsoft environments, while IBM WebSphere offers a comprehensive feature set appealing to complex enterprise needs.

Features: IBM WebSphere stands out for its robust scalability, Java application support, and extensive middleware integration. It offers solid data consistency, exceptional scalability with Network Deployment, and robust security features. On the other hand, IIS excels with seamless integration into Microsoft's ecosystem, efficient handling of web applications in .NET, and easy configuration with development tools.

Room for Improvement: IBM WebSphere could enhance user accessibility for deployment processes, reduce complexity in initial setup, and improve efficiency for non-Java applications. IIS can improve by offering enhanced support for non-Microsoft environments, better handling of high-volume transactions, and more advanced analytics features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IIS is recognized for its straightforward deployment within Windows environments, benefiting from consistent updates and comprehensive documentation. IBM WebSphere, despite offering powerful features, faces challenges in deployment due to its complex configuration, necessitating specialized knowledge, but it provides dedicated support to address these complexities.

Pricing and ROI: IIS is more cost-attractive with lower licensing fees, yielding favorable ROI especially for businesses entrenched within Microsoft infrastructure. Conversely, IBM WebSphere presents strong long-term ROI for organizations requiring robust, high-volume transaction processing, albeit with higher initial setup costs.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. IIS Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. IIS

September 2025

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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 WebSphere Application S...

Ranking in Application Server

4th

Ranking in Application Infrastructure

3rd

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IIS

Ranking in Application Server

5th

Ranking in Application Infrastructure

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 11.1%, down from 11.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IIS is 5.9%, down from 7.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Server Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM WebSphere Application Server	11.1%
IIS	5.9%
Other	83.0%

Application Server

Featured Reviews

BharathirajaSukumar

Senior Lead Analyst at Radial

Efficient load balancing and the clustering, achieved by using the deployment manager, is valuable

I believe that the system is already good. However, for improvement or enhancement, it is user-friendly, but it could offer better choices on the front end for different aspects or options. Sometimes, I have to search extensively for features, as there are no upfront tabs. There is a lack of visible, easy, user-friendly, and straightforward options for the number of features.

Read full review

Krishnakumar Natarajan

Systems Engineer at Atos

Designs and manages multiple websites while ensuring data backup and disaster recovery

I have experience with AWS, and I am most familiar with the server environment, as we just use the server environment and then use Microsoft products on an AWS environment. I have experience with Windows Server IIS, which I ran on my own on-premise data center. The website was developed and then hosted, and through IIS, we managed the servers. The manageability within the IIS environment is not very difficult. For server management, you need to ensure data backup, data restore, and you have a DR configured to keep the database intact. It was done on-premises, so I had no problem doing that. If you have to go to the cloud, then you should have the storage connected to the IIS server and also have a DR set up for that. I didn't use Microsoft Azure tools, but since it is a Microsoft product, Azure has all the portability, so you don't have to worry about compatibility on the cloud. On a scale of 1-10, I would rate this solution a 10.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution is easy to use with a GUI that is intuitive and very helpful."

"IBM WebSphere Application Server is the best in terms of scalability and performance, as well as the support for managing distributed transactions."

"The performance is good."

"The solution is robust. The connection management and the scalability, which IBM provides to the Stack, are also valuable."

"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."

"Security: It is compatible with the latest Java 8 security features, supports FIPS 140-2 and NIST SP 800-53 with strong ciphers and cryptography keys, and supports TLS 1.2 completely. Also, configuring client and server certificates is relatively easy."

"The most valuable features are its user-friendliness and reliability in terms of application hosting."

"The solution has good performance."

More IBM WebSphere Application Server pros

"IIS's most valuable feature is user-friendliness."

"It is a scalable solution."

"This is definitely a stable solution."

"It helps scan and mitigates our vulnerabilities using the best protocols to secure our environment."

"The product's most valuable features are performance and security."

"IIS's best features are its management console and stability."

"The product is stable."

"The product is flexible."

More IIS pros

Cons

"When compared with WebLogic, Weblogic is lighter and consumes less memory."

"I think in some moments, the security was a little bit more complex to configure when it was delegated to other systems, making it an area where improvements are required."

"In spite of the solution's robustness, it is expensive and a bit difficult to support."

"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 solution consumes hardware."

"The current trend is to move to Liberty because of the portability of its cloud and its Kubernetes, which containerize the application."

"The licensing could be improved, and I would like it to give the longevity of the lifespan of the visions. In the next release, I would like to be able to download and extract the files so that I can just use my application server."

"Sometimes, I feel WebSphere runs a bit slow. It might be loading unnecessary libraries, impacting its performance compared to other application servers."

More IBM WebSphere Application Server cons

"There is an issue with the network. The tool's price is also high."

"IIS's memory management could be improved."

"The solution's black box is not fast."

"The price of the solution could be less to improve."

"It should be more user-friendly because unless you know how IIS works as a Microsoft product, a system admin cannot just manage it."

"In the next release, I would like to see better integration between the cloud environment and the on-premises environment."

"The solution's pricing and stability need improvement."

"Finding different settings can be difficult if you don't know where to look."

More IIS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay around $200,000 annually."

"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."

"WebSphere Application Server is expensive, so it may not be a good option for small companies."

"It costs more than some of the others, but, you get what you pay for."

