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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Microsoft .NET Framework comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 2025

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

IBM WebSphere Application S...
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (5th)
Microsoft .NET Framework
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 7.3%, down from 11.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft .NET Framework is 4.6%, down from 5.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft .NET Framework4.6%
IBM WebSphere Application Server7.3%
Other88.1%
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

CF
Senior Manager, MW & DB Automation at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Has worked seamlessly in complex clustered environments and supports long-term development efforts
IBM WebSphere Application Server is currently at version 9.0.5.23. In recent months, they released fix 23, as they periodically release fixes. Previously, they frequently increased versions, but now they maintain 9.0.5 with different releases. It's based on Java J2EE 7 and Java SDK 1.8. Oracle announced that 2030 will be the last year when Java SDK 1.8 will be supported. Oracle currently deploys Java 2.x in parallel, with the latest being version 25. The future of IBM WebSphere Application Server remains uncertain since it's based on Java 1.8 and Java 7. I haven't found any white papers or official documentation from IBM outlining their trajectory post-2030.
Muhammad Qasim - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect at Diyar United Company
Has enabled building responsive multi-threaded applications while supporting rapid deployment workflows
Microsoft .NET Framework has already made significant improvements by becoming open source. Many developers are contributing to Microsoft .NET Framework, not just Microsoft itself. They have ported it to many platforms and allow a healthy ecosystem of open source tools. They have moved from Visual SourceSafe to supporting Git with Microsoft Visual Studio. Their IDE, Visual Studio Code, is open source and multi-platform. There are many third-party tools available, including AI-based tools such as Cursor and Bolt, which are forks of Visual Studio Code. Based on my understanding, I don't have any suggestions for improvement as they are already doing an excellent job.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The scalability of the product is quite good."
"This solution is easy to use with a GUI that is intuitive and very helpful."
"Starting with version 8, WAS provides a special folder called monitor deployment. Once you put the .war or .ear file in there, it is deployed automatically without human intervention. This greatly helps us in our continuous integration server. Once the deployment binary is ready, we write a script to copy it to that folder and then, voila! The application is up and running and accessible from its context root."
"The integration between IBM tools and applications is very well executed, and the support from IBM is quite good, providing a solid support structure."
"It does integrate well with the Tivoli Federated Identity Management system."
"The VPN service is quite useful."
"The only reason why we're currently using WebSphere is that the integration of the authentication with Azure is very quick. WebSphere has something that can immediately connect with Azure Active Directory."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is Portal Virtualization."
"It facilitates running Windows business applications and leveraging enterprise application development."
"The web development and Microsoft Windows service development capabilities are among the most valuable features offered by the Microsoft .NET Framework. This language platform is highly user-friendly, with plenty of online examples and information available, as well as a robust development environment."
"Microsoft .NET Framework continually innovates, particularly in Visual Studio, which focuses on improving languages, debugging, and .NET functionality."
"The new .NET Core has those middlewares, which are awesome from a security standpoint. With the old Framework or the newer Framework, middleware is basically an event pipeline. You configure and register it, and it handles things centrally. A simple example is logging. With the old Framework, you needed to try/catch blocks everywhere. Here, you configure the logging handler once, and it captures exceptions across the application. I really like the middleware pattern."
"The most valuable features are the Domain Controller and the WBFS Manager."
"If we take low code, no code platform such as RPA platforms, you might end up writing 100 lines of code and you might do it in a single line of code using. NET."
"The most valuable feature is customization."
"Proven solution with valuable customization."
 

