Suggestions appear as you type. Use the up and down arrows to choose one and Enter to open it.

This page's audience our own tag's counts — open to see them
–Visits
–Page views
–Clicks to vendors
–Time on page
–Reading now
Clicks to vendors, by tool
  • –
Top countries
  • –
Devices
  • –

– · visits, page views and clicks counted by our own tag, which counts more than our checked analytics; every figure rounded down · how we count

Head-to-head · Application Servers

Azul Payara Server vs Apache TomEE

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 4 checks side by side
Higher score Azul Payara Server #4 in Application Servers 8.9/10 Pricing on request ✓ 3 of 3 features Visit Azul Payara
Apache TomEE #5 in Application Servers 8.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 3 features Visit Apache TomEE

Azul Payara Server leads on 0 checks, Apache TomEE on 1, and 3 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 4 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreAzul Payara Server · 8.9/10
  • Free planonly Apache TomEE
  • Most featuresAzul Payara Server · 3 of 3

Azul Payara Server scores higher on our rubric for application servers: 8.9 against 8.8 out of 10; our editors rank them #4 and #5.

Apache TomEE offers free plan; Azul Payara Server doesn't. On java standard, Azul Payara Server gives you Both where Apache TomEE offers Jakarta_ee.

Azul Payara Server is the better fit for supported Payara deployments needing observability. Apache TomEE is the better fit for open-source Tomcat-oriented Java deployments.

  • Azul Payara Server fits best

    Supported Payara deployments needing observability

  • Apache TomEE fits best

    Open-source Tomcat-oriented Java deployments

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature Azul Payara Server 8.9/10 Visit ↗ Apache TomEE 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 8.9 8.8
Ranking #4 in Application Servers #5 in Application Servers
Best for Supported Payara deployments needing observability Open-source Tomcat-oriented Java deployments
Pricing model Paid Free
Starting price — Free plan
Free plan — ✓ (best)
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud, Self-hosted Self-hosted, Desktop
Support Email, Phone, Docs · 24/7 Community, Docs
Built for Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Azul Payara Server 3/3 · Apache TomEE 2/3
Clustering ✓ ✓
Admin console ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Container support ✓ ✓
Specs
Java standard Both Jakarta_ee
Deployment model Self_hosted Self_hosted
Supported operating systems Windows; Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, RHEL, OpenSUSE, SUSE, Amazon Linux); macOS; IBM AIX Windows, Linux
Our review
Pros
  • Payara InSight adds monitoring and observability capabilities.
  • Supports clustering, deployment groups, and high availability.
  • Works with Docker, Kubernetes, and major public-cloud platforms.
  • Jakarta EE 10 support with multiple focused distributions
  • Tomcat clustering supports sessions and high-availability configurations
  • Embedded execution and Maven-based provisioning support flexible workflows
Cons
  • Enterprise pricing is quote-based rather than publicly listed.
  • The product uses a self-hosted deployment model.
  • The free community edition is a separate product.
  • Self-hosted deployment requires infrastructure management
  • Its focus is narrower than broad integration platforms
  • No AI features are included
Our verdict

Azul Payara Server is a commercially supported application server for Jakarta EE and Java EE workloads. It is designed for enterprise applications running in data centers, containers, and public-cloud environments, including applications…

Read the review →

Apache TomEE is an open-source application server for developers and organizations running enterprise Java applications on their own infrastructure. Built on Apache Tomcat, it adds Jakarta EE 10 application server functionality and is…

Read the review →
  1. Azul Payara ServerApplication Servers 8.9Pricing on request
  2. Apache TomEEApplication Servers 8.8Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Azul Payara Server — where it wins

    • Payara InSight adds monitoring and observability capabilities.
    • Supports clustering, deployment groups, and high availability.
    • Works with Docker, Kubernetes, and major public-cloud platforms.

    Where it doesn't

    • Enterprise pricing is quote-based rather than publicly listed.
    • The product uses a self-hosted deployment model.
    • The free community edition is a separate product.

  • Apache TomEE — where it wins

    • Jakarta EE 10 support with multiple focused distributions
    • Tomcat clustering supports sessions and high-availability configurations
    • Embedded execution and Maven-based provisioning support flexible workflows

    Where it doesn't

    • Self-hosted deployment requires infrastructure management
    • Its focus is narrower than broad integration platforms
    • No AI features are included

More comparisons

All application servers comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update