# Apache Tomcat Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Apache Tomcat the right Application Development solution for you? Explore 32 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/228528/Apache-Tomcat/reviews --- Apache Tomcat 4.6 (32) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/228528/Apache-Tomcat/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of Apache Tomcat Ease of use 4.3 Customer Service 3.5 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews MS Maha S Assistant ProfessorComputer Software, 501 - 1,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Apache Tomcat supports the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) stack including Java Servlets and Java Server Pages (JSPs).“ August 1, 2023 JD Jelle D Software EngineerComputer Software, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “It can be difficult to get started with Tomcat, especially for new developers.“ May 16, 2022 Malcolm B Co-founderComputer Games, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “I also appreciate how it integrates seamlessly with the Apache web server and allows for quick deployment of Java apps.“ June 10, 2022 Ali Qammar R T24 Technical AnalystBanking, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Setting up security for Administration console is a difficult task.“ August 12, 2021 Joshua S Senior Product ManagerComputer Software, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Good documentation, supports numerous platform integrations, enterprise standard for our customers.“ December 14, 2022 Divayanshu S Assistant ConsultantInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Huge cost savings as hosting requirements are next to none plus huge documentation and online support available with the user community.“ February 6, 2022 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 32 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Martin P. Freelancer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Web server and container for Java applications" September 30, 2023 5.0 The no. 1 solution for running JAVA applications like server applications. Pros Provides runtime container for running Java applications. Supporting implementation of different JAVA specifications like JSP, EJB. As input it request a JAVA code in war format. Load balancing is also available to provide better performance handling more client request into more server targets. It allows collecting debug outputs and logs. Cons It can be a bit slower then the native server implementation. Review Source MS Maha S. Assistant Professor Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Apache Tomcat: Quality Application Server for Running Java Servlets and Java Server Pages" August 1, 2023 4.0 Great experience that facilitates developing, deploying, and running 3-tier enterprise applications using the Java platform. Pros Apache Tomcat supports the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) stack including Java Servlets and Java Server Pages (JSPs). I employed Apache Tomcat for teaching Java Server-side web development and used it to deploy 3-tier enterprise applications using Android on the client-side, JSPs and Java Servlets on the application server side and the Oracle 12c database on the data persistence layer. Apache Tomcat on the application server layer proved very effective in running Java Server-side components and it was very easy to install and deploy. The Library loading structure was very simple and it boils down to placing the specific .Jar Java library in the lib folder on Apache Tomcat. Once the Java JDK is installed successfully, running Apache Tomcat consists of simply running a .bat file (on Windows) or a .sh shell script (on Mac or Linux) Cons The main issues I faced in Apache Tomcat is the need to rerun the server every time a new Servlet code was added to the WEB-INF folder. This reduces the efficiency and increase the time of development. This wasn't the case with JSP pages which are automatically converted and compiled into a Servlet in the Background. I wish to have a Tomcat bundle that includes the Server as well as the Java JDK. This would make it easier to deploy the server even on systems not having the Java JDK installed. Switched from [Jetty](https://www.capterra.com/p/206628/Jetty/)[IBM WebSphere Application Server](https://www.capterra.com/p/1310/IBM-WebSphere/) Tomcat is open-source. Extremely light-weight and easier to install and deploy. