9 Best Application Server Software: 9 Tools Compared

#1

Apache Tomcat

Best for: Running Java web apps simply

Visit tomcat.apache.org

Tomcat is the most deployed Java application server on earth, and its appeal is simplicity. It runs servlets, JSPs, and WebSockets with minimal configuration and a fraction of the memory footprint of full enterprise servers. For the large class of applications that are really just web apps with a database behind them, Tomcat is everything needed and nothing more.

What it does not do is the full Jakarta EE stack: no EJB container, no built-in JMS provider, no distributed transaction coordinator out of the box. Teams that need those either add components or move to TomEE or a full server. But for straightforward web workloads, Tomcat's combination of zero cost, tiny resource use, and decades of operational knowledge is unmatched.

#2

Red Hat JBoss EAP

Best for: Enterprise Jakarta EE with support

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JBoss Enterprise Application Platform is Red Hat's commercial answer for organizations that run Jakarta EE in production and need accountability. It is built from the WildFly upstream project, hardened, and backed by Red Hat's support organization with patch SLAs that matter to regulated industries. Migration from WildFly to EAP is straightforward by design, which gives teams a free on-ramp and a paid destination.

The subscription model means budgeting through Red Hat sales rather than a download button. For simple servlet workloads it is also more server than necessary. But for enterprises standardizing on Red Hat across OS, middleware, and cloud, EAP is the coherent choice, and the support contract is the product as much as the software.

#3

Oracle WebLogic Server

Best for: Oracle-centric enterprises

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WebLogic is the application server of the Oracle shop. If your data lives in Oracle Database and your integrations run through Oracle middleware, WebLogic fits like the missing piece: connection pooling, transaction coordination, and clustering all tuned for that world. Its high-availability and disaster-recovery features are genuinely strong, which is why banks and telecoms still run it.

The price of admission is Oracle licensing, which is expensive and famously complex to navigate. Administration is a specialty skill, not something a generalist picks up in a week. Organizations already deep in Oracle's ecosystem accept this as the cost of coherence. Everyone else should think hard before buying into a stack this heavy.

#4

IBM WebSphere Application Server

Best for: IBM-centric enterprises

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WebSphere has processed some of the world's biggest transaction volumes for decades, and it shows in the engineering: workload management, failover, and administrative control are built for scale that most servers never see. For IBM-centric enterprises, particularly in financial services, it remains a known quantity with deep institutional knowledge.

Like WebLogic, it belongs to an era of heavyweight middleware. It wants serious hardware, trained administrators, and license budgets to match. IBM's direction emphasizes its Liberty profile and container story for new work, while traditional WebSphere keeps the legacy estate running. New projects should evaluate whether they need this weight or whether a lighter server does the job.

#5

WildFly

Best for: Free full-featured Jakarta EE

Visit wildfly.org

WildFly is what JBoss EAP is made from, minus the subscription. It delivers the full Jakarta EE platform, clustering, messaging, transactions, and all, as a free download with impressively fast startup times. Development teams love it because the code they test on WildFly deploys unchanged to JBoss EAP in production.

The trade is support. There is no SLA, no one to call, only community forums and documentation. Many teams accept that happily; some augment it with third-party support. If you want enterprise Jakarta EE without enterprise licensing, WildFly is the most capable free option, and the EAP upgrade path stays open if needs change.

#6

Eclipse GlassFish

Best for: Standards-based open-source server

Visit glassfish.org

GlassFish carries the reference-implementation DNA of Java EE into the Jakarta EE era under the Eclipse Foundation. Recent releases track the latest Jakarta EE specifications closely, with an embedded mode that runs as a single executable JAR for containers and microservices. For teams that value strict standards compliance and portability, it is a principled choice.

The community is smaller than Tomcat's or WildFly's, which means fewer Stack Overflow answers and fewer third-party integrations. Commercial support options exist but are niche. GlassFish suits teams comfortable with open source self-reliance who want a clean, standards-faithful server, and it pairs naturally with Payara for those who later want commercial backing.

#7

Eclipse Jetty

Best for: Lightweight embeddable server

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Jetty is the server you have used a thousand times without knowing it. It embeds inside build tools, frameworks, IDEs, and products from major vendors because it starts fast, sips memory, and handles modern protocols well. For microservices and embedded use cases, it is often the right-sized choice where a full application server would be absurd.

It does not try to be WebLogic. There is no EJB container, no heavy admin console, no clustering suite. That is the point. Developers who need a servlet engine inside their application, or a light standalone server for services, get exactly that and nothing else. Commercial support is available through Webtide for teams that want it.

#8

Payara Server (Azul)

Best for: Migrating off legacy commercial servers

Visit payara.fish

Payara began as the commercially supported GlassFish for production, and it has since been acquired by Azul, the Java runtime company. The pitch is pragmatic: lift existing Jakarta EE applications off expensive WebLogic, WebSphere, or JBoss EAP installations without rewriting them, onto a server with monthly security patches and per-vCore pricing that undercuts legacy vendors substantially. The free Community edition keeps the open-source on-ramp alive.

The Azul acquisition is recent enough that buyers should ask about roadmap continuity, though Azul's Java focus makes the combination logical. For organizations paying six figures a year in legacy application server support, Payara's migration story, same admin tooling as GlassFish, no code changes, is the most credible exit ramp available.

#9

Apache TomEE

Best for: Tomcat plus Java EE APIs

Visit tomee.apache.org

TomEE answers a specific question: what if you like Tomcat but need the Java EE APIs it lacks? It layers EJB, CDI, JPA, JMS, and JAX-RS onto the Tomcat base, giving you a certified stack without leaving the Tomcat world your team already knows. For applications that outgrow plain Tomcat's servlet-only model, it is the gentlest upgrade path.

The project moves more slowly than Tomcat itself and the community is a fraction of the size, so the newest Jakarta EE features arrive later. But for stable, long-lived applications that need enterprise APIs without enterprise servers, TomEE hits a sweet spot: familiar operations, zero license cost, and just enough platform.