Cons

"I find the server okay, however, using the Maker instance, the Moving instance, and the Change instance is a little bit complicated without WebSphere knowledge."
"I think that this is a good product but I think that the cloud environment could be improved. I think that the future is in the utilization of the product in a product as a service way which is something that is lacking at this moment."
"What could be improved in IBM WebSphere Application Server is its interconnection with other products, for example, Kafka. What I'd like to see in the next release of the solution is a better graphical user interface."
"In spite of the solution's robustness, it is expensive and a bit difficult to support."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server hasn't changed much. It's still a heavyweight for any company compared to what you get. Unless your code base is deeply linked with it, I don't think it's a great idea to go with this solution. The current trend is toward modularity and containerization, and given the product's requirements, containerization will be difficult. There is a memory requirement as well."
"The security could be better."
"The main issue we faced was its limited compatibility with non-Java technologies, which can result in difficulty detecting potential bugs and requiring additional integration efforts."
"When we run into memory or locking issues, we resort to using third-party tools. However, it would be preferable to have native tools for debugging this type of problem."
"I would like to see more pre-built features in the MVC framework because as it is now, it's very open and you have to develop your own controls in order to use it."
"Some cloud features will not run in an old version of Microsoft .NET Framework easily or at all. Running on the cloud is complex."
".NET Is still heavy or dependant on other Microsoft libraries and frameworks."
"I would want the product to be integrated with the different AI tools in the future since it is one of the areas where the product has certain shortcomings."
"The solution could improve by optimizing the memory for better performance."
"In the next release, I am looking for more advanced technologies such as socket communication and enhanced features like realtime chat with the clients."
"I would like to see a better response time from the technical support."
"It is of great concern to us that the solution is not very powerful on cross platform, at it impedes the ability to build and scale with it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We used to pay about $100,000-$120,000 US or somewhere around there. That was a bit cost-prohibitive for us to continue."
"It is very expensive."
"I don't remember the price, but there are no additional costs."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"There is an Eclipse Plugin provided by IBM, so no need to buy IBM Rational Application Developer or Rational Software Architect tools."
"If your application is just a web app that does not need to scale big, you can obtain a single core license of WAS Express edition, which has almost the same features with limited processing cores. If you manage a very big application farm (i.e. need to run 10 or more WAS servers) it is better to get IBM WAS Hypervisor Edition."
"The price of this product is higher than that of competitors."
"IBM WAS base is part of the deal when you purchase IBM FileNet P8 Content Engine."
"The product and support for this solution are free for everyone."
"In the interim, there's no need to purchase videos for viewing. Microsoft has made significant moves in the .NET space, starting with their response in Visual Studio Code and now providing Visual Studio entirely for free. This is a notable shift from the past when we used to pay substantial amounts for technical subscriptions. Previously, a group of ten developers could cost several thousand dollars annually for licensing. However, the current trend is to offer these tools for free to maintain their dominance in the developer market. The market dynamics have changed, and now developers can freely download Visual Studio, making it a preferred choice over other paid options."
"The pricing could be cheaper."
"The solution is free but you need to pay for a license for the hosting service."
"Microsoft .NET Framework is free of cost."
"I rate the solution's pricing a two out of ten because .NET is an open-source framework. You don't have to pay for a license."
"We have an annual license, and we pay extra for extended support."
"Microsoft .NET Framework is a free, open-source solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
34%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Government
6%
Construction Company
16%
Real Estate/Law Firm
13%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise23
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM WebSphere Application Server?
Network Deployment is the most useful feature for scalability. It has many features within the standard WebSphere Application Server edition.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM WebSphere Application Server?
At Royal Bank, which is a major IBM customer with mainframes and numerous IBM products, they have a specific agreement regarding pricing. The pricing structure for large enterprise customers differ...
What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Application Server?
IBM WebSphere Application Server is currently at version 9.0.5.23. In recent months, they released fix 23, as they periodically release fixes. Previously, they frequently increased versions, but no...
What do you like most about Microsoft .NET Framework?
Microsoft .NET Framework continually innovates, particularly in Visual Studio, which focuses on improving languages, debugging, and .NET functionality.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft .NET Framework?
I don't know about pricing. I'm paying for Visual Studio, even though I'm not using the new version yet. Prices can always be better, but I think for the environment provided, the prices are accept...
What needs improvement with Microsoft .NET Framework?
Microsoft .NET Framework has already made significant improvements by becoming open source. Many developers are contributing to Microsoft .NET Framework, not just Microsoft itself. They have ported...
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server
MS .NET Framework
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

TalkTalk, Property management group, E.SUN Bank, Ohio National Financial Services, Aviarc, Cincom Systems, FJA-US, D+H, Staples, Michigan Municipal League
Curtin University, Rockwell Automation, Aruba Networks, Insurity Inc., City of Barcelona, Pennsylvania DCNR, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, A1 Telekom Austria AG, Eastman Chemical Company
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. Microsoft .NET Framework and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
880,745 professionals have used our research since 2012.