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Sr. Software Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Tomcat\_04-07-2022" July 3, 2022 5.0 When I choose it, i develop a rest service. Pros Tomcat is great to deploy war projects developed by Jakarta or java enterprise edition. Cons Tomcat has a bad deployment management cli. Review Source AS Alice S. Software Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Easy to use and deloy a web application in a servlet container but might not be for all" June 7, 2022 5.0 Positive, have had lots of issues over the years but nothing serious enough for us to take the application down. Also, keep needing to redeploy with newer versions of Java which is understandable. Pros Ease of use and deployment Admin console with various panels that allows you go see in-depth of usages of the web applications running Fairly basic debugging with issues Restarting web apps is a one click button Auto starts with windows Cons Not a full-fledged application stack like for instance glassfish. For a large organisation, it's probably better to go with something that is a complete JAVA EE application server. Debugging is fairly basic and doesn't allow viewing of the actual error. Sometimes can have issues with memory leaks, which is hard to debug in live environment. Alternatives considered [JBoss EAP](https://www.capterra.com/p/124500/Red-Hat-JBoss-Portal/) Reason for choosing Apache Tomcat Free, easy to use/deploy and was fit for purpose for a smaller organisation like ours. For larger organisations probably better to go with glassfish/jboss. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Technical Lead Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Good Web Server to host Java based Web Applications" December 21, 2022 4.0 I was using it to host a Java-based web application that was developed using the Struts2.0 framework. And deployment and application access were smooth and as expected. Pros I can easily upload a war file to deploy in tomcat using tomcat manager UI or directly upload to webapps folder. It will automatically unpack the war file and start deploying the applications. This process will take just a few minutes. We can stop/start any application using the tomcat manager UI itself. Cons It is slow while rendering static pages in comparison to Apache. It could be better if they improve static page rendering performance a little more. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Project Manager Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A Best Web Server for Java Web Applications" February 18, 2023 5.0 Overall I feel good to use Apache Tomcat as it fulfilling all of my requirements. I am using it for a couple of years and didn't face a single issue till now.It provides upgraded versions from time to time with more security and features. Pros I mostly like the easiness to deploy a web application. It also supports role-based UI So we can assign different roles to users to perform different actions.Steps of deploying a web application in Apache Tomcat is very clean and fast. It provide different configuration files to serve the different purposes like context.xml and server.xml. Cons As of now, I don't have anything to dislike about Apache Tomcat. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Software Development QA Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Loved It !!" February 19, 2023 5.0 I have used Apache Tomcat to deploy my Java Web Applications which are developed using different Java Frameworks like Struts, Spring MVC, and Dropwizard.Till now I haven't faced any issues with Tomcat. I am a very happy user of Tomcat. Pros I mostly like its simplicity of use. deploying a web application in Apache Tomcat is very easy and fast. As soon as the war file is uploaded to webapps folder Application deployment starts automatically. Deployment time is based on your Application size. If it has a lot of code/files then it can take a little more time. Cons Nothing at the moment to dislike. It completely fulfills my requirements and runs smoothly. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Software development Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Web server with dynamic content" February 23, 2023 4.0 Great application yo deploy your dynamic content. Better provide us the details of Java application which is best suited for the version and make it compatible with other applications. Pros With the .war file ready it takes a second to deploy it to tomcat server. Just a copy paste will help us do it.Installation is easy and directory structure can easily be understood. Cons Sometimes there is issue with browser where the tomcat does not refresh or we get results in chrome. We need to close open the browser or use some other browser. It makes user difficult to understand whether the code is deployed properly or not. Review Source Muhammad Adil M. Technical Analyst Banking Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Apache Tomcat" June 23, 2021 4.0 Its very reliable and super lightweight. Easy to configure and deployment. Doesn't use lot of resources. Pros Using Tomcat from many years to build small and robust java bases applications. It provides excellent functionality for code to execute on your local system which is super helpful for debugging and development. Has good documentation and community support. Cons Lack of support in file formats, only supports Jar and War. Sometimes updated code is not applicable unless we stop and start the server. Console is very basic to manage application s and servers. Review Source vikram S. Associate Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best web server for deployment" February 19, 2023 5.0 Best open source web server for deployment of java application. We can easy to learn and install this software. Easy to debug and track the logs. Pros I am using Apache tomcat webserver for my college days to till now. It is best