IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs JBoss ESB comparison

IBM and Red Hat are both solutions in the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) category. IBM is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.0, while Red Hat is ranked #8 with an average rating of 10.0. IBM holds a 4.8% mindshare in E, compared to Red Hat’s 3.6% mindshare. Additionally, 84% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.

IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Read 13 IBM WebSphere Message Broker reviews

971 Views
689 Comparison Views

84% willing to recommend

JBoss ESB

Read 2 JBoss ESB reviews

450 Views
432 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM WebSphere Message Broker

JBoss ESB

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM WebSphere Message Broker and JBoss ESB based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. JBoss ESB Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. JBoss ESB

December 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 881,082 peers since 2012

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 Message Broker

Ranking in Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

9th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Infrastructure (17th)

JBoss ESB

Ranking in Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

8th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Message Broker is 4.8%, up from 4.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of JBoss ESB is 3.6%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
JBoss ESB	3.6%
IBM WebSphere Message Broker	4.8%
Other	91.6%

Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

Featured Reviews

BrajendraKumar

Technical Architect at HCL Technologies

Offers large-sized business information processing with a time-saving setup and impressive stability

I primarily use two previews of the product for Dev and two for QA as part of the production process. Whatever tools our company is using, the cost of a license in IBM WebSphere Message Broker is about 80% of all these software or tools. The message routing capabilities satisfy workflow efficiency. The product supports message formats of XML, JSON, and SSID, which are around 24 KB to 50 KB in size. The solution supports communication protocols like STTP and TCP. Features like DataGraph need to be introduced in IBM WebSphere Message Broker. Some of the clients of our organization are using an outdated version of IBM WebSphere Message Broker for which the vendor doesn't provide direct support anymore. For the aforementioned version, our company professionals can solve the queries on their own without seeking support from IBM. During the installation of a prior version of IBM WebSphere Message Broker, sometimes I have to configure the failovers through the cluster, where issues arise, and I often seek help from the support team. The solution is being used by some medicine companies in our organization that receive sales orders from the EDR or JDE. I would not recommend the product to others as its becoming obsolete and they can rather choose a middleware solution from Amazon or Azure. But I would overall rate the product a nine out of ten.

Read full review

AshutoshUpadhyay

Senior Software Engineer at Deloitte

Efficient orchestration and security features improve business processes effortlessly

JBoss ESB should focus on startup and performance as EAP is heavier than lightweight Java frameworks, which impacts microservices and cloud environments. Improvements should include faster start times and reduced memory footprints. Better cold-start performance in containers should be emphasized. Cloud-native features must be enhanced since many enterprises are shifting to Kubernetes and OpenShift, making EAP more cloud-friendly. This could include providing smaller container images, native auto-scaling support, and improved integration with cloud configuration services. Enhancing the developer experience is crucial; while the current configuration is powerful, it can be complex for newcomers. As an experienced user, I navigate it easily, but newcomers struggle due to heavy reliance on XML configuration. Transitioning to a JSON-based configuration or YAML format would be beneficial, and simplifications in clustering setup for local testing would greatly assist users.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Message Broker is valuable because most of the applications are using MQ. Even in my current engagement, the few applications which I audit to onboard the bank are using MQ."

"Straightforward development and deployment."

"It's reliable for our day-to-day operations, ensuring fast and secure data integration across different systems."

"It is a scalable solution...The setup is easy."

"The solution has good integration."

"The documentation, performance, stability and scalability of the tool are valuable."

"It has many interfaces and you can connect to any backend source that has another format, and convert it to the desired format."

"The transactions and message queuing are the most valuable features of the solution."

More IBM WebSphere Message Broker pros

"The solution is very easy to use. I can download the trial version and just give it a go."

Cons

"The user interface is designed mainly for experts, much in the way a BPM or another integration tool is."

"The installation configuration is quite difficult."

"Technical support is very slow and needs to be improved."

"The product's features are not being upgraded or enhanced by the vendor"

"As our business requirements evolve, we require more dynamic capabilities to adapt and scale our services accordingly."

