It is used for the REST service.
Operations Team Director at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
An easy-to-use and efficient web server solution
Pros and Cons
- "The tool is very easy to use and efficient."
- "In the next release, the tool should be more easily integrated and configured with other provisions. The pricing should also be made cheaper since it's very expensive now."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The tool is very easy and efficient.
What needs improvement?
In the next release, the tool should be more easily integrated and configured with other provisions. The pricing should also be made cheaper since it's very expensive now.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for twenty years.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The tool is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is a scalable product. My company has 1000 users for the tool. I have plans to increase the number of users.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we used Apache, Orache and Webinar Technologies.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy.
What about the implementation team?
The product was deployed through an in-house team.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The yearly licensing cost is very high. The solution is very expensive.
What other advice do I have?
IIS is a very efficient and stable solution.
I would rate it a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT consultant
Lacking documentation, difficult installation, but effective for large sized companies
Pros and Cons
- "IIS is stable."
- "The documentation of IIS could be better. They are not easily accessible. I had to use YouTube and other online resources to learn how to use the solution properly."
What is our primary use case?
I use IIS for issuing security certificates. For example, when I was trying to deploy direct access, it require a certificate which is issued from services. The service I used comes from IIS.
IIS is for large enterprises who would want to secure and make information private.
What needs improvement?
The documentation of IIS could be better. They are not easily accessible. I had to use YouTube and other online resources to learn how to use the solution properly.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using IIS for approximately a couple of months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
IIS is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I am the only one using this solution in my company.
The solution is scalable for large-sized companies.
How are customer service and support?
I have not used the support from IIS.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used Microsoft Active Directory. I started using IIS to see how can I deploy a secure certificate from my organization. Deploying certificates often require payment for various services. However, if you have a Windows Server, you can deploy it on-premises without having to go online. However, if you opt to avoid going online, you'll need to have an alternative process in place.
How was the initial setup?
I rate IIS a five out of ten. The time it takes for the deployment depends on your resources. If your resources are optimized, it will not take too long. You must have some knowledge of how to deploy it before you do it. However, typically the deployment takes 10 to 20 minutes.
What about the implementation team?
I did the deployment of the solution myself. Assistance would be useful for large enterprises for the department.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I was using the trial version of IIS inside my virtual machines.
ISS is included if you purchase a Windows Server license, then you can have the possibility to deploy different services.
What other advice do I have?
I would not recommend this solution because there are easier-to-use solutions on the market.
I rate IIS a five out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
IIS
December 2025
Learn what your peers think about IIS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.
System Administrator at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Easy to install, and integrate with the operating system
Pros and Cons
- "When you are working with Microsoft solutions, you will see that the integration with the operating system, and implementing some security features, are easier in IIS than when using another solution."
- "Sometimes if you are using IIS in large-scale scenarios, meaning that if you are deploying an application within IIS service and you are expecting a large number of users to use this application, you can sometimes find some problems, meaning that the service can shut down by itself unexpectedly if you don't configure your IIS with the correct configuration that can handle this number of users."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case is mainly using the IIS service to host web applications so that these applications can be accessed from outside through a web server.
What is most valuable?
I think that the IIS includes most features that are required by web applications so that they can run smoothly on Windows operating system. And since it is a native service from Microsoft that is part of the Windows Server ecosystem, so performance is good, and compatibility with the operating system also is excellent. The integration also is great with the operating system, and the integration with other Windows Server roles and applications.
When you are working with Microsoft solutions, you will see that the integration with the operating system, and implementing some security features, are easier in IIS than when using another solution. For example, if you want to use single authentication, SSO, or single sign-on, by authenticating yourself with your Windows username and password, when you are logging in to your computer, the IIS can use these credentials to automatically authenticate you in the application without the need to write or to type again your username or password. This is the SSO, the single sign-on, you can implement it quickly and easily in IIS since it is natively developed to work with Windows operating system. You only need to implement the SSO in your application. And once you develop this module and integrate it into your application, you can easily use it with the IIS within Windows.
What needs improvement?
Sometimes if you are using IIS in large-scale scenarios, meaning that if you are deploying an application within IIS service and you are expecting a large number of users to use this application, you can sometimes find some problems, meaning that the service can shut down by itself unexpectedly if you don't configure your IIS with the correct configuration that can handle this number of users.
Some configurations are not that easy to configure, there are a lot of details that you need to specify to tweak your applications. Sometimes, you can find problems, especially with applications that are not developed with .NET languages. If you want your application to perform well and can handle a large number of users, you need to use .NET languages like ASP.NET or other .NET technology. But if you are using for example PHP application, sometimes you can find some performance issues.
I encountered that type of problem, especially when you are using, for example, applications that are not developed in the Windows environment and you want to deploy this application with the IIS, sometimes you will find problems, especially performance-related problems.
For how long have I used the solution?
Frankly, I have been using the solution since 2010. And am still using it when we want to deploy web applications and you want to use a web server. So the IIS is a role within the Windows Server operating system that you can activate to use the web service in the operating system.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's not about stability, but it's more about compatibility. Meaning that, if you are using Microsoft technology, you won't find better than IIS. But if you are using other programming language technologies that aren't Microsoft technologies, you can find yourself facing these kinds of issues. Especially if your application wasn't developed to fully work with IIS. So sometimes you can find this problem, this problem can be caused by the development process of this application. But sometimes even though you will take into consideration the compatibility problem, the IIS won't perform well with other technologies that are not Microsoft.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. You can have as many servers that host IIS so that they can handle the connections from users. And this is where the Failover Cluster service is used, it is used to create a cluster of services so that you can make your service scalable and available.
How are customer service and support?
For Microsoft, if you subscribe for example, to the premium subscription plan, and it depends on the level or the urgency of the ticket or the incident, they will contact you sometimes within the hour if it's a critical problem. But if it's just a simple support ticket, sometimes within 24. It's less than 48 hours before they will call you. It depends on if you want them to assist you by phone or by email. And their support is really great, sometimes they can find the problem within minutes. Yeah, I think it's great.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Frankly, we are using other web server applications like the Apache web server. It depends on the application, and how or what web service application it was developed. If it was developed to be used with the IIS, then we use IIS for that application. If this application was developed for Apache or another web service, then we will install this webserver to run the application. Most of the time when it is a PHP web application, then we will use the Apache web server rather than the IIS. But if it's ASP.NET or another .NET technology, then we will use IIS. Or if we are using, for example, another solution from Microsoft, such as SharePoint or Microsoft Exchange mail servers, et cetera, then we will be forced to use the IIS service. Sometimes, you don't have a choice to choose. If it's a Microsoft solution you want to deploy, you will be forced to use IIS. If it's in-house developed application or you buy a product that needs a web server, then you can choose, but it depends also on the compatibility list of the application.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. It doesn't take much time. It's Windows, it's Microsoft stuff, and with Microsoft, it's about making the installation process easier, you cannot find an easier installation than Microsoft products. It's a role within the Windows Server, so with a number of clicks, you will find yourself ready to use the IIS service.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation was completed in-house.
Sometimes, I deploy it by myself, and sometimes when another department needs visual machines with Windows Server and the IIS service, I can either install everything by myself or provide them with the virtual machines and the access information credential, et cetera. And the company that will deploy the application for them, it'll be the one that will install the role and configure it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I think it's part of the Windows Server, so you won't have any other costs to add in order to use the IIS service. Meaning that, if you have a license for Windows Server, then automatically you will have also the IIS service available.
What other advice do I have?
I give the solution eight out of ten.
The IIS service version also depends on the version of the Windows Server. So for example, if you are using the Windows Server 2012, it may have an old version compared to the 2022 Windows Server version. It is the last one since we are also using the 2022 Windows Server operating system, so we are using the latest version 6.0.
Most of the time, if it's me who deployed or installed IIS in the first place, I am the one who will maintain it. But if it's another person or another company or its part of the maintenance program, then we will call the other company to do their maintenance tasks.
In my experience, I think that if you want to use IIS, you need to develop your application to be fully compatible with IIS. Meaning that, you need to use Microsoft technologies rather than other languages, for example, Java or PHP or other, Python or anything else. Rather than that them, you need to choose .NET technologies so that you will take advantage of the performance and compatibility of the system with your application. This is what I can recommend people to do in order to use IIS. Because when for example, you acquire an application or a solution that wasn't developed initially for IIS, you need to do many tweaks in the applications and the IIS in order to make it run. And sometimes these types of tweaks can cause you problems in the production environment.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Warehouse staff at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Highly stable solution with excellent management console
Pros and Cons
- "IIS's best features are its management console and stability."
