IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs webMethods.io comparison

IBM WebSphere Message Broker and webMethods.io are both solutions in the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) category. IBM WebSphere Message Broker is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.0, while webMethods.io is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.1. IBM WebSphere Message Broker holds a 4.4% mindshare in E, compared to webMethods.io’s 11.1% mindshare. Additionally, 84% of IBM WebSphere Message Broker users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of webMethods.io users who would recommend it.

IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Read 13 IBM WebSphere Message Broker reviews

1,019 Views
795 Comparison Views

84% willing to recommend

webMethods.io

Read 93 webMethods.io reviews

9,897 Views
1,781 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

IBM WebSphere Message Broker

webMethods.io

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 3, 2025

IBM WebSphere Message Broker and webMethods.io compete in the integration space. webMethods.io seems to have the upper hand due to its modern features and flexibility, particularly in cloud environments.

Features: IBM WebSphere Message Broker is recognized for its secure communication protocols, scalability, and robust message processing capabilities. webMethods.io offers dynamic integration capabilities, easy-to-use APIs, and extensive cloud support, making it ideal for businesses integrating cloud applications.

Room for Improvement: IBM WebSphere Message Broker could benefit from a more streamlined deployment process and reduced complexity in setup. Enhancing cloud compatibility may also be advantageous. webMethods.io could improve by expanding support for legacy systems and offering more robust documentation. Integration with non-standard protocols could also be enhanced.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM WebSphere Message Broker requires more traditional deployment methods, which can be complex and time-consuming but offers deep and prompt customer support. webMethods.io, being cloud-native, allows a streamlined and efficient deployment process with customer service known for swift issue resolution.

Pricing and ROI: IBM WebSphere Message Broker has a high initial cost but is designed for long-term value in large-scale implementations. webMethods.io offers a flexible pricing model with lower initial costs, attractive to small and medium businesses, and provides quick ROI through its agile deployment model.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. webMethods.io Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. webMethods.io

July 2025

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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)

8th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Infrastructure (16th)

webMethods.io

Ranking in Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

3rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business-to-Business Middleware (3rd), Managed File Transfer (MFT) (9th), API Management (9th), Cloud Data Integration (7th), Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Message Broker is 4.4%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of webMethods.io is 11.1%, up from 9.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

Featured Reviews

MANUEL VALDIVIA

Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Routes messages efficiently across our services, but the features for scalability need improvement

One of the key benefits has been its ability to expose services and securely integrate applications within our architecture. It's been integral in maintaining a stable infrastructure despite its limitations with dynamic service creation and flexibility compared to newer technologies like Kubernetes. The main challenge has been scalability during peak usage times.

Read full review

MohanPrasad

Senior Consultant at Brillio

Smooth integration and enhanced deployment with high licensing cost

webMethods.io was used to integrate APIs through the webMethods.io platform, trigger database events, and connect backend APIs through a Java backend. It was used extensively for integration purposes in my organization Integration became smoother, troubleshooting was easier, and deployment and…

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

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

"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."

"IBM WebSphere Message Broker is one of the best middleware solutions"

"Performance-wise, this solution is really good."

"We only use the basic features, but the most valuable one for us is the Publish-subscribe pattern."

"Integration and mapping are easy, which is a major advantage."

"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."

More IBM WebSphere Message Broker pros

"A product with good API and EDI components."

"High throughput and excellent scalability."

"It's a good tool, and it has a stable messaging broker."

"It's obvious that the heart of the product lies here. It's comprised of all aspects of ESB (Enterprise Gateway, Adapter, TN, Java) and BPM (task, rules engine)."

"Some of the key features are the integration platform, query mechanism, message handling within the bus, and the rules engine. We've had a really good experience with webMethods Integration Server."

"What I found most valuable in webMethods Integration Server is that it's a strong ESB. It also has strong API modules and portals."

"Segregation of deployment for the environments is the most valuable feature of the solution."

"There's hardware, software and application integration, providing hosting flexibility."

