Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Unicorn VS Wildfly

Compare Unicorn VS Wildfly and see what are their differences

Unicorn logo Unicorn

Unicorn is an HTTP server for Rack applications designed to only serve fast clients on low-latency, high-bandwidth connections.

Wildfly logo Wildfly

WildFly is a flexible, lightweight application server.
  • Unicorn Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12
  • Wildfly Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-24

Unicorn features and specs

  • Performance
    Unicorn is designed to handle multiple concurrent connections and efficiently manage resources, providing improved performance for Ruby applications.
  • Concurrency
    With its multi-process architecture, Unicorn can handle multiple client requests simultaneously, which is ideal for multi-threaded or concurrent applications.
  • Robust Process Management
    Unicorn automatically manages process worker pools and can gracefully handle worker crashes, leading to more robust and reliable server performance.
  • Compatibility
    Unicorn works seamlessly with Rack applications and is compliant with popular web server standards, making it easy to integrate with existing Ruby on Rails applications.
  • Simplicity
    Unicorn's straightforward design focuses on simplicity and minimalistic architecture, reducing the need for extensive configuration.

Possible disadvantages of Unicorn

  • Memory Usage
    Unicorn uses a multi-process model, which can lead to higher memory consumption compared to multi-threaded servers, potentially increasing costs on memory-bound systems.
  • Non-Windows Platform
    Unicorn is designed to work primarily on Unix-like systems. It is not natively supported on Windows, limiting its use in cross-platform environments.
  • Limited Scalability
    Unicorn does not easily scale across multiple machines. It is best suited for applications running on a single server, as scaling out horizontally requires external tools and configurations.
  • Blocking I/O
    Since Unicorn uses a preforking model with blocking I/O, it may not be suitable for applications that require non-blocking, event-driven I/O operations.
  • Graceful Restart
    While Unicorn supports zero-downtime deployments, managing graceful restarts can be complex and might require additional configuration and handling.

Wildfly features and specs

  • High Performance
    WildFly is designed to deliver exceptional performance, with fast startup times and efficient resource utilization, making it ideal for high-throughput applications.
  • Modular Design
    WildFly uses a modular architecture based on Java modules, which allows for a highly customizable and flexible server environment. This modularity helps in better resource management and optimization.
  • Java EE Compliance
    WildFly is fully compliant with the latest Java EE (Jakarta EE) specifications, ensuring that enterprise applications can leverage the full set of standardized features and APIs provided by the platform.
  • Active Community and Support
    WildFly benefits from a large and active community, as well as strong support from Red Hat, which provides commercial support through its enterprise version, JBoss EAP. This ensures continuous improvement and timely updates.
  • Flexible Configuration
    WildFly offers flexible configuration options through its management interfaces – CLI, web-based console, and REST APIs – allowing administrators to manage and configure the server efficiently.
  • Lightweight
    WildFly is lightweight compared to other enterprise-level application servers, making it suitable for cloud-native deployments and microservices architecture.

Possible disadvantages of Wildfly

  • Complexity
    The extensive features and configurations available in WildFly can make it complex and challenging for new users or those with limited experience in managing application servers.
  • Documentation
    While WildFly has comprehensive documentation, some users find it less intuitive and difficult to navigate, especially when troubleshooting specific issues or advanced configuration.
  • Memory Consumption
    Although WildFly is designed to be performant, it can be memory-intensive, particularly for large-scale applications with numerous modules and services.
  • Frequent Updates
    WildFly undergoes frequent updates and changes, which can sometimes lead to compatibility issues or require additional effort to keep up with the latest versions and patches.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    The advanced features and capabilities of WildFly come with a steep learning curve, necessitating a significant investment in time and effort to master the platform effectively.

Analysis of Unicorn

Overall verdict

  • Yes

Why this product is good

  • Unicorn is a stable and efficient HTTP server designed specifically for Unix-like systems. It excels at handling multiple worker processes, enabling it to manage concurrent connections efficiently. Its architecture allows for graceful handling of worker process failures, ensuring the server remains robust and reliable. Additionally, Unicorn is specifically optimized for deployments behind reverse proxies, making it a popular choice for Ruby on Rails applications.

