IIS vs Windows Process Activation Services comparison

IIS and Windows Process Activation Services are both solutions in the Application Infrastructure category. IIS is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3, while Windows Process Activation Services is ranked #21. IIS holds a 12.4% mindshare in AIS, compared to Windows Process Activation Services’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of IIS users are willing to recommend the solution.

IIS

Read 56 IIS reviews

2,923 Views
2,186 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

Windows Process Activation ...

Read 1 Windows Process Activation Services review

219 Views
157 Comparison Views

0% willing to recommend

IIS

Windows Process Activation ...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IIS and Windows Process Activation Services based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, F5, Apache and others in Application Infrastructure.

To learn more, read our detailed Application Infrastructure Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Application Infrastructure

February 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 Infrastructure

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Server (4th)

Windows Process Activation ...

Ranking in Application Infrastructure

21st

Average Rating

4.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IIS is 12.4%, down from 13.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows Process Activation Services is 0.9%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Infrastructure

Featured Reviews

VikramSingh6

Operations Executive at Quess

A simple and easy-to-use solution but not recommended for public apps

I would rate the overall solution a six out of ten. We have around five to six developers and engineers for the solution’s deployment and maintenance. You can use the solution if your website is not too big or complicated. However, if it is big and complicated, then you need to use Apache or Red Hat. This tool can be used for internal purposes. But if you plan to host a public app, then I wouldn’t recommend the tool.

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it_user1226547

Senior IT Systems Administrator at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees

Central console enables us to see all of the activated and deactivated computers but it has poor alerts and frustrating technical support

The solution needs to allow for other company product licenses to be included if possible. The solution needs to include other Microsoft products, like Exchange, SharePoint, etc. Right now, it's only for Windows and Office. The solution needs to be made web-based. Right now, we have to install some tools and to use these tools we have to log into a specific server. If that server has an issue we cannot manage it. The solution needs to be able to be managed from any machine. Alerting capabilities should be improved. If a license expires or there is a breach, or something is non-compliant, the solution should send out alerts.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

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

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is easy to use and easy to understand."

"The solution has been reliable."

"We use Windows Server only for Eggplant Manager."

"IIS is useful for the deployment of web applications...Its stability is good."

"Microsoft's technical support has always been very good."

"It's very easy to publish."

"The solution is easy to use, easy to maintain and isn't too technical."

More IIS pros

"The most valuable aspect of the solution is the central console, that allows you to see all of the activated and deactivated computers."

Cons

"The customer service and support team can be improved."

"We've never had any issues with the solution, but it's still nice to have overall improvements on it. It could be easier and faster to use, for example."

"Sometimes, we encounter difficult issues, and getting support from Microsoft to resolve those issues is not easy."

"The solution must improve the integration between its databases."

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

"The only issue I've encountered is with certificates not working fine sometimes. It's influenced by the server's service performance."

"IIS's memory management could be improved."

"Having no support for other than a Microsoft environment and programming languages limits the usage of IIS in many cases."

More IIS cons

"The stability of the solution needs improvement."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"IIS comes along with an OS license from Microsoft. Others can opt for a perpetual-based licensing model to be able to use the system."

"I give the price of the solution a five out of ten."

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

"This solution comes included with Windows Server."

"We pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution."

"There is no license needed to use the solution."

"The tool's pricing is on a yearly basis."

More IIS pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Government

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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?

They offer a one-time payment model for the product license, and we pay annually for support. I rate the pricing an eight out of ten.

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Comparisons

NGINX Plus vs IIS

Compared 30% of the time

Apache Web Server vs IIS

Compared 21% of the time

Oracle WebLogic Server vs IIS

Compared 16% of the time

Tomcat vs IIS

Compared 14% of the time

More IIS Competitors

Microsoft .NET Framework vs Windows Process Activation Services

Compared 55% of the time

More Windows Process Activation Services Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IIS

February 2025

Download IIS product report

Buyer's Guide

Application Infrastructure

February 2025

Windows Process Activation Services report

Download Windows Process Activation Services 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

Windows Process Activation Service generalizes the Internet Information Services (IIS) process model, removing the dependency on HTTP. All the features of IIS that were previously available only to HTTP applications are now available to applications hosting Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services, by using non-HTTP protocols. IIS 7.0 also uses Windows Process Activation Service for message-based activation over HTTP.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

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

Bank Alfalah Ltd., Harris Farm Markets, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, John Keells Holdings, Green Prefab, 343 Industries, SM Prime, Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd.

Buyer's Guide

Application Infrastructure

February 2025

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