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IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs Microsoft .NET Framework 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 Message Broker
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (8th)
Microsoft .NET Framework
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Message Broker is 1.9%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft .NET Framework is 5.9%, down from 6.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

BrajendraKumar - PeerSpot reviewer
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 Some of the clients of our organization are using an outdated version of IBM WebSphere Message Broker for which the vendor doesn't provide direct support anymore.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.
David Shlingbaum - PeerSpot reviewer
Old version maintains functionality but lacks current cloud support
Since the version I'm using is many years old, they have been continuously improving. They are always adding features to the language and framework, but I cannot comment from a very old version on what needs to be improved as I'm not completely up to date. There is a challenge and complexity in supporting a very old version of a product that is no longer supported. It's still possible with Microsoft .NET Framework, which isn't the case with many other products. That's a positive aspect. It has limitations when trying to develop new things with Microsoft .NET Framework. But whatever works, continues to work. It always needs improvement, but again, it does not improve when discussing an old version of Microsoft .NET Framework. I think they're always improving, but it's a never-ending process.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's reliable for our day-to-day operations, ensuring fast and secure data integration across different systems."
"IBM WebSphere Message Broker is one of the best middleware solutions"
"Performance-wise, this solution is really good."
"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."
"The solution has good integration."
"Straightforward development and deployment."
"We only use the basic features, but the most valuable one for us is the Publish-subscribe pattern."
"The most valuable feature of IBM WebSphere Message Broker is the ability to facilitate communication with legacy systems, offering a multitude of great capabilities. For example, if there is a mainframe system in place with a web service serving as the front end. In that case, the solution enables efficient protocol transformations to convert all request payloads into a format that the legacy systems can accept, rendering the integration and transformation processes seamless and highly effective."
"Microsoft .NET Framework continually innovates, particularly in Visual Studio, which focuses on improving languages, debugging, and .NET functionality."
"I like that ASP.NET is used for the framework and the core web services."
"It's easy to create and integrate things."
"The structure that can be created is beneficial because once you have the structure, you can be more productive and faster to create and interact with different clouds and implementations."
"For us, it is better to remain under the umbrella of Microsoft."
"In-built refactoring and .Net profilers are the most valuable features of the solution."
"It is a stable solution."
"The technology is very scalable and accessible to use."
 

Cons

"The solution can add container engines such as docker."
"The images and size of the containers are too big and I think that they should be more lightweight."
"Today I probably wouldn't go for Message Broker because of the cost structure, support, and the whole ecosystem around IBM."
"The installation configuration is quite difficult."
"As our business requirements evolve, we require more dynamic capabilities to adapt and scale our services accordingly."
"The product's features are not being upgraded or enhanced by the vendor"
"Technical support is good but they could have a better response time."
"There is some lag in the GUI. There have been some performance issues and maybe it's because of the application data."
"It would be nice if the framework were able to work with additional environments and systems like Linux."
"Microsoft could improve .NET Framework by providing more resources to help users understand the solution."
"Microsoft has its own product called Blazor, but I don't think it's quite as powerful yet as React or Angular. That's an area for improvement."
"There is room for Microsoft .NET Framework to improve cloud platform capabilities."
"The solution is difficult to learn if someone is learning it for the first time."
"In my opinion, this solution can be improved by providing out-of-the-box support for different types of libraries."
"The solution needs to update its security periodically because there are many security concerns."
"One thing that could be improved is the tooling and IDE for .NET in non-Windows environments like Mac."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM products are generally more stable and have more features, but also come at a greater cost."
"The solution is expensive."
"IBM software can be costly, but having a contract has helped manage and potentially lower costs over time."
"The licensing cost of IBM WebSphere Message Broker needs to be reduced"
"This product is more expensive than competing products."
"The solution is expensive."
"I feel with IBM, when you want certain functions or features, you have to continuously purchase add-ons. There are always additional fees."
"The price is very high and it's the main reason that we are searching for alternatives."
"Microsoft .NET Framework is very cost-effective for corporate users."
"If you want to develop an enterprise-level application, you have to purchase the enterprise-level development license."
"The support is an extra cost when purchasing the license. The price of the solution is overall reasonable and paid annually or every three years. Additionally, they have a monthly license. The cost is approximately $1,000 per user."
"The Microsoft .NET Framework is free of charge, without licensing cost."
"It's an expensive solution"
"Microsoft .NET Framework is free of cost."
"Do your homework. Consider the partnership program."
"The solution is a bit costly when compared to open source products or open gear licenses."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Construction Company
13%
Real Estate/Law Firm
12%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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.
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...
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.
What do you like most about Microsoft .NET Framework?
Microsoft .NET Framework continually innovates, particularly in Visual Studio, which focuses on improving languages, debugging, and .NET functionality.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft .NET Framework?
I don't know about pricing. I'm paying for Visual Studio, even though I'm not using the new version yet. Prices can always be better, but I think for the environment provided, the prices are accept...
What needs improvement with Microsoft .NET Framework?
Since the version I'm using is many years old, they have been continuously improving. They are always adding features to the language and framework, but I cannot comment from a very old version on ...
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Message Broker
MS .NET Framework
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

WestJet, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Sharp Corporation, Michelin Tire
Curtin University, Rockwell Automation, Aruba Networks, Insurity Inc., City of Barcelona, Pennsylvania DCNR, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, A1 Telekom Austria AG, Eastman Chemical Company
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. Microsoft .NET Framework and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.