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Oracle GlassFish vs Tomcat 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

Oracle GlassFish
Ranking in Application Server
9th
Average Rating
6.0
Number of Reviews
1
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
51
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of Oracle GlassFish is 2.2%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tomcat is 19.9%, down from 20.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server
 

Featured Reviews

it_user517413 - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers EE Support. I would like to see integration with MQ systems.
The products offers EE support. It offers ease of use. I would like to see integration with MQ systems.
Erick  Karanja - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers high availability, straightforward deployment and easy to use
Tomcat could be a little bit more innovative. Tomcat could come up with a framework that's more lightweight and purely targeted at Java applications. Some other solutions are doing better right now, maybe because they have come up with MicroProfile, which I think is moving forward. It may actually beat Tomcat because of the lightweight nature of the framework, the MicroProfile. They're coming up with new solutions. So, for the future of Tomcat and to maintain the market share they might be looking for, they need to come up with initiatives to ensure that several of us have a lightweight framework to deploy applications on.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The products offers EE support."
"It is easy to manage at a basic level."
"It is easy to set up."
"Tomcat is secure, reliable, and stable."
"Tomcat is a single-server solution for deploying applications that can scale effectively. It's a good choice because it simplifies deployment. Once you package your application, deployment is straightforward and efficient."
"Tomcat's best feature is the open source server. It's a flexible and lightweight solution."
"The most valuable feature of Tomcat is its ability to export libraries into different instances so that I can use it not only in one application but in multiple applications."
"The scalability overall is good."
"The solution is convenient. It is a comfortable and easy-to-use solution for my use cases."
 

Cons

"I would like to see integration with MQ systems."
"Performance optimization is an area of concern in Tomcat that should be made better."
"Sometimes we face issues with the private and public networks and ensuring that once Tomcat is installed, that it is secure."
"The stability must be improved."
"Tomcat is used mainly for database connections. As of now, we configure that environment for any database configuration. But if any utility can integrate where we can pass the database connection as a string of details, then it should encrypt them and keep them inside. From that security perspective, Tomcat requires improvement. They should integrate this security feature."
"Perhaps there could be an easier way to configure some advanced features."
"The setup is complex and could be improved."
"If it could support the driver's VIN, they can run natively without the GBM. Now, we can run what we call the native cloud application that doesn't require GBM. If Tomcat can support that, it's going to improve performance and backup."
"If Apache can come up with a better solution to provide better security, that would be ideal."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The price of the solution is good."
"Tomcat is not costlier than other solutions."
"We are using the open-source version."
"It's open-source. We don't pay for the license."
"We are currently using the open-source version."
"I rate the product's price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low price."
"Tomcat is open-source and free to use."
"Tomcat is an open source solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
42%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about Tomcat?
Tomcat's ease of use has positively impacted project timelines. Tomcat already has high availability – it doesn't go down so often and doesn't require a lot of maintenance. As long as your applicat...
What needs improvement with Tomcat?
Resource configuration like JNDI and queue configuration, similar to other servers, should be provided from the admin console for Tomcat. Currently, it is done manually. The server config file must...
What is your primary use case for Tomcat?
I am using the solution at running level three. It is for running web applications.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

GlassFish
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

TravelMuse, Clarity Accounting
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle, Apache, Red Hat and others in Application Server. Updated: March 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.