Open Liberty vs Lucee Server

Open Liberty9.3Visit Lucee Server7.0Visit

Higher score Open Liberty #1 in Application Servers 9.3/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 3 features Visit Open Liberty

vs

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

• Open Liberty fits best

  Modern Java teams using containers and CI

• Lucee Server fits best

  CFML teams wanting a free flexible server

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Side by side

Feature	Open Liberty 9.3/10 Visit ↗	Lucee Server 7.0/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	7.0
Ranking	#1 in Application Servers	#18 in Application Servers
Best for	Modern Java teams using containers and CI	CFML teams wanting a free flexible server
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Live chat, Phone, Tickets, Community, Docs · 24/7	Community, Tickets, Docs
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Open Liberty 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, macOS, Linux	Windows; Linux; macOS; FreeBSD; Solaris
Our review
Pros	Composable support for Jakarta EE, Java EE, and MicroProfile Dev mode provides automatic application and configuration updates Docker, Kubernetes, observability, clustering, Maven, and Gradle support	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	Self-hosted deployment requires teams to manage the runtime environment Enterprise support is separate from the free open-source runtime No built-in AI features	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	Open Liberty is an open-source Java application server runtime for developing and running cloud-native applications and microservices. It is suited to Java teams that need Jakarta EE, Java EE, or MicroProfile features across Windows,… 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

• Open Liberty — where it wins

  • Composable support for Jakarta EE, Java EE, and MicroProfile
  • Dev mode provides automatic application and configuration updates
  • Docker, Kubernetes, observability, clustering, Maven, and Gradle support

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires teams to manage the runtime environment
  • Enterprise support is separate from the free open-source runtime
  • No built-in AI features

• 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

• Open Liberty9.3/10 · Free plan

  A free, open-source Java runtime for containerized Jakarta EE, Java EE, and MicroProfile apps.

  Visit Open LibertyFull verdict →
• Lucee Server7.0/10 · Free plan

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

  Visit LuceeFull verdict →