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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Oracle WebLogic Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 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 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 (3rd)
Oracle WebLogic Server
Ranking in Application Server
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 11.0%, down from 12.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle WebLogic Server is 18.0%, down from 26.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Oracle WebLogic Server18.0%
IBM WebSphere Application Server11.0%
Other71.0%
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.
Saikat Nag - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers efficient load distribution with a scope of high scalability
Our organization configures Oracle WebLogic Server in such a way that a load balancer becomes available. The network requests are segregated to the Oracle WebLogic Server as the managing server and different nodes are configured. Using the product as a load balancer helps automate request transfer from one non-functional node to another functional node. Due to Oracle WebLogic Server, the endpoints remain unaffected whenever a node goes down. The clustering feature enhances our organization's performance and reliability. In our organization, the health of the Oracle WebLogic Server environment is maintained and managed using Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM). I would definitely recommend others to use Oracle WebLogic Server. Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The VPN service is quite useful."
"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."
"WebSphere Application Server's best features include the data subscription and connection viewer."
"This solution is easy to use with a GUI that is intuitive and very helpful."
"It has good stability of the application server in the long term compared to other solutions."
"The integration between IBM tools and applications is very well executed."
"The solution has good performance."
"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."
"The solution works well in load balancing."
"WebLogic is reliable, and it's easy to use for development."
"In WebLogic, the most useful feature is the UI administration console from where we can configure everything, such as security access, and we can start and stop it graphically. That's the best feature of WebLogic Server."
"It's a very stable solution."
"What I like best about Oracle WebLogic Server is its integration with other software."
"One of the good features of Oracle WebLogic Server was the ability to add some custom parameters to its deployment and performance."
"The technical support is responsive. They are always ready to help by various communication channels, such as Zoom calls. However, sometimes it will take a while because when we are dealing with a problem, they need to look at the logs and configuration. A lot of the issues are related to the configuration that they need to look at thoroughly before they can give us a solution and it can take a few days depending on the type of problem."
"The product's installation phase is easy."
 

Cons

"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."
"The solution could improve the integration."
"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."
"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."
"What could be improved in IBM WebSphere Application Server is its interconnection with other products, for example, Kafka. What I'd like to see in the next release of the solution is a better graphical user interface."
"WebSphere Application Server doesn't have an automated deployment option, forcing us to use third-party tools like Jenkins UCD and Palo Automated Deployment."
"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 current trend is to move to Liberty because of the portability of its cloud and its Kubernetes, which containerize the application."
"Its pricing should be better. We are analyzing other options, such as JBoss, because of the cost of WebLogic."
"Pricing for Oracle WebLogic Server and other Oracle products has room for improvement because the pricing model isn't easy to understand. I'd like to see lower pricing from Oracle WebLogic Server. That's the main issue with the solution."
"I can't point to anything missing."
"There's a bug related to the managed services."
"The quarterly updates can sometimes lead to instability depending on the configuration of systems."
"Configuration can be a significant challenge, demanding a deep understanding and expertise."
"I've had issues with some of the tracking features tracking and have had to go back to several generations of code to fix problems where things were touched."
"They should improve the solution's garbage collection feature."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is quite expensive."
"The price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"It's expensive."
"WebSphere Application Server is expensive, so it may not be a good option for small companies."
"The price of this product is higher than that of competitors."
"The licensing cost is 1,000 of euros for a 30-year table."
"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."
"It is very expensive."
"The solution’s pricing is affordable."
"Fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"In our country, this is an expensive product."
"The licensing fees are annual and depend on the model."
"As Oracle WebLogic Server is a product from Oracle, it is bound to be an expensive solution. My company needs to make annual payments towards the licensing costs attached to the product."
"It is expensive."
"The tool's pricing is yearly."
"My company uses a licensed version of the product, so we get Oracle's support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
34%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
7%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise23
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise17
 

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.
What needs improvement with Oracle WebLogic Server?
There is an option to use the WebLogic console as a service, but the WebLogic scripting tool can be used for the administration of the domain without the console. This is important for some cases d...
What is your primary use case for Oracle WebLogic Server?
I primarily work from an infrastructure point of view with Oracle WebLogic Server ( /products/oracle-weblogic-server-reviews ). I am involved in the installation, base installation of the product, ...
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server
WebLogic Application Server
 

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
Colab Consulting Pty. Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Sascar, Banca Transilvania, UL, Center for Railway Information Systems, SPAR Austria Group, Reliance Commercial Finance, Industrial Bank of Korea, Al Jaber Group, Safe Water Kenya, Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. Oracle WebLogic Server and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
871,408 professionals have used our research since 2012.