IIS vs Tomcat comparison

Microsoft and Apache are both solutions in the Application Server category. Microsoft is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3, while Apache is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.8. Microsoft holds a 6.8% mindshare in AppS, compared to Apache’s 19.9% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Apache users who would recommend it.

IIS

Read 56 IIS reviews

1,545 Views
1,163 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

Tomcat

Read 51 Tomcat reviews

4,306 Views
3,427 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

IIS

Tomcat

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

IIS and Tomcat compete in the web server and application server category. IIS seems to have the upper hand in environments that require seamless integration with Windows, while Tomcat stands out in cross-platform flexibility and cost-effectiveness.

Features: IIS offers seamless compatibility with Microsoft applications, robust security features, and high performance. In contrast, Tomcat is lightweight, open-source, and excels in cross-platform capabilities, providing easy configuration for Java applications.

Room for Improvement: IIS struggles with compatibility beyond Microsoft platforms and has complex advanced configurations. Tomcat faces challenges with performance in handling static content and scalability for high-traffic applications, along with documentation complexity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IIS is integrated with Windows Server, providing straightforward on-premises deployment and decent technical support. Tomcat's deployment is flexible across platforms, yet support mainly relies on its strong open-source community.

Pricing and ROI: IIS is bundled with Windows Server, offering cost benefits to Microsoft users but can be expensive with additional licensing. Tomcat is free and open-source, providing a low-cost solution for Java applications, though enterprise support may lead to additional expenses.

To learn more, read our detailed IIS vs. Tomcat Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IIS vs. Tomcat

April 2025

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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

IIS

Ranking in Application Server

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Infrastructure (1st)

Tomcat

Ranking in Application Server

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of IIS is 6.8%, down from 6.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tomcat is 19.9%, down from 20.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Server

Featured Reviews

DanielWildermuth

Testtool expert at Helvetia Versicherungen

Provides integration with Eggplant but problems with stability

We use Windows Server only for Eggplant Manager. Otherwise, I'm not using it At the moment, we have big problems with stability, and I'm not very happy at the moment. So, the stability could be improved. I have been using it for a few years. The initial setup is complex. We have an…

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Erick Karanja

Technical Lead at Cellulant Kenya

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a scalable solution."

"It helps scan and mitigates our vulnerabilities using the best protocols to secure our environment."

"The solution is easy to use and connects with Microsoft."

"The solution is very simple to use and easy to deploy."

"The tool is very easy to use and efficient."

"The product is easy to use."

"The most valuable feature of IIS is that it's free, and it works."

"It has an intuitive user interface and provides a lot of options for building reports."

More IIS pros

"The deployment process is very fast."

"Tomcat is user-friendly and easy to set up, especially compared to WebLogic or JBoss where some specialty is required. If you are going for Tomcat, you can use their guidelines and can set it up easily."

"Tomcat is easy to handle, its installation process does not take much time, and its server speed is also very good compared to other servers."

"We chose to use Tomcat because it's perfect compared to other containers that we have tested."

"The product is easy to use."

"One of the most valuable features of Tomcat is its compatibility with the Apache web server and its ease of configuration. It is simple to set up and maintain and allows for easy management of database connections, transactions, and isolation. Overall, Tomcat is a user-friendly application server that makes it easy to manage various aspects of database interactions."

"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 application works, you can depend on Tomcat."

"The product's initial setup phase was simple."

More Tomcat pros

Cons

"The product could be more compatible with Linux and macOS, particularly when applying user configuration policies."

"Finding different settings can be difficult if you don't know where to look."

"Presently, some developers do not have technical knowledge of managing IIS, so that needs to be improved in the next release."

"The platform's stability could be better."

"Performance-wise, certain improvements in IIS are needed...IIS is not scalable. Its scalability is less."

"If Microsoft IIS could work well with AppOptics or things like PHP, Python, and other custom languages that run on the webserver, it would be ideal. I think there are cases where people need to use Apache instead of IIS when IIS doesn't work well with other web languages."

