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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Oracle GlassFish comparison

 

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
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (5th)
Oracle GlassFish
Ranking in Application Server
9th
Average Rating
6.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 12.8%, up from 11.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle GlassFish is 2.2%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server
 

Featured Reviews

BharathirajaSukumar - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
it_user517413 - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers EE Support. I would like to see integration with MQ systems.
The products offers EE support. It offers ease of use. I would like to see integration with MQ systems.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It does integrate well with the Tivoli Federated Identity Management system."
"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 VPN service is quite useful."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is one of the best servers due to its stability and paid license."
"The solution has good performance."
"Network Deployment is the most useful feature for scalability. It has many features within the standard WebSphere Application Server edition."
"The solution is robust. The connection management and the scalability, which IBM provides to the Stack, are also valuable."
"It has good stability of the application server in the long term compared to other solutions."
"The products offers EE support."
 

Cons

"The footprint could be reduced so that we can use a smaller virtual machine to run the application. We could also use more scripts. I would like this solution to be more script oriented, rather than GUI oriented."
"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."
"When we run into memory or locking issues, we resort to using third-party tools. However, it would be preferable to have native tools for debugging this type of problem."
"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."
"WebSphere is very cumbersome and not user-friendly. It used to have its own JVM, which presented challenges such as different architecture and memory leaks."
"It should be able to serve more concurrent requests like Oracle. Oracle has more powerful stability, availability, and real-time serving."
"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."
"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."
"I would like to see integration with MQ systems."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost is 1,000 of euros for a 30-year table."
"The price of this product is higher than that of competitors."
"When you purchase Maximo, you get WebSphere for free."
"IBM WAS base is part of the deal when you purchase IBM FileNet P8 Content Engine."
"It costs more than some of the others, but, you get what you pay for."
"The solution is quite 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."
"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."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
32%
Computer Software Company
13%
Insurance Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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

WebSphere Application Server
GlassFish
 

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
TravelMuse, Clarity Accounting
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849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.