No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

IIS vs Zend PHP Engine comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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)
Zend PHP Engine
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IIS is 6.1%, down from 10.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zend PHP Engine is 2.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IIS6.1%
Zend PHP Engine2.7%
Other91.2%
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

Frederic Hautecoeur - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Integrations Architect at bs-team
Integrated web hosting has simplified secure services and has supported long-term growth
To be honest, I do not see any major areas for improvement. Perhaps something simple and minor. It should not go more complex than it is at the moment. The only disadvantage I see is that the documentation is a bit difficult to find. There is a lot of configuration that is very hard to get information about.
MW
CEO at VonatelNetworks
Effective network data analysis with customization capabilities and an open-source model
We use Zend PHP Engine in a government project to develop a tool for network monitoring analysis. We utilize the tool to collect all the network data for a platform PHP allows us to personalize a solution if the customer desires. This flexibility is beneficial. Zend PHP Engine is a good tool for…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is scalable."
"My experience with the technical support by Microsoft at large is satisfactory."
"IIS works natively with Windows Server without any issues in publishing certificates."
"My advice to others is this is a simple-to-use solution and you can find items with ease."
"IIS is scalable."
"The solution is easy to use and connects with Microsoft, and the solution is very robust."
"We use Windows Server only for Eggplant Manager."
"The product is flexible."
"Zend Engine gives the flexibility to use external modules to easily expand the functionalities you need for your web project."
"Zend PHP Engine is more secure than any other framework, and I usually prefer Zend PHP Engine for big applications."
"Faster web app implementation, when PHP dev is required by customers."
"This solution is really easy for me to use."
"Offers a complete environment to develop PHP applications. It is valuable because it allows you to have a complete stack (PHP, MySQL, Zend Server) enabling the building of a development environment, and to deploy to the production system."
"The Zend Framework provides an easy, open source way to produce coding based on the needs of our customers.​"
"It makes web design easy and quick and gives well finished websites."
"The solution's initial setup process is easy."
 

Cons

"The tool needs to improve its performance."
"Finding different settings can be difficult if you don't know where to look."
"If Microsoft IIS could work well with AppOptics or things like PHP, Python, and other custom languages that run on the webserver, it would be ideal. I think there are cases where people need to use Apache instead of IIS when IIS doesn't work well with other web languages."
"The price of the solution could be less to improve."
"There is an issue with the network. The tool's price is also high."
"Finding the correct options are not more intuitive, and it should be."
"The cost is a bit too high."
"IIS could improve by Microsoft Windows improving the update services. We would like to be able to update all systems that are connected. The WSA service has to be in good order to accomplish this."
"The main area that Zend needs to improve is to support asynchronous programming tasks, which is facilitated in PHP 7, but not at the same degree as HHVM.​​"
"The process of installing and configuring the product is a bit complex and could be improved."
"In terms of improvement, it doesn't support concurrent processing. When we want to process anything on a concurrent basis, we have to divide it into a number of things, like a queue, or we have to run it using Cron jobs. We would like to have the capability to run any thread or process in parallel."
"A general scripting language should be further developed and should be embedded into it."
"SQL queries have always been an issue with PHP, especially if you use large tables, which require caution from the side of the developer.​"
"Although it offers a complete environment to develop and deploy PHP applications, it has some limitations. For example, when the volume of data increased exponentially, I had problems scaling the system."
"The platform is not satisfying to me -- it is just not up to standards performance wise."
"Its object oriented programming language needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution comes included with Windows Server."
"The price of Windows Server IIS is expensive. They have a large user base, and they charge a little bit too much."
"I didn't need to get an additional license for the solution since it was included in my server."
"I was using the trial version of IIS inside my virtual machines."
"The price is good."
"It is licensed with your Windows installation which makes it relatively cheap if you already have a Windows Server sitting around."
"The tool's pricing is on a yearly basis."
"There is a license needed for the solution."
"The Zend PHP engine is open source technology, so there's no need for us to worry about licensing or other costs."
"The solution is open source and you just pay for the server cost."
"Zend PHP Engine is not an expensive solution."
"No problem with pricing and licensing, as tools are open source. You have to consider training cost, mindset setup cost, as part of the TCO."
"Its pricing depends on the number of users."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Infrastructure solutions are best for your needs.
920,929 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Construction Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
13%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise22
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Large Enterprise2
 

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...
What needs improvement with Zend PHP Engine?
Integrating AI tools would make PHP more competitive, as other tools already have AI features.
What is your primary use case for Zend PHP Engine?
We use Zend PHP Engine in a government project to develop a tool for network monitoring analysis. We utilize the tool to collect all the network data for a platform.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Windows Server IIS
PHP Engine
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Erste Bank Group, NJVC, Samsung Electronics, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Tata Steel Europe, Urban Software Institute
Cisco
Find out what your peers are saying about IIS vs. Zend PHP Engine and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,929 professionals have used our research since 2012.