"We'd like future versions to be more stable."

"The areas of this solution that need improvement are monitoring, debugging, and troubleshooting."

More IIS cons

"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."

"I would personally like it if the admin console would show more information specifically about memory being used."

"Tomcat is not user-friendly. I would also like to be able to have multiple applications run at the same time."

"Performance optimization is an area of concern in Tomcat that should be made better."

"One way to improve the solution is by making the logging capabilities of Tomcat better by providing a logger within the server itself and making it easy to access and view the server logs. This can be especially useful when debugging issues with applications deployed on the Tomcat server. By having the ability to view both the application logs and the server logs, you can more easily identify the source of any issues and troubleshoot them more efficiently. Providing a connector or other similar feature that allows you to access the server logs from within your application can also be helpful in this regard. Having access to both the application logs and the server logs can be a valuable resource when trying to identify and resolve problems."

"Tomcat's performance is less than other solutions like IBM WebSphere or JBoss."

"If Apache can come up with a better solution to provide better security, that would be ideal."

"Tomcat's stability could be improved, especially when handling more memory-intensive, large-scale applications."

More Tomcat cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license needed for the solution."

"The product's price is not high."

"We purchased a Microsoft Windows license and the license for IIS came in the package."

"I was using the trial version of IIS inside my virtual machines."

"IIS's pricing is not expensive."

"The price is good."

"The yearly licensing cost is very high. The solution is very expensive."

"The tool is included with Windows."

More IIS pricing and cost advice

"The price of the solution is good."

"This is an open-source product and it's free to use."

"I give the pricing an eight out of ten."

"The solution is free."

"It's open-source. We don't pay for the license."

"Tomcat is an open-source server."

"Tomcat's pricing is very cheap."

"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."

More Tomcat pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Educational Organization

43%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Which is better - IIS or NGINX Plus?

IIS is a flexible, secure, and manageable web server to host anything on the web. IIS’s scalable and open architecture can handle the most demanding tasks. From media streaming to web applications,...

See all answers

What do you like most about IIS?

The product is flexible.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IIS?

If you have a Windows license, there is no additional cost for IIS. However, you may need to pay for SSL publishing at times.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Tomcat?

I am using the solution at running level three. It is for running web applications.

See all answers

Comparisons

NGINX Plus vs IIS

Compared 29% of the time

Apache Web Server vs IIS

Compared 23% of the time

Oracle WebLogic Server vs IIS

Compared 16% of the time

JBoss vs IIS

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft .NET Framework vs IIS

Compared 5% of the time

More IIS Competitors

Oracle WebLogic Server vs Tomcat

Compared 31% of the time

JBoss vs Tomcat

Compared 24% of the time

IBM WebSphere Application Server vs Tomcat

Compared 20% of the time

Caucho Resin vs Tomcat

Compared 4% of the time

Oracle GlassFish vs Tomcat

Compared 4% of the time

More Tomcat Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IIS

April 2025

Download IIS product report

Buyer's Guide

Tomcat

March 2025

Download Tomcat product report

Also Known As

Windows Server IIS

No data available

Overview

Internet Information Services (IIS) provides a secure, easy-to-manage, modular and extensible platform for reliably hosting websites, services and applications. With IIS, you get choice and control without giving up reliability or security.

Microsoft

Tomcat is a reliable and efficient web server, popular for hosting and running Java-based applications. It is praised for its scalability, compatibility with different operating systems and development frameworks, and its ability to handle heavy workloads.

Users appreciate Tomcat's ease of use, robust performance, reliable server functionality, seamless integration with various platforms, extensive documentation, and strong community support.

Apache

Sample Customers

Erste Bank Group, NJVC, Samsung Electronics, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Tata Steel Europe, Urban Software Institute

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

Buyer's Guide

IIS vs. Tomcat

April 2025

Free Report: IIS vs. Tomcat

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