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IIS vs Windows Process Activation Services comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (4th)
Windows Process Activation ...
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
27th
Average Rating
4.0
Reviews Sentiment
2.8
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IIS is 6.6%, down from 11.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows Process Activation Services is 1.3%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IIS6.6%
Windows Process Activation Services1.3%
Other92.1%
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

Krishnakumar Natarajan - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at Atos
Designs and manages multiple websites while ensuring data backup and disaster recovery
I have experience with AWS, and I am most familiar with the server environment, as we just use the server environment and then use Microsoft products on an AWS environment. I have experience with Windows Server IIS, which I ran on my own on-premise data center. The website was developed and then hosted, and through IIS, we managed the servers. The manageability within the IIS environment is not very difficult. For server management, you need to ensure data backup, data restore, and you have a DR configured to keep the database intact. It was done on-premises, so I had no problem doing that. If you have to go to the cloud, then you should have the storage connected to the IIS server and also have a DR set up for that. I didn't use Microsoft Azure tools, but since it is a Microsoft product, Azure has all the portability, so you don't have to worry about compatibility on the cloud. On a scale of 1-10, I would rate this solution a 10.
it_user1226547 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior IT Systems Administrator at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
Central console enables us to see all of the activated and deactivated computers but it has poor alerts and frustrating technical support
The solution needs to allow for other company product licenses to be included if possible. The solution needs to include other Microsoft products, like Exchange, SharePoint, etc. Right now, it's only for Windows and Office. The solution needs to be made web-based. Right now, we have to install some tools and to use these tools we have to log into a specific server. If that server has an issue we cannot manage it. The solution needs to be able to be managed from any machine. Alerting capabilities should be improved. If a license expires or there is a breach, or something is non-compliant, the solution should send out alerts.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"IIS fits properly for my business needs, with a lot of possibilities to upgrade the out-of-the-box functionalities, so it is really great."
"We use Windows Server only for Eggplant Manager."
"It is a lightweight web host that is easy to configure for simple webpages."
"The graphical user interface makes it easy for users to configure the sites."
"This is definitely a stable solution."
"We use the solution for our customer's web applications."
"My advice to others is this is a simple-to-use solution and you can find items with ease."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The most valuable aspect of the solution is the central console, that allows you to see all of the activated and deactivated computers."
 

Cons

"The user interface could be improved."
"The level of technical support the solution offers could be improved."
"The tool needs to improve its performance."
"Scalability issues: No issues encountered but always go for two machines as one isn't enough and isn't fault redundant."
"IIS could improve the error logging. There are times we are not able to see the errors."
"The product could be more compatible with Linux and macOS, particularly when applying user configuration policies."
"The areas of this solution that need improvement are monitoring, debugging, and troubleshooting."
"We've never had any issues with the solution, but it's still nice to have overall improvements on it. It could be easier and faster to use, for example."
"The solution is kind of a necessary evil for us."
"The stability of the solution needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IIS's pricing is not expensive."
"IIS is expensive."
"The yearly licensing cost is very high. The solution is very expensive."
"IIS comes along with an OS license from Microsoft. Others can opt for a perpetual-based licensing model to be able to use the system."
"They offer a one-time payment model for the product license, and we pay annually for support."
"There is an annual license to use this solution and the price could be better."
"I didn't need to get an additional license for the solution since it was included in my server."
"The cost for IIS is already included in Windows services. We don't have to pay anything extra."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Construction Company
10%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise22
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - IIS or NGINX Plus?
IIS is a flexible, secure, and manageable web server to host anything on the web. IIS’s scalable and open architecture can handle the most demanding tasks. From media streaming to web applications,...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IIS?
For the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for IIS, as a Microsoft product, I didn't think much about separately purchasing an IIS product as it is part of Microsoft Windows. We bought a developmen...
What needs improvement with IIS?
I see that IIS has maintained the same interface for a long time, so they could potentially use more automation or integrate Copilot into it to make it easier to use. I have not accessed or checked...
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Also Known As

Windows Server IIS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Erste Bank Group, NJVC, Samsung Electronics, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Tata Steel Europe, Urban Software Institute
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Harris Farm Markets, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, John Keells Holdings, Green Prefab, 343 Industries, SM Prime, Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, F5, Apache and others in Application Infrastructure. Updated: August 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.