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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs WebLogic Suite comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 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 Infrastructure
3rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (4th)
WebLogic Suite
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 10.0%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WebLogic Suite is 3.2%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM WebSphere Application Server10.0%
WebLogic Suite3.2%
Other86.8%
Application Infrastructure
 

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.
Mari Pandian - PeerSpot reviewer
Coding flexibility with good integration but users need coding knowledge
We are an Oracle partner and work with many Oracle applications for integration purposes. WebLogic is used for integrating various Oracle applications and third-party services WebLogic allows us to do the coding as per the customer's requirements. It helps us meet their needs by integrating their…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"The thing about WebSphere, as opposed to other ones that I am aware of such as JBoss and Liberty, is that WebSphere has the most comprehensive scaffolding available to it."
"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."
"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."
"The most valuable features are its user-friendliness and reliability in terms of application hosting."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is easy to use."
"The VPN service is quite useful."
"A valuable feature is its integration with Oracle Database."
"The most valuable feature of WebLogic is it has excellent performance and stability compared to the previous solution we used."
"WebLogic Suite is scalable."
"It easily connects to other Oracle products and services."
"WebLogic Suite functions well for enterprise organizations that can manage its costs and resource demands."
"WebLogic Suite provides a stable application server experience."
"I have seen benefits from the middleware capability of WebLogic Suite for creating cohesive IT ecosystems, and it's stable."
"Scalability on the solution is great. It's very very easy to scale."
 

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."
"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."
"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)."
"It should be able to serve more concurrent requests like Oracle. Oracle has more powerful stability, availability, and real-time serving."
"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 current trend is to move to Liberty because of the portability of its cloud and its Kubernetes, which containerize the application."
"They should make the solution more lightweight and not bundle everything into a single product."
"WebSphere is very cumbersome and not user-friendly."
"The content search is not easy."
"This solution doesn't have connectors to other external applications."
"Compared to Apache and Microsoft platform products, WebLogic Suite has implementation complexity."
"WebLogic requires a person with coding knowledge for easy configuration and quick integrations."
"There are sometimes issues with clusters."
"I noticed a few areas for improvement in WebLogic Suite. If you use the pure play higher-availability features, then yes, it can be switched over to the other system from the high-availability point of view, but that comes with a certain price. If you prefer simpler high-availability, that requires manual intervention. I'd also recommend a tuning feature in WebLogic Suite because it's not self-tuning, and this means you need thorough expertise to do the tuning and leverage the best benefit out of it. If Oracle makes WebLogic Suite automated or self-driven, then it becomes a wonderful product, similar to what Oracle did for the Autonomous Database which is self-driven or has an autonomous operating system. If automation is added in the next release of the solution, combined with more affordable pricing, though as a technical person, I know how much goes into having automation as a feature, and it could be difficult to lower the price, but if Oracle can do it, then that would make WebLogic Suite better."
"For access management, WebLogic Suite is a heavy application. This application requires more time for installation compared to other products."
"I think the support could be much better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's expensive."
"The licensing cost is 1,000 of euros for a 30-year table."
"I don't remember the price, but there are no additional costs."
"The price of this product is higher than that of competitors."
"When you purchase Maximo, you get WebSphere for free."
"The pricing is a little 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."
"It is very expensive."
"There is a license required for this solution and the price could be reduced."
"The product comes bundled with Oracle Premier Support."
"Technical support is very costly."
"Scaling is costly."
"The cost of the WebLogic Suite license is a bit high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
33%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
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 Business12
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise24
 

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 do you like most about WebLogic Suite?
The solution is useful for centralizing data.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WebLogic Suite?
WebLogic Suite is high-priced, akin to a Lamborghini. Its affordability suits enterprise-level organizations with digital footprints requiring robust financial resources.
What needs improvement with WebLogic Suite?
One area for improvement in WebLogic Suite is the installation time. Otherwise, there are no other disadvantages, and they have good support from Oracle. The installation time can be an issue. It i...
 

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
State Revenue Office Victoria, Colab Consulting Pty. Ltd., Reliance Commercial Finance, Center for Railway Information Systems, Sascar, Banca Transilvania, UL, Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society, MCB Bank, Pacfico Seguros Generales
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. WebLogic Suite and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.