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JBoss vs Tomcat 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

JBoss
Ranking in Application Server
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Tomcat
Ranking in Application Server
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Application Server category, the mindshare of JBoss is 17.7%, up from 17.3% 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

Srinadh  Puli - PeerSpot reviewer
Automation aids installation while management consolidation needs improvement
We are currently using Ansible for Jira installations and all the management tasks. We perform some tasks manually, however, Ansible helps in automating some of these processes I find JBoss to be lightweight and easier to manage compared to WebSphere. It allows for simple modification of…
Erick  Karanja - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"JBoss is a scalable tool."
"The most valuable feature is the UI."
"We can deploy the applications on the JBoss server, so it is easy to manage. It's also easy to add new certificates to the config."
"I find JBoss to be lightweight and easier to manage compared to WebSphere."
"The stability is good. I would rate it a nine out of ten."
"JBoss's configuration is straightforward and easy."
"The support is fast and reliable."
"JBoss is more flexible and keeps up with modern technologies, supporting newer versions of different libraries."
"It is easy to manage at a basic level."
"We can use Apache Tomcat for Java server applications."
"The most valuable feature of Tomcat is its ability to export libraries into different instances so that I can use it not only in one application but in multiple applications."
"The solution is scalable."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the general web server features."
"Tomcat is a single-server solution for deploying applications that can scale effectively. It's a good choice because it simplifies deployment. Once you package your application, deployment is straightforward and efficient."
"Tomcat is reliable and secure, which makes it valuable for our application deployment."
"The product's initial setup phase was simple."
 

Cons

"Making it lighter and more modular would probably be beneficial."
"I would like to see improved booting of applications altogether on one page to manage all data instances from one location, similar to an AWS console."
"The solution's documentation could be better."
"The product could be cheaper."
"The solution sometimes crashed and had some compatibility issues with the DevOps JAR file."
"The price of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required. The product could be made cheaper."
"It can have automation features. Everybody is focused right now on automation. In terms of saving cost, automation is always the first thing that comes to light."
"There is not much ability inside of the solution. The world is going beyond different micro and data-type things like Microsoft Office, so we are not seeing much ability within the solution."
"If it could support the driver's VIN, they can run natively without the GBM. Now, we can run what we call the native cloud application that doesn't require GBM. If Tomcat can support that, it's going to improve performance and backup."
"Tomcat's performance is less than other solutions like IBM WebSphere or JBoss."
"Our biggest challenge is that the Tomcat servers are not hosted locally."
"The current procedure appears complex and could benefit from a more straightforward solution."
"I would personally like it if the admin console would show more information specifically about memory being used."
"The solution cannot host .NET applications."
"The interface is not user-friendly."
"The setup is complex and could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product price as eight on a scale, where one means it is a very cheap solution, and ten points mean that it is a very expensive tool."
"There is no licensing cost. The solution is free to use."
"We pay for a maintenance license, but it is not expensive."
"JBoss is an expensive solution."
"The pricing of JBoss is more reasonable than that of WebLogic."
"The solution is cost-efficient compared to other products. Pricing is rated an eight out of ten."
"Despite the price increase after being acquired by IBM, JBoss still maintains its competitiveness. The package provided is more geared towards cloud-based deployments, whereas our setup is more traditional, which makes it slightly more expensive for us. As most vendors are transitioning towards cloud-centric solutions, companies like ours need to adapt accordingly."
"Since the solution is freeware, our customers don't need to pay any licensing fees."
"Tomcat is open-source and free to use."
"Tomcat is not costlier than other solutions."
"It's open-source. We don't pay for the license."
"The price of the solution is good."
"The solution is free."
"We are currently using the open-source version."
"We are using the open-source version."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
43%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about JBoss?
The product's initial setup phase is easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for JBoss?
JBoss is the cheaper option out of the three when compared to WebSphere and WebLogic. Though I haven't done a detailed price comparison, the licensing fee is cheaper, and due to its flexibility, th...
What needs improvement with JBoss?
They are trying to make it less heavyweight since app servers often deliver a lot of functionality. Still, if we aren't leveraging them, they can be too much for certain use cases. Making it lighte...
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...
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...
What is your primary use case for Tomcat?
I am using the solution at running level three. It is for running web applications.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Tata Sky, Nissan, Swedish Board of Agriculture, Novamedia, American Product Distributors, Advanced Micro Devices, Emirates Group, E*TRADE
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
Find out what your peers are saying about JBoss vs. Tomcat and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.