No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

IBM WebSphere Application Server vs OpenLiteSpeed comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (7th)
OpenLiteSpeed
Ranking in Application Server
16th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 7.7%, down from 11.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenLiteSpeed is 0.1%. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM WebSphere Application Server7.7%
OpenLiteSpeed0.1%
Other92.2%
Application Server
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Tilak Rohitsingh - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at TEKsystems
Improved page loading speeds have attracted more visitors and support ongoing performance tuning
OpenLiteSpeed is the best performance I can get for free. It has helped us reduce the loading times of our web pages and increased the speed from 45% to 95%, which has led to more visitors. It has also made its basic implementation very easy It's an amazing open-source webserver. With the right…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Network Deployment is the most useful feature for scalability. It has many features within the standard WebSphere Application Server edition."
"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."
"We have about 3,000 users concurrently using this application, and it has achieved more than 99.9% up time which has resulted in increased productivity and efficiency."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server works well and fulfills all of the requirements that are demanded of it, so it is a product that I recommend."
"The integration between IBM tools and applications is very well executed, and the support from IBM is quite good, providing a solid support structure."
"The scalability of the product is quite good."
"I find IBM support to be very nice."
"The product offers good performance."
"OpenLiteSpeed is the best performance I can get for free."
"OpenLiteSpeed has positively impacted my organization by providing faster websites, resulting in more satisfied clients thanks to the caching."
 

Cons

"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."
"The current trend is to move to Liberty because of the portability of its cloud and its Kubernetes, which containerize the application."
"In spite of the solution's robustness, it is expensive and a bit difficult to support, which is why companies nowadays tend to use more lightweight products such as Tomcat or cloud versions of the products."
"As the license cost is quite expensive, I'm rating it two out of five."
"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."
"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 business logic side of it is sort of missing in the sense that if I want to track and measure velocity, it is not really available. You have to buy another application and embark on a separate implementation. Instead of having different licensing, IBM DataPower should be integrated with WebSphere. It will allow us to build the business layer and rules a lot more efficiently, rather than developing rules within the application. It would be good if we can set up the business layer through parametrization rather than development. IBM DataPower has the business rule and the controls, and if it can be integrated, it would be fantastic. It will help the application in working better in terms of security features and business logic. If you're going to use it for open banking, you will be able to monitor velocity on the total pricing."
"The support could be a bit more responsive."
"Setup can be a bit complicated."
"OpenLiteSpeed can be improved by addressing some minor misconfigurations in WordPress and caching, as something that is cached when it should not be is not always easy to pinpoint."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"WebSphere Application Server is expensive, so it may not be a good option for small companies."
"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 licensing cost is 1,000 of euros for a 30-year table."
"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."
"We pay around $200,000 annually."
"The licensing policy is based on the PVU base."
"The pricing is a little expensive."
"We used to pay about $100,000-$120,000 US or somewhere around there. That was a bit cost-prohibitive for us to continue."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Server solutions are best for your needs.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
28%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Construction Company
6%
Construction Company
40%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Transportation Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise23
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What needs improvement with OpenLiteSpeed?
OpenLiteSpeed can be improved by addressing some minor misconfigurations in WordPress and caching, as something that is cached when it should not be is not always easy to pinpoint. Improvements cou...
What is your primary use case for OpenLiteSpeed?
My main use case for OpenLiteSpeed is hosting client websites, primarily WordPress sites with caching plugins connected to OpenLiteSpeed. I host many WordPress sites with medium traffic, and OpenLi...
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server
No data available
 

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
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. OpenLiteSpeed and other solutions. Updated: October 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.