"The solution is quite expensive."

"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."

"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."

More IBM WebSphere Application Server pricing and cost advice

"We pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution."

"IIS is expensive."

"There is no license required for the product as it is role-based. Whenever you go for a Windows platform server, the role has to be installed directly from the server manager. There is no additional cost that has to be paid for that. It is free to use."

"IIS comes along with an OS license from Microsoft. Others can opt for a perpetual-based licensing model to be able to use the system."

"I didn't need to get an additional license for the solution since it was included in my server."

"There is no license needed to use the solution."

"They offer a one-time payment model for the product license, and we pay annually for support."

"The solution provides multiple licensing options."

More IIS pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

33%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	23

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	28
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	21

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.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM WebSphere Application Server?

In Korea, when you buy IBM iOS, the WebSphere base version is included with iOS. That means no additional cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Application Server?

I find the server okay, however, using the Maker instance, the Moving instance, and the Change instance is a little bit complicated without WebSphere knowledge.

See all answers

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,...

See all answers

What do you like most about IIS?

The product is flexible.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IIS?

For the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for IIS, as a Microsoft product, I didn't think much about separately purchasing an IIS product as it is part of Microsoft Windows. We bought a developmen...

See all answers

Comparisons

JBoss Enterprise Application Platform vs IBM WebSphere Application Server

Compared 26% of the time

Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) vs IBM WebSphere Application Server

Compared 21% of the time

Tomcat vs IBM WebSphere Application Server

Compared 15% of the time

Oracle WebLogic Server vs IBM WebSphere Application Server

Compared 8% of the time

Oracle Fusion Middleware vs IBM WebSphere Application Server

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM WebSphere Application Server Competitors

Apache Web Server vs IIS

Compared 29% of the time

NGINX Plus vs IIS

Compared 26% of the time

Tomcat vs IIS

Compared 11% of the time

Oracle WebLogic Server vs IIS

Compared 10% of the time

Windows Process Activation Services vs IIS

Compared 3% of the time

More IIS Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Application Server

September 2025

Download IBM WebSphere Application Server product report

Buyer's Guide

IIS

September 2025

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Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server

Windows Server IIS

Overview

IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS) is a middleware platform developed by IBM. It provides a range of services and tools to help organizations develop, deploy, and manage Java-based applications. WAS is part of IBM's WebSphere product family and provides a secure, scalable, and highly available platform for developing and running web-based applications. WAS provides a secure, scalable, and highly available platform, making it an attractive solution for organizations looking to develop and deploy enterprise-grade applications.

IBM WebSphere Application Server Features

IBM WebSphere Application Server has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Application deployment: IBM WAS enables organizations to deploy and manage applications in a secure and scalable environment.

Clustering: The clustering feature can help organizations ensure high availability and improve application performance.

Load balancing: The solution Includes load balancing capabilities to distribute application workloads and improve performance.

Security: IBM WAS offers a range of security features, including authentication, authorization, and encryption, to help organizations secure their applications and data.

Monitoring and management: The solution’s range of tools for monitoring and managing applications, including the IBM WebSphere Administrative Console allows organizations to optimize application performance and resolve issues easily.

Integration: IBM WAS integrates with a range of IBM and third-party products, including IBM WebSphere MQ, IBM DB2, and more, to provide a comprehensive platform for developing and running web-based applications.

IBM WebSphere Application Server Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing IBM WebSphere Application Server. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Improved application performance: The IBM WAS platform offers a scalable and secure platform for deploying and managing applications, enabling organizations to improve application performance and reduce downtime.

High availability: IBM WAS provides clustering and load-balancing capabilities to help organizations ensure high availability.

Improved security: With a large range of security features, including authentication, authorization, and encryption, the solution helps organizations secure their applications and data.

Simplified management: IBM WAS is designed with a set of tools for monitoring and managing applications, enabling organizations to optimize performance and resolve issues efficiently.

Increased flexibility: The solution integrates with a range of IBM and third-party products, providing organizations with a flexible platform for developing and running web-based applications.

Improved developer productivity: It supports the latest Java EE specifications, allowing developers to use the latest technologies and development methodologies when building applications.

Better customer experience: Organizations can deliver faster and more reliable applications, improving the overall customer experience.

Scalability: IBM WAS provides a scalable and secure platform for deploying and managing applications, so organizations can quickly respond to changing business requirements.

Reviews from Real Users

IBM WebSphere Application Server is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are that it is stable, supports many languages, and is resilient.

Princewill O., Head Banking Application Customization and Reporting at a financial services firm, states, “[The solution is] very stable, supports many languages, and helpful for faster time to market.”

"What's most valuable in IBM WebSphere Application Server is its resilience. When you use the solution, you know that after the communication has been done, there will be no doubt that the data has reached its destination,” says Nicolae C., System and Solutions Architect at Seidor.

Another PeerSpot reviewer, an Enterprise Technical Leader at a tech services company mentions, “[It is an] enterprise-level product with extensive console capabilities, including the ability to control multiple JVM containers.”

IBM

Internet Information Services (IIS) provides a secure, easy-to-manage, modular and extensible platform for reliably hosting websites, services and applications. With IIS, you get choice and control without giving up reliability or security.

Microsoft

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. IIS

September 2025

Free Report: IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. IIS

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