More webMethods.io pros

Cons

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

"The images and size of the containers are too big and I think that they should be more lightweight."

"I know that Message Broker was a very tightly copied product with another IBM product, that is, IBM MQ. I would like to have a little bit more decoupling from the IBM MQ because it should not be a prerequisite for IBM WebSphere Message Broker usage."

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

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

"Technical support is good but they could have a better response time."

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

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

More IBM WebSphere Message Broker cons

"A potential drawback of webMethods.io API is its adaptability to legacy systems, which can vary in compatibility."

"The price should be reduced to make it more affordable."

"The patching of infrastructure is not very smooth and improved authentication should be added in the next feature."

"They should develop clear visibility for the onboarding."

"The product needs to be improved in a few ways. First, they need to stabilize the components of the whole platform across versions. Also, they should stop replacing old components with brand new ones and, rather, improve by evolution."

"Perhaps in the area of Microservices, where I think Trading Networks could benefit from some improvements."

"webMethods Integration Server could improve on the version control. I'm not sure if Web Method has some kind of inbuilt integration with Bitbucket or GitHub or some kind of version control system. However, that's one area where they can improve."

"We need more dashboards and reporting engines that can provide detailed information for management. In short, we need better analytics."

More webMethods.io cons

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."

"This product is more expensive than competing products."

"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"

"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."

"There is a license needed to use the webMethods Integration Server."

"It is a cost-effective solution."

"The product is expensive."

"Pricing is the number-one downfall. It's too expensive. They could make more money by dropping the price in half and getting more customers. It's the best product there is, but it's too expensive."

"There are no hidden costs in addition to the standard licensing fees for webMethods. For corporate organizations, it's a very cheap or fairly priced product, but for growing or small businesses, it's quite expensive. These businesses would probably need to consider an enterprise services bus at some point. Thus, from a pricing point, it closes out non-cooperate businesses."

"I do think webMethods is coming under increasing pressure when it comes to their price-to-feature value proposition. It's probably the single biggest strategic risk they have. They're very expensive in their industry. They've been raising the price recently, especially when compared with their competitors."

"I do see a lack of capabilities inside of the monetization area for them. They have a cloud infrastructure that is pay per use type of a thing. If you already use 1,000 transactions per se, then you can be charged and billed. I see room for improvement there for their side on that particular capability of the monetization."

"Currently, the licensing solution for this product is pretty straightforward. The way that Software AG has moved in their licensing agreements is very understandable. It is very easy for you to see where things land. Like most vendors today, they are transaction based. Therefore, just having a good understanding of how many transactions that you are doing a year would be very wise. Luckily, there are opportunities to work with the vendor to get a good understanding of how many transactions you have and what is the right limit for you to fall under."

More webMethods.io pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

24%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Manufacturing Company

13%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Retailer

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.

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 do you like most about Built.io Flow?

The tool helps us to streamline data integration. Its BPM is very strong and powerful. The solution helps us manage digital transformation.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Built.io Flow?

webMethods.io is expensive. We have multiple components, and you need to pay for each of them.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Built.io Flow?

webMethods.io needs to incorporate ChatGPT to enhance user experience. It can offer a customized user experience.

See all answers

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Compared 10% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

Boomi iPaaS vs webMethods.io

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Message Broker

July 2025

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Buyer's Guide

webMethods.io

July 2025

Download webMethods.io product report

Also Known As

WebSphere Message Broker

Built.io Flow, webMethods Integration Server, webMethods Trading Networks, webMethods ActiveTransfer, webMethods.io API

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

webMethods.io Integration is a powerful integration platform as a service (iPaaS) that provides a combination of capabilities offered by ESBs, data integration systems, API management tools, and B2B gateways.

IBM

Sample Customers

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

Cisco, Agralogics, Dreamforce, Cables & Sensors, Sacramento Kings

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. webMethods.io

July 2025

Free Report: IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. webMethods.io

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. webMethods.io and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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