webserver for developer. Developer can easily deploy ,run and debug java application. we can easily integrate with Jenkins and Kubernetes. It is easy install no special configuration is required. Cons No cons found yet. working very smoothly Review Source AB Alessandro B. Studente Higher Education Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Buon software tecnico, con grafica rudimentale" December 3, 2023 3.0 Il programma è molto basico, anche leggero.. ma non è semplice da collegare all'IDE VS Code per rebuildare il progetto nel browser automaticamente. Pros Consente diverse opzioni per testare anche in locare le proprie build per applicazioni web. Cons L'interfaccia grafica non è molto al passo coi tempi. Reason for choosing Apache Tomcat Era un software comune che tutto il team conosceva. Review Source AM Alex M. System Developer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Reliable web Server Environment" October 24, 2023 5.0 For scalability and high availability, Tomcat supports clustering and load balancing, allowing you to distribute traffic across multiple server instances. I can 100% recommend it to new java developers. Pros Tomcat is stable and reliable. I have used it in production environments for many years and is trusted by numerous organizations. Tomcat is known for its robust support for Java Servlets and Java Server Pages (JSP), making it a reliable choice for hosting Java-based web applications. Cons Tomcat is primarily a servlet container. It offers minimal built-in support for features like load balancing, clustering, or HTTP/2. Extensive functionality often requires additional configurations or third-party components. Review Source Simone P. Analista IT Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Tomcat ed il suo utilizzo" June 29, 2023 4.0 Pros Semplice da utilizzare ed installare.Il wizard di installazione ti segue passo dopo passo ed è di semplice settaggio.La console delle web application è di facile consultazione ed utilizzoAnche l'integrazione e aggiunta di librerie terze jar è di facile inserimentoStessa cosa per i log di sistema Cons Macchinoso la variazione di alcuni settaggi effettuati all'atto dell'installazione.Anche la pulizia della cache del tomcat è macchinosa Review Source VR Verified Reviewer analista e sviluppatore Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Fondamentale per lo sviluppo di applicativi web" July 11, 2023 4.0 Pros Ottimo applicativo per lo sviluppo e il test di applicazioni web inoltre è gratuito.Sempre in aggiornamento e con ottime possibilità di debugging.Buono il fatto che possa partire anche come servizio nel caso di distribuzione a clienti. Cons La configurazione non risulta immediata, anche se, una volta padroneggiata, risulta molto agile dipendendo da file xml. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Assistant Consultant Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Versatile and Open Sourced" February 6, 2022 5.0 Easy to use with no cost involved, regular and frequent features updates, No integration issues and excellent response time. Huge cost savings as hosting requirements are next to none plus huge documentation and online support available with the user community. Highly recommended. Pros Best web container for hosting web applications. Simple to use, open sourced and free of cost. It is secure to use, provides seamless integration with apache web server. Fast deployment of Java applications. Cons Memory leaks and log handling needs a lot of improvement. Switched from [IBM WebSphere Application Server](https://www.capterra.com/p/1310/IBM-WebSphere/) Cost Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Application developer 2 Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Robust and easy to maintain" May 6, 2022 5.0 Pros All the applications that we deployed on apache, are the easiest ones to maintain. Updates are swift and snappy. Debugging is easy and intuitive. Cons Its hard for anyone without programming background to understand it. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Senior Product Manager Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Foundation of enterprise application" December 14, 2022 5.0 Pros Good documentation, supports numerous platform integrations, enterprise standard for our customers. Cons Static analysis has some downfalls and memory leaks can be problematic. Alternatives considered [JBoss EAP](https://www.capterra.com/p/124500/Red-Hat-JBoss-Portal/) Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Quality Assurance Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Easy web application server" August 11, 2022 4.0 It's a great experience because it also acts as load balancer to the server running and hence reducing the external load balancer Pros It's easy to deploy application to Tomcat webserver without any hassle. The architecture is pretty simple and can be learnt quickly. Cons We cannot directly mvn deploy to the server. We need to copy and paste it manually which seems to be time consuming. Better to directly deploy from Maven. Review Source VV Vincent V. Development Manager Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Solid Java based web development application