- "IIS's memory management could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
I mainly use IIS to support web applications.
What is most valuable?
IIS's best features are its management console and stability.
What needs improvement?
IIS's memory management could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using IIS for over ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
IIS is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
IIS's scalability is good.
How are customer service and support?
Microsoft's technical support is good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, I used Apache, but it wasn't stable enough.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was very easy.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate IIS nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Helpful support, scalable, and quick setup
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup of IIS is easy. The process takes only five minutes."
- "IIS could improve the error logging. There are times we are not able to see the errors. More details would be helpful. Additionally, the configuring of the IIS should be allowed through coding instead of the classic view."
What is our primary use case?
We are using IIS for many purposes, such as creating the application pools, and websites, and defining the HTTP rules.
What needs improvement?
IIS could improve the error logging. There are times we are not able to see the errors. More details would be helpful. Additionally, the configuring of the IIS should be allowed through coding instead of the classic view.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using IIS for approximately eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
IIS is a stable solution for .NET applications.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of IIS is good. We can expand the solution if we choose.
We have approximately 30 to 40 people using the solution in my organization.
How are customer service and support?
I was required to use the support from IIS a while ago when we were migrating from IIS 6.0 to IIS 7.0.
I rate the support from IIS a five out of five.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of IIS is easy. The process takes only five minutes.
What other advice do I have?
We chose IIS because most of the applications we use are .NET and are Microsoft technologies that we are using for developing the application, IIS is the most valuable solution for this use case.
For first-time users of IIS, they should have some basic knowledge of what an application pool is, websites, and homepage redirections are.
I rate IIS a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Data Engineer at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
A stable and easy-to-configure solution that provides a lot of good features
Pros and Cons
- "The product is easy to configure."
- "The solution must improve the integration between its databases."
What is our primary use case?
We use the product for our web applications.
What is most valuable?
The product is easy to configure. It has a lot of good features.
What needs improvement?
The solution must improve the integration between its databases. It should also improve the definition of IP addresses and ports for connection.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for more than ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the tool’s stability more than eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Compared to other web application services, IIS has better scalability. We have many different programs. A part of our customers use the solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is a little complex. Even if we make a little mistake, the configuration still works well.
What about the implementation team?
We need three networking personnel to maintain the product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution.
What other advice do I have?
I look for network administration aspects in the product. A software person might have a different perspective. I did not configure the solution. My friends configured it. When my friends have a problem, I help them to solve it. IIS is related to software engineers and programmers. IIS is the best solution. Its services are better than other products. Overall, I rate the tool more than eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
System Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
Easy to manage platform with good scalability
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup is simple."
- "The platform's stability could be better."
What is our primary use case?
We are using the platform for automatic web services.
What is most valuable?
The platform is easy to manage.
What needs improvement?
The platform's stability could be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using IIS for a few years. At present, we are the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the platform's stability an eight out of ten. It could be improved.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have 2,000 IIS users in our organization. It is a scalable platform.
How are customer service and support?
The platform's technical support services are satisfactory.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple. It does not take too long to set up.
What was our ROI?
The platform generates a good return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
IIS's pricing is reasonable.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend IIS to others and rate it a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Cloud Analyst at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Is simple, easy to configure and implement, and is stable and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "IIS is easy to configure in terms of websites and other solutions."
- "I would like to see NLB features in IIS."
What is our primary use case?
I use IIS to publish our website internally. It helps me to publish information about the teams and provides flexible communication.
What is most valuable?
IIS is easy to configure in terms of websites and other solutions.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see NLB features in IIS.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for 20 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
For stability, I would give a rating of nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability at ten out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate Microsoft's technical support at ten out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy.
What was our ROI?
We have seen an ROI. We have been able to purchase the solution at a good price and implement it easily. It has been working fine for us.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price is good.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend IIS because it's simple, easy to configure and implement, and has good technical support. Overall, I would rate IIS at nine on a scale from one to ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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