Recommended for

  • Ruby on Rails developers seeking a reliable HTTP server
  • Teams deploying applications on Unix-like systems
  • Projects requiring efficient management of multiple worker processes
  • Applications needing a robust and stable server for deployment behind reverse proxies

Analysis of Wildfly

Overall verdict

  • WildFly is considered a good choice for developers looking to deploy Java applications with the need for scalability, reliability, and performance. Its open-source nature and strong community support make it a viable option for both small and large enterprises.

Why this product is good

  • WildFly is a popular open-source application server known for its fast startup, lightweight footprint, and powerful management capabilities. It supports the latest Java EE standards and provides a robust platform for deploying Java-based applications. The community behind WildFly is active, offering continuous updates and features to keep up with modern development trends.

Recommended for

    WildFly is recommended for developers and organizations that require a flexible and scalable application server to deploy Java EE applications. It is suitable for those who prioritize open-source solutions and need a server that can handle enterprise-level workload while being relatively easy to configure and manage.

Unicorn videos

War Thunder: Tiger H1 Super Unicorn Review

More videos:

  • Review - War Thunder: OTOMATIC Super Unicorn Review
  • Review - M4A3 (76) HVSS Wannabe Unicorn Review

Wildfly videos

Wildfly 8 Launch Community Presentation

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How To Run Wildfly on CentOS 7

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Unicorn and Wildfly)
Web And Application Servers
Application Server
34 34%
66% 66
Web Servers
34 34%
66% 66
Social Networks
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Unicorn and Wildfly

Unicorn Reviews

Unicorn vs. Puma vs. Passenger: which app server is right for you?
Puma and Passenger are equipped to handle slow clients. Unicorn cannot help with slow clients by itself: requests go directly to a worker process. Unicorn doesn't hide this. The Unicorn docs clearly state: "You should not allow unicorn to serve clients outside of your local network". However, you can get around by using Nginx as a reverse proxy and letting it buffer client...
Source: scoutapm.com

Wildfly Reviews

Top 10 Open Source Java and JavaEE Application Servers
Wildfly also supports web services like JAX-WSJDBCLoad balancing, and includes a Management API, a OSGi frameworkRMI-IIOP and can be executed in two server modes: a traditional, single JVM, standalone mode, and a multi-JVM option, Domain mode, which synchronizes configuration across any number of processes and hosts.

Social recommendations and mentions

Wildfly might be a bit more popular than Unicorn. We know about 1 link to it since March 2021 and only 1 link to Unicorn. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Unicorn mentions (1)

Wildfly mentions (1)

  • I am making an RPM package of Wildfly servlet 26.1.3, it keeps asking for ancient glibc
    User@opensuse:~/rpmbuild> cat SPECS/wildfly-26.1.3.spec %define _topdir /home/user/rpmbuild Name: wildfly-servlet Version: 26.1.3.Final Release: 4%{?dist} Summary: WildFly 26.1.3 Application Server License: Apache License, Version 2.0 URL: https://wildfly.org/ Source0: https://github.com/wildfly/wildfly/releases/download/26.1.3.Final/wildfly-servlet-26.1.3.Final.tar.gz #BuildRequires:... Source: about 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Unicorn and Wildfly, you can also consider the following products

Microsoft IIS - Internet Information Services is a web server for Microsoft Windows

Apache Tomcat - An open source software implementation of the Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages technologies

LiteSpeed Web Server - LiteSpeed Web Server (LSWS) is a high-performance Apache drop-in replacement.

Apache HTTP Server - Apache httpd has been the most popular web server on the Internet since April 1996

Phusion Passenger - Phusion Passenger is a multi-language (Ruby, Python, Node) web & app server which can integrate into Apache and Nginx

Forge - Static web hosting made simple