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 #9 with an average rating of 8.0, while webMethods.io is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.9. IBM WebSphere Message Broker holds a 4.0% mindshare in E, compared to webMethods.io’s 11.3% 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

891 Views
668 Comparison Views

84% willing to recommend

webMethods.io

Read 93 webMethods.io reviews

8,870 Views
1,508 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

IBM WebSphere Message Broker

webMethods.io

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 28, 2025

IBM WebSphere Message Broker and webMethods.io are both key players in the enterprise application integration space. Based on current evaluations, webMethods.io holds an edge in flexibility and innovation, whereas IBM WebSphere Message Broker is preferred for its reliability.

Features: IBM WebSphere Message Broker provides robust message routing, transformation, and protocol support crucial for complex environments. In contrast, webMethods.io offers a user-friendly interface, enhanced cloud integration, and advanced analytics for seamless cloud application experiences.

Room for Improvement: IBM WebSphere Message Broker could improve by simplifying its setup process, easing configuration complexities, and lowering its infrastructure demands. webMethods.io might enhance its traditional protocol support, increase on-premise capabilities, and enhance deep technical configurations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM WebSphere Message Broker requires considerable setup resources with strong professional support, focused on complex on-premises solutions. webMethods.io simplifies cloud-native deployments, offering faster setup with readily accessible customer support that emphasizes proactive help.

Pricing and ROI: IBM WebSphere Message Broker involves higher initial costs but ensures long-term ROI with its stable performance. webMethods.io uses a subscription model that minimizes upfront investments and allows for quick ROI through its scalable and flexible setup.

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Message Broker vs. webMethods.io

September 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)

9th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Infrastructure (17th)

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) (11th), API Management (11th), Cloud Data Integration (10th), Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Message Broker is 4.0%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of webMethods.io is 11.3%, up from 10.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
webMethods.io	11.3%
IBM WebSphere Message Broker	4.0%
Other	84.7%

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.

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Derrick Brockel

Senior Manager of Operations at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

An integration platform that enables you to automate tasks by connecting apps and services

Follow best practices,engage in their professional services to help build your messaging system and to be PR have some PR emphasis and and blue Bluegreen deployment You could take half your your clusters out, upgrade them, and put them back in so you have a quick callback. And also patch quarterly, we got we got downbound. And and at that point, it's a little hard to get into the cycle when you're releasing software every every week, and you're trying to, go through an upgrade seven fifty servers, it's a little hard to get into the upgrade flow when when you're running that tight. I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"Straightforward development and deployment."

"The solution has good integration."

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

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

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

More IBM WebSphere Message Broker pros

"It’s fairly easy to view, move, and mange access across different components. Different component types are categorized and can be viewed in a web based administration console."

"The tool is very powerful and user-friendly."

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

"Within the new version, webMethods API Gateway gives us an end-to-end lifecycle from the creation of the API up into the development, deployment, and promotion into production/live. The current end-to-end lifecycle of the API gives us enough authority and governance of the API. We know what are currently live services, what is in the testing stage of development, and what version that has been commissioned. So, the full life cycle itself gives us full authority and governance of the API."

"EDI is robust and integration with SAP is good."

"It's very flexible and a good platform to use."

"The orchestration aspects of APIs, the integration capabilities, and the logging functionalities were the most critical features of our workflow."

"It is good for communicating between the systems and for publishing and subscribing. We can easily retrieve data. It is good in terms of troubleshooting and other things."

More webMethods.io pros

Cons

"There is some lag in the GUI. There have been some performance issues and maybe it's because of the application data."

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

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

More IBM WebSphere Message Broker cons

"Some things could be improved, especially how ActiveTransfer handles third-party file transfers. It would be nice to have a native file-watching mechanism for when you're scheduling jobs with a third-party scheduler. Currently, we are using an outside file watcher solution to check the files before the file transfer. It checks the location to see if the file is there. If the file is there, it will prepare it for transfer. If the file isn't available, it will send an email it can create a ticket send it now. We recommended adding this file watcher mechanism."

"On the monitoring side of things, the UI for monitoring could be improved. It's a bit cumbersome to work with."

"The market webMethods Integration Server falls under is a very crowded market, so for the product to stand out, Software AG would need to get traction in the open source community by releasing a new version or a base version and open source it, so people can create new custom components and add it to the portfolio."

"webMethods.io Integration's installation is complex. It should also improve integration and connectors."

"This product is for larger companies. Compared to TIBCO I think webMethods is better in terms of ease of use and support."

"Prices should be reduced, ideally by up to 30% for long-term customers like us."

"wM SAP Adapter User Guide - Example, like Message Broker setup was unclear, leading to issues during Testing and we had refer the internet forums to understand that there is a Message Broker Cleanup utility and that needs to be setup as well."

"The solution's release management feature could be better."

More webMethods.io cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"The solution is expensive."

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

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

"This product is more expensive than competing products."

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

"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."

"Always plan five years ahead and don’t jeopardize the quality of your project by dropping items from the bill of materials."

"Sometimes we don't have a very clear idea what the licensing will entail at first, because it can be very customizable. On one hand, this can be a good thing, because it can be tailored to a specific customer's needs. But on the other hand it can also be an issue when some customer asks, "What's the cost?" and we can't yet give them an accurate answer."

"It is worth the cost."

"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."

"webMethods Integration Server is expensive, and there's no fixed price on it because it has a point pricing model. You can negotiate, which makes it interesting."

"Initialy good pricing and good, if it comes to Enterprise license agreements."

"It is expensive, but we reached a good agreement with the company. It is still a little bit expensive, but we got a better deal than the previous one."

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

More webMethods.io pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

11%

Insurance Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Energy/Utilities Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Large Enterprise	10

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	23
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	63

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

Comparisons

IBM Integration Bus vs IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Compared 39% of the time

IBM BPM vs IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Compared 11% of the time

Mule ESB vs IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Compared 11% of the time

IBM DataPower Gateway vs IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Compared 8% of the time

IBM WebSphere Integration Developer vs IBM WebSphere Message Broker

Compared 8% of the time

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IBM App Connect vs webMethods.io

Compared 8% of the time

IBM Integration Bus vs webMethods.io

Compared 7% of the time

IBM Sterling B2B Integration Services vs webMethods.io

Compared 7% of the time

Apigee vs webMethods.io

Compared 6% of the time

Boomi iPaaS vs webMethods.io

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM WebSphere Message Broker

October 2025

Download IBM WebSphere Message Broker product report

Buyer's Guide

webMethods.io

October 2025

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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

September 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: September 2025.

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