"Today I probably wouldn't go for Message Broker because of the cost structure, support, and the whole ecosystem around IBM."

"It is currently a weighty product."

"Stability and pricing are areas with shortcomings that need improvement."

More IBM WebSphere Message Broker cons

"The EPA, from what I understand, lacks a lot of features and it doesn't really know how to interface with legacy systems or how to develop APIs for legacy systems."

"JBoss ESB should focus on startup and performance as EAP is heavier than lightweight Java frameworks, which impacts microservices and cloud environments."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM software can be costly, but having a contract has helped manage and potentially lower costs over time."

"This product is more expensive than competing products."

"The solution is expensive."

"The price is very high and it's the main reason that we are searching for alternatives."

"The licensing cost of IBM WebSphere Message Broker needs to be reduced"

"I feel with IBM, when you want certain functions or features, you have to continuously purchase add-ons. There are always additional fees."

"The solution is expensive."

"IBM products are generally more stable and have more features, but also come at a greater cost."

Information not available

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

22%

Computer Software Company

11%

Insurance Company

Transportation Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Large Enterprise	10

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM WebSphere Message Broker?

IBM software can be costly, but having a contract has helped manage and potentially lower costs over time.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Message Broker?

There could be greater flexibility and agility in service creation for the product. As our business requirements evolve, we require more dynamic capabilities to adapt and scale our services accordi...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM WebSphere Message Broker?

We use the product for exposing services at the application level, integrating with various architectures like WebSphere, and handling static service creation.

See all answers

What needs improvement with JBoss ESB?

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering JBoss ESB?

I am currently using JBoss ESB as an end user. I chose JBoss ESB because it is excellent for open source Java, Java EE, and Jakarta applications. Initially developed by JBoss, it was later acquired...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for JBoss ESB?

I used JBoss ESB for banking API and banking software. We created our own modules since banking APIs and banking applications require extensive security measures. Since banks handle sensitive finan...

See all answers

Comparisons

IBM Integration Bus vs IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Compared 24% of the time

webMethods.io vs IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Compared 14% of the time

Mule ESB vs IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Compared 12% of the time

IIS vs IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Compared 10% of the time

IBM BPM vs IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM WebSphere Message Broker Competitors

Red Hat Fuse vs JBoss ESB

Compared 28% of the time

IBM Integration Bus vs JBoss ESB

Compared 24% of the time

TIBCO ActiveMatrix Service Bus vs JBoss ESB

Compared 15% of the time

Mule ESB vs JBoss ESB

Compared 14% of the time

webMethods.io vs JBoss ESB

Compared 11% of the time

More JBoss ESB Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Message Broker

January 2026

Download IBM WebSphere Message Broker product report

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

December 2025

Download JBoss ESB product report

Also Known As

WebSphere Message Broker

No data available

Overview

WebSphere Message Broker is an enterprise service bus (ESB) providing connectivity and universal data transformation for service-oriented architecture (SOA) and non-SOA environments. It allows businesses of any size to eliminate point-to-point connections and batch processing regardless of platform, protocol or data format.

IBM

JBossESB is the next generation of EAI - better and without the vendor-lockin characteristics of old. As such, many of the capabilities mirror those of existing EAI offerings: Business Process Monitoring, Integrated Development Environment, Human Workflow User Interface, Business Process Management, Connectors, Transaction Manager, Security, Application Container, Messaging Service, Metadata Repository, Naming and Directory Service, Distributed Computing Architecture. Plus JBossESB is part of an SOI (Service Oriented Infrastructure). However, SOA is not simply a technology or a product: it's a style of design, with many aspects (such as architectural, methodological and organisational) unrelated to the actual technology.

Red Hat

Sample Customers

WestJet, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Sharp Corporation, Michelin Tire

Rancore, Sprint, ResMed, Brazil's Ministry of Health, ING Services Polska

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. JBoss ESB

December 2025

Free Report: IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. JBoss ESB

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. JBoss ESB and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. JBoss ESB report.

See our list of best Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) vendors.

We monitor all Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.