platform" November 23, 2021 5.0 Great and reliable and flexible platform to work with for all these years. Pros It's open-source, and proven over 20+ years (and still going strong and actively maintained) of implementing the jsp and servlet specifications. Runs on the JVM, giving it flexibility to be deployed in most environments. Can be used to deploy simple microservices to big complex monoliths. Cons Like most software occasions security vulnerabilities are published ... (very rare in comparison to others), memory footprint quite vs jetty. Apart from that technology wise, requires jvm which in turn requires instance running os or docker image. (noting this in comparison to serverless technologies). Requires more architect work to scale (ie clustering, application load balancing etc, CI/CD integration). Alternatives considered [Jetty](https://www.capterra.com/p/206628/Jetty/) Reason for choosing Apache Tomcat existing customer requirements. Switched from [Jetty](https://www.capterra.com/p/206628/Jetty/) Customer client already had tomcat setup in clustered infrastructure. Review Source AA Agostino A. Solution Developer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Ottimo server web per applicazioni Java!" March 29, 2023 5.0 Pros Una delle funzionalità che ho preferito è il fatto di poter caricare facilmente il file .war, utilizzando l'interfaccia utente di Tomcat Manager oppure caricandolo direttamente nella cartella webapps. Questo verrà poi decompresso automaticamente, iniziando a far funzionare l'applicazione dopo pochi secondi. Cons Tra gli inconvenienti, qualche volta mi è capitato che il servizio di Tomcat non si sia stoppato correttamente alla sua chiusura e, al successivo utilizzo, questo non si è poi avviato nel modo giusto, impedendomi di far funzionare l'applicazione. Review Source WI Wassim I. Associate Professor Computer & Network Security Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Apache Tomcat: The viable option for J2EE Web Business logic." July 1, 2022 4.0 Very good experience. I have been actively using this software since 2002 and I'm so satisfied with the Web functionality it provides. Pros The simple deployment of the server being itself developed in Java made it very easy for running and controlling the lifecycle of the Web components. I used it to deploy Java Servlets and Java Server Pages (JSP) with high flexibility and reliability. I recommend it for any Web logic based on the Java J2EE platform. Cons Again, being itself written in Java, the developer needs to tolerate the slow loading and execution times due to the Java VM abstraction. Review Source syed H. Senior Engineer Digital Payment and FS Operations Banking Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Apache Tomcat is Tiger" April 5, 2022 5.0 Pros The Apache tomcat is very powerful middleware. The most important feature is that it is compatible with multiple databases and very light in weight. Cons It makes multiple processes and in top command it is just showing one process with name java Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Co-founder Computer Games Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Apache Tomcat Review" June 10, 2022 5.0 Its a Low cost Software that's easy to use and integrates well with other services and software. Pros The fact that it's open source appeals to me. Its compatibility with most databases is incredible, and this broadens the range of products and services with which it may be used. I also appreciate how it integrates seamlessly with the Apache web server and allows for quick deployment of Java apps. Cons I feel it needs more frequent security patches. I say this because I've noticed a few memory leaks, and I believe the log processing method might be much better. Switched from [Microsoft SQL Server](https://www.capterra.com/p/1417/SQL-Server/) I switched because of its low cost. Review Source GS Gaurav S. Sr devops engineer Automotive Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Best web server container for deploying java based applications " July 17, 2022 5.0 We use to have a tomcat server for deploying java based apps and customizing the config was pretty straight forward. Pros 1\. Lightweight and open source 2. Best for java based web applications. 3. Platform independent 4. Easy to set up, configure and integrate with cd pipeline. 5. Additional configuration control using server.xml 6. Container images Cons 1\. Sometimes cpu utilization increases a lot despite less load and even memory leaks error messages prompts up. 2. Only good for java based apps. 3. Cli based Review Source OD Osman D. Sr. Software Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Tomcat\_02-07-2022" July 2, 2022 5.0 I use it to testing application i developed. Pros The Tomcat is lightweight and basic web container for Java based web applications. Cons It is useful to use in development environment but it has no enterprise features. Bad UI interface etc.. Alternatives considered [Jetty](https://www.capterra.com/p/206628/Jetty/) Reason for choosing Apache Tomcat Undertow Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Application Development](https://www.capterra.com/application-development-software/)