IIS PHP Windows vs Tomcat comparison

Supported Images and Apache are both solutions in the Application Server category. Supported Images is ranked #9 with an average rating of 9.3, while Apache is ranked #1 with an average rating of 9.0. Supported Images holds a 0.5% mindshare in AppS, compared to Apache’s 12.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Supported Images users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Apache users who would recommend it.

IIS PHP Windows

Read 4 IIS PHP Windows reviews

1,124 Views
67 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Tomcat

Read 53 Tomcat reviews

4,749 Views
4,749 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

IIS PHP Windows

Tomcat

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IIS PHP Windows and Tomcat based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Application Server solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed IIS PHP Windows vs. Tomcat Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

IIS PHP Windows vs. Tomcat

June 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 899,052 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

IIS PHP Windows

Ranking in Application Server

9th

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Tomcat

Ranking in Application Server

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IIS PHP Windows is 0.5%. The mindshare of Tomcat is 12.6%, down from 19.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Server Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Tomcat	12.6%
IIS PHP Windows	0.5%
Other	86.9%

Application Server

Featured Reviews

reviewer2836203

SR SYSTEM ENGINEER at a retailer with 11-50 employees

Hosting php apps on windows has delivered fast performance and met strict compliance needs

The main feature is hosting PHP applications in IIS. If we are hosting through XAMPP or another solution, it will be very slow. However, using IIS PHP Windows, the application performance will be very fast. If you want to host your PHP or Laravel-based application in Windows, you can definitely use this extension. Using this extension, you can host your PHP or Laravel application in IIS, and it will have super speed. If you use another solution, it will not give you that speed.

Read full review

Sanjay Sahu

Project Manager at Capgemini

Customization and flexibility enhance web applications while support effectively resolves queries

Regarding improvements in Tomcat, I personally haven't used it very extensively, but all Apache products are very useful for our web applications. Although the web server setup is a little different, it has everything we have been using, and as of now, everything is good with no deficiencies that need improvement. I think that Tomcat needs a more robust logging error details feature; the current logging feature is available, but it should be more user-friendly. This improvement would make error handling more user-friendly.

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

"In my experience, the best features IIS PHP Windows offers include allowing us to host the PHP application with better performance compared to XAMPP, which we were previously using because XAMPP was giving slow performance."

"IIS PHP Windows has positively impacted my organization by helping to deploy customer websites that have very small budgets, allowing the organization to assist those clients, which builds trust with them."

"IIS PHP Windows impacts my organization positively because my applications perform very well here when compared with XAMPP."

"If you want to host your PHP or Laravel-based application in Windows, you can definitely use this extension, and using this extension you can host your PHP or Laravel application in IIS and it will have super speed."

"It is a robust solution."

"Tomcat brings the biggest benefit through its simplicity; it is not just simple in terms of interface, it is simple for managing or very quickly running this server."

"I like the solution’s ease of use."

"We can use Apache Tomcat for Java server applications."

"The product's initial setup phase was simple."

"The ease of use of Tomcat is its most valuable feature."

"The product is easy to use."

"Tomcat is one of the best application servers and servlet container."

More Tomcat pros

Cons

"I chose a rating of seven out of ten because IIS PHP Windows is good for small enterprises with manageable aspects, but it has very high resource usage and requires a Windows server license, contributing to the overall cost."

"This product needs an improvement to its centralized management console that can apply configurations and deployments for large scale clusters and groups of servers without the need of accessing each server to apply the changes."

"In terms of features, this solution is limited. It does do its job, but the enterprise-level features are missing."

"Tomcat is a polished product that has been around for a long time. It should be simple and high-performing, with the ability to grow and maintain stability. The fewer features it has, the more stable it will be."

"One way to improve the solution is by making the logging capabilities of Tomcat better by providing a logger within the server itself and making it easy to access and view the server logs. This can be especially useful when debugging issues with applications deployed on the Tomcat server. By having the ability to view both the application logs and the server logs, you can more easily identify the source of any issues and troubleshoot them more efficiently. Providing a connector or other similar feature that allows you to access the server logs from within your application can also be helpful in this regard. Having access to both the application logs and the server logs can be a valuable resource when trying to identify and resolve problems."

"Vulnerability is one of the areas that can be considered an issue in the solution."

"The product needs to have more updates."

"It would be great if they offered more integration of monitoring tools."

"The solution cannot host .NET applications."

More Tomcat cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"We are using the open-source version."

"Tomcat is not costlier than other solutions."

"Tomcat is open-source and free to use."

"The price of the solution is good."

"Tomcat's pricing is very cheap."

"It's open-source. We don't pay for the license."

"This is an open-source product and it's free to use."

"There are no additional costs apart from the standard license."

More Tomcat pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

49%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Healthcare Company

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

20%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Government

10%

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	23
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	28

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IIS PHP Windows?

I think IIS PHP Windows can still improve, specifically in making the user interface and integration better, as there is visible scope for improvement. We can make it more robust if we continue upg...

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What is your primary use case for IIS PHP Windows?

My main use case for IIS PHP Windows is to install client applications based on IIS and PHP-based applications, and manage those applications on the Windows environment. A quick specific example of...

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What advice do you have for others considering IIS PHP Windows?

