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Oracle GlassFish vs Tomcat comparison

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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
13th
Average Rating
6.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Tomcat
Ranking in Application Server
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of Oracle GlassFish is 3.5%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tomcat is 13.1%, down from 15.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Tomcat13.1%
Oracle GlassFish3.5%
Other83.4%
Application Server
 

Featured Reviews

it_user517413 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Lead Developer
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.
Sanjay Sahu - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

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."
"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 has connectors like REST requests to connect the front end. Also, some parts of the inter-system communication go through REST. External connections with third parties occasionally involve both REST and SOAP protocols. Tomcat is versatile in accommodating these various communication methods."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the general web server features; it's simple and easy to use."
"Tomcat is free and opensource."
"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."
"Tomcat is reliable and secure, which makes it valuable for our application deployment."
"The ease of use of Tomcat is its most valuable feature."
"The solution has very robust functionality."
 

Cons

"I would like to see integration with MQ systems."
"The setup is complex and could be improved."
"In the solution, we are using the terminal to enter command line codes for operations and management, this is difficult for me. It would be better if we had some administrator UI tools for this."
"The current procedure appears complex and could benefit from a more straightforward solution."
"Security integration in Tomcat is complicated. We need to use another tool to solve the security issues."
"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."
"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."
"Technical support is limited."
"Perhaps there could be an easier way to configure some advanced features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"It's open-source. We don't pay for the license."
"This is an open-source product and it's free to use."
"It is an open-source tool and is free of cost."
"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."
"We are using the open-source version."
"It is an expensive product."
"There are no additional costs apart from the standard license."
"Tomcat is not costlier than other solutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
21%
Government
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise28
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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.
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...
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...
 

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 Red Hat, Apache, Oracle and others in Application Server. Updated: October 2026.
920,929 professionals have used our research since 2012.