Comparison
The purpose and required range of functions of report servers can vary greatly. All too often, only a central "reporting engine" is required, which serves as a hub for distributing reports and provides a backend for developers and report designers in collaborative work. Sometimes, however, the requirements and wishes go beyond this and the server also provides dashboards and analysis functions; it then serves as a central information platform in the company and not only supports operational activities, but also improves and accelerates strategic decision-making.
While mature, vibrant business intelligence environments are not necessarily suitable for companies of all sizes - particularly in terms of cost/benefit aspects - practically every company today has its own treasure trove of data. Whether it's data from sales, administration or process data, the real value for companies comes from the right linking, processing and targeted provision for the various groups of end users.
In line with our philosophy of modularized architecture, we present below some well-known server platforms with a focus on their use as a central hub for the generation and distribution of standard reports. The criteria for selection are compatibility with widely used report development tools such as BIRT and JasperReports, cost and scalability of the platform, as well as the ability to integrate it into your own software architecture and infrastructure.
The following comparison matrix is only an excerpt of the functions we have validated. Please contact us directly if you have more in-depth questions and detailed functional requirements! We keep all the systems listed here available as DEMOs at all times (as far as the manufacturers' licensing conditions allow), will be happy to provide you with detailed information and analyze together with you which solution best suits your requirements.
Comparison matrix Reporting Server
| JasperReports Server CE 8.2 / Reporting Edition | JasperReports Server Pro 9 | ReportServer CE 4.6 | ReportServer Enterprise 4.6.2 | JasperReports Integration | Jasper4Oracle | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single server license | - / €€ | €€€ | - | € | - | n.a. | ||
| License | AGPL, Open Source (until 01/2024) | commercial | AGPL, Open Source | commercial | BSD3/GPL, Open Source | commercial | ||
| Multiplatform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ||
| Cloud/container support | AWS, Docker | AWS, Docker | Docker | Docker | - | - | ||
| Report Engines | JasperReports | JasperReports | JasperReports, BIRT | JasperReports, BIRT, Chrystal Reports | JasperReports | JasperReports | ||
| Application Server | Apache Tomcat, Wildfly, JBoss | Apache Tomcat, Wildfly, JBoss, WebSphere WebLogic | J2EE-compliant | J2EE-compliant | J2EE-compliant | proprietary | ||
| Application Data | MySQL, Postgres | MySQL, Postgres, Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, others | Hibernate-compatible | Hibernate-compatible | File system | File system/Oracle | ||
| Report Repository | Database | Database, file system | database | database | