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IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Oracle WebLogic Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 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 Server
5th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (5th)
Oracle WebLogic Server
Ranking in Application Server
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IBM WebSphere Application Server is 12.7%, up from 11.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle WebLogic Server is 25.1%, down from 26.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Server
 

Featured Reviews

BharathirajaSukumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient load balancing and the clustering, achieved by using the deployment manager, is valuable
I believe that the system is already good. However, for improvement or enhancement, it is user-friendly, but it could offer better choices on the front end for different aspects or options. Sometimes, I have to search extensively for features, as there are no upfront tabs. There is a lack of visible, easy, user-friendly, and straightforward options for the number of features.
Saikat Nag - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers efficient load distribution with a scope of high scalability
Our organization configures Oracle WebLogic Server in such a way that a load balancer becomes available. The network requests are segregated to the Oracle WebLogic Server as the managing server and different nodes are configured. Using the product as a load balancer helps automate request transfer from one non-functional node to another functional node. Due to Oracle WebLogic Server, the endpoints remain unaffected whenever a node goes down. The clustering feature enhances our organization's performance and reliability. In our organization, the health of the Oracle WebLogic Server environment is maintained and managed using Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM). I would definitely recommend others to use Oracle WebLogic Server. Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Ease of administration: It has an Integrated Solutions Console, what we call the administrative console, with very detailed configurations and Help pages for each configurable item."
"I find IBM support to be very nice."
"The performance is good."
"IBM WAS is extremely scalable. It is easy to add additional servers and to divide the load over servers in all kinds of ways."
"What's most valuable in IBM WebSphere Application Server is its resilience. When you use the solution, you know that after the communication has been done, there will be no doubt that the data has reached its destination."
"As compared to other applications, it has tremendous support. We have built internal capability so that we use it extensively internally. It is also easier to use with the outside data. You can write in ESQL, Java, or any other technology that you want to use for development. So, it is a lot more flexible in the language that it supports."
"IBM WebSphere Application Server is one of the best servers due to its stability and paid license."
"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."
"It is efficient, not redundant, usable, scalable, and meant for enterprise applications."
"It has helped us to have different clusters within different servers, which allows us to identify hacker attacks."
"Another valuable feature is the ability to automate tasks through scripts, making our environment highly efficient."
"The only difference is that Weblogic is lighter and consumes less memory."
"It is good because it's easy to use. It doesn't crash frequently like other servers."
"What I find most valuable in Oracle WebLogic Server is its flexibility in administering and managing applications, along with the built-in dashboards that offer high visibility into vulnerabilities."
"In the newer system, reconfigurability and the fact that it is easy to configure, make it very valuable."
"In WebLogic, the most useful feature is the UI administration console from where we can configure everything, such as security access, and we can start and stop it graphically. That's the best feature of WebLogic Server."
 

Cons

"The availability of the solution needs improvement."
"Based on the field and based on the build that was provided, we've noticed a lot of constraints in terms of the performance now."
"Initial setup is very simple. Just use the IBM Installation Manager and add the packages. The install wizard takes care of the rest. The only thing that can be difficult is to find the right packages on the IBM website, because of all the changes that IBM does on its website(s)."
"In spite of the solution's robustness, it is expensive and a bit difficult to support."
"WebSphere Application Server doesn't have an automated deployment option, forcing us to use third-party tools like Jenkins UCD and Palo Automated Deployment."
"The security could be better."
"I think in some moments, the security was a little bit more complex to configure when it was delegated to other systems, making it an area where improvements are required."
"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."
"The quarterly updates can sometimes lead to instability depending on the configuration of systems."
"Licensing fees need improvement."
"There's a bug related to the managed services."
"In terms of what could be improved, maybe something related to the processes automation or starting and stopping the processes, because often WebLogic comes with something called Node Manager. Node Manager needs to be configured and administrated manually."
"The solution is very expensive, and its pricing could be improved."
"This is a complex application."
"The ticket-raising process is very time-consuming"
"I've had issues with some of the tracking features tracking and have had to go back to several generations of code to fix problems where things were touched."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of this product is higher than that of competitors."
"It is very expensive."
"When you purchase Maximo, you get WebSphere for free."
"Room for improvement would only be in the licensing. As with all IBM products the licensing can be complex and expensive. Bargain well and try to get as much discount as possible. Discounts of 85% are possible. Without the discount, I think the product is overrated."
"The price of IBM WebSphere Application Server could be less expensive and there is an annual license required for this solution."
"I don't remember the price, but there are no additional costs."
"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 licensing fees are annual and depend on the model."
"Pricing for Oracle WebLogic Server is expensive."
"In our country, this is an expensive product."
"The solution’s pricing is affordable."
"Fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"It is expensive."
"The solution's licensing is high-priced."
"The licensing of the product is expensive"
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
31%
Computer Software Company
13%
Insurance Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Government
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
In Korea, when you buy IBM iOS, the WebSphere base version is included with iOS. That means no additional cost.
What needs improvement with IBM WebSphere Application Server?
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.
What needs improvement with Oracle WebLogic Server?
Sometimes, some issues don't get fixed by Oracle's technical support team, and you need to invest time to fix them by yourself. Oracle's support team fails to understand the real problem of the cus...
What is your primary use case for Oracle WebLogic Server?
When we implemented Oracle Libre Suite, there is middleware, which is normally Oracle WebLogic. Many customers in Pakistan use Oracle WebLogic Middleware. Previously, it was our application server,...
 

Also Known As

WebSphere Application Server
WebLogic Application Server
 

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
Colab Consulting Pty. Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Sascar, Banca Transilvania, UL, Center for Railway Information Systems, SPAR Austria Group, Reliance Commercial Finance, Industrial Bank of Korea, Al Jaber Group, Safe Water Kenya, Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion Society
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM WebSphere Application Server vs. Oracle WebLogic Server and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,476 professionals have used our research since 2012.