I rate IIS PHP Windows nine out of ten. I chose nine out of ten because there is still a scope for improvement, and achieving a perfect ten means reaching a standard they should continue working to...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Tomcat?

Tomcat lacks a visual tool for configuring. Everything is from the command line. I would like a visual tool for configuration to be added to Tomcat, as I see this feature missing.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Tomcat?

I work with Tomcat as a programmer, but not as an administrator. My major use case involves using Tomcat, mostly enclosed in any Java image for a Java application for REST API. I do not work with t...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Tomcat?

I am familiar with pricing for Tomcat. For me, it is open source. Since it is open source, I don't see any fee for that regarding whether the license for Tomcat is usually expensive or quite afford...

See all answers

Comparisons

F5 Distributed Cloud Services vs IIS PHP Windows

Compared 59% of the time

Adobe PDF Services API vs IIS PHP Windows

Compared 41% of the time

More IIS PHP Windows Competitors

Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) vs Tomcat

Compared 12% of the time

IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Tomcat

Compared 11% of the time

Oracle WebLogic Server vs Tomcat

Compared 11% of the time

IIS vs Tomcat

Compared 10% of the time

IBM Open Liberty vs Tomcat

Compared 9% of the time

More Tomcat Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Server

May 2026

Download IIS PHP Windows product report

Buyer's Guide

Tomcat

May 2026

Download Tomcat product report

Overview

IIS PHP Windows offers a robust platform for running PHP applications on Windows servers, merging the reliability of IIS with PHP's versatility, providing an efficient environment for developers.

This combination is ideal for businesses seeking to leverage PHP applications on a Windows ecosystem. By utilizing the Windows server's security and PHP's flexibility, users can run complex web applications efficiently. IIS PHP Windows optimizes the integration, providing seamless support that enhances performance and manages significant web traffic with ease.

What features define IIS PHP Windows?

FastCGI Support: Integrates PHP applications quickly and effectively.
Application Request Routing: Improves performance through load balancing.
Security: Advanced safeguards with Windows authentication.
Monitoring Tools: Provides comprehensive diagnostics and logging capabilities.

What benefits and ROI should users expect?

Increased Performance: Supports high-traffic applications efficiently.
Cost Savings: Reduces downtime with robust, reliable infrastructure.
Scalability: Adapts easily to growing business needs.
Improved Security: Enhances application safety with integrated measures.

In industries like finance and healthcare, IIS PHP Windows is employed for its powerful integration capabilities, ensuring secure environments for sensitive data while optimizing application performance. Its compatibility with legacy systems is essential for businesses transitioning to modern frameworks without compromising functionality.

Supported Images

Tomcat is an open-source Java application server known for its lightweight design, stability, and scalability. It provides reliable performance, comprehensive documentation, and compatibility with major development environments. Its efficient handling of web traffic makes it ideal for Java-based applications.

Apache Tomcat is widely used for deploying Java applications and web services, offering fast deployment and strong performance. Its lightweight setup and flexibility make it popular among healthcare, banking, and government sectors. Tomcat is also favored for compatibility with Spring Boot for microservices and supporting diverse environments like Linux and Windows. It handles web traffic efficiently and offers database management capabilities. While Tomcat is valued for its simplicity, areas for improvement include performance and memory management for large-scale applications. The interface may require advanced knowledge for configuration and security needs better integration. Logging, documentation, and deployment automation are also areas for enhancement. Users seek improved scalability and high availability, along with centralized management tools.

What are Tomcat's most important features?

Lightweight and Easy-to-Use: Simple setup and fast deployment.
Stability and Scalability: Reliable performance for various enterprises.
Open-Source Foundation: Strong community support and integration with tools.
Java Compatibility: Supports major environments and Java applications.
Efficient Web Traffic Handling: Manages databases effectively.

What benefits or ROI should users consider?

Fast Deployment: Quickly host and deploy applications.
Reliable Performance: Trusted for stable operation.
Cost Efficiency: Open-source nature reduces expenses.
Diverse Environment Support: Works on Linux and Windows.
Microservices Integration: Compatible with Spring Boot.

Organizations in healthcare, banking, and government sectors implement Tomcat for its robust capabilities in hosting and deploying Java applications. Its lightweight and cloud-friendly design make it a suitable choice for microservices. Tomcat supports integration with scheduling tools and REST services, making it versatile for enterprise-scale deployments while efficiently running on both small and large systems.

Apache

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

1. Adobe Systems 2. Amazon 3. Apple 4. AT&T 5. Bank of America 6. Boeing 7. Cisco Systems 8. Citigroup 9. Dell 10. eBay 11. Facebook 12. General Electric 13. Google 14. Hewlett-Packard 15. IBM 16. Intel 17. JPMorgan Chase 18. Microsoft 19. Netflix 20. Oracle 21. PayPal 22. Salesforce 23. Samsung 24. Sony 25. Target 26. Twitter 27. Uber 28. Verizon 29. Visa 30. Volkswagen 31. Walmart 32. Yahoo

Buyer's Guide

IIS PHP Windows vs. Tomcat

June 2026

Free Report: IIS PHP Windows vs. Tomcat

Find out what your peers are saying about IIS PHP Windows vs. Tomcat and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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