Azul Payara Server vs Lucee Server

Azul Payara Server8.9Visit Lucee Server7.0Visit

Higher score Azul Payara Server #4 in Application Servers 8.9/10 Pricing on request ✓ 3 of 3 features Visit Azul Payara

vs

Lucee Server #18 in Application Servers 7.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 3 features Visit Lucee

• Azul Payara Server fits best

  Supported Payara deployments needing observability

• Lucee Server fits best

  CFML teams wanting a free flexible server

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Side by side

Feature	Azul Payara Server 8.9/10 Visit ↗	Lucee Server 7.0/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.9	7.0
Ranking	#4 in Application Servers	#18 in Application Servers
Best for	Supported Payara deployments needing observability	CFML teams wanting a free flexible server
Pricing model	Paid	Free
Starting price	—	Free plan
Free plan	—	✓ (best)
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Email, Phone, Docs · 24/7	Community, Tickets, Docs
Built for	Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Azul Payara Server 3/3 · Lucee Server 3/3
Clustering	✓	✓
Admin console	✓	✓
Container support	✓	✓
Specs
Java standard	Both	Both
Deployment model	Self_hosted	Self_hosted
Supported operating systems	Windows; Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, RHEL, OpenSUSE, SUSE, Amazon Linux); macOS; IBM AIX	Windows; Linux; macOS; FreeBSD; Solaris
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.	Free and open source with CFML and CFScript support Supports clustering, failover, caching, databases and web services Deploys through Docker, JAR, WAR, Express, Tomcat or Jetty
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.	Requires self-hosted deployment and administration Java servlet-container architecture may not suit non-CFML teams Its broad configuration surface can require technical ownership
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 →	Lucee Server is an open-source CFML engine written in Java for teams building and running web applications with CFML or CFScript. It fits developers who need a self-hosted application server with database connectivity, transaction support,… Read the review →

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.

• Lucee Server — where it wins

  • Free and open source with CFML and CFScript support
  • Supports clustering, failover, caching, databases and web services
  • Deploys through Docker, JAR, WAR, Express, Tomcat or Jetty

  Where it doesn't

  • Requires self-hosted deployment and administration
  • Java servlet-container architecture may not suit non-CFML teams
  • Its broad configuration surface can require technical ownership

• Azul Payara Server8.9/10 · Pricing on request

  A supported Payara deployment option with strong clustering, containers, and observability.

  Visit Azul PayaraFull verdict →
• Lucee Server7.0/10 · Free plan

  A free, self-hosted CFML engine with broad deployment and application-server features.

  Visit LuceeFull verdict →