Open Liberty vs WildFly

Open Liberty9.3Visit WildFly9.1Visit

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

vs

WildFly #2 in Application Servers 9.1/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 3 features Visit WildFly

• Open Liberty fits best

  Modern Java teams using containers and CI

• WildFly fits best

  Jakarta EE teams wanting a free full server

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Side by side

Feature	Open Liberty 9.3/10 Visit ↗	WildFly 9.1/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	9.1
Ranking	#1 in Application Servers	#2 in Application Servers
Best for	Modern Java teams using containers and CI	Jakarta EE teams wanting a free full server
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Support	Live chat, Phone, Tickets, Community, Docs · 24/7	Community, Docs
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Open Liberty 3/3 · WildFly 3/3
Clustering	✓	✓
Admin console	✓	✓
Container support	✓	✓
Specs
Java standard	Both	Jakarta_ee
Deployment model	Self_hosted	Self_hosted
Supported operating systems	Windows, macOS, Linux	Any operating system supporting ZIP or TAR formats
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	Jakarta EE 11, MicroProfile, and modular server subsystems Clustering, load balancing, failover, and managed domains Web console, CLI client, and HTTP management API
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	Self-hosted deployment requires responsibility for infrastructure Not positioned as a managed SaaS application server Operating modes and administration add operational complexity
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 →	WildFly is an open-source application server for building and running enterprise Java applications. It targets teams working with Jakarta EE 11 or MicroProfile that need a complete server they can deploy on their own infrastructure.… 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

• WildFly — where it wins

  • Jakarta EE 11, MicroProfile, and modular server subsystems
  • Clustering, load balancing, failover, and managed domains
  • Web console, CLI client, and HTTP management API

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires responsibility for infrastructure
  • Not positioned as a managed SaaS application server
  • Operating modes and administration add operational complexity

• 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 →
• WildFly9.1/10 · Free plan

  A free, self-hosted full server for Jakarta EE and MicroProfile teams.

  Visit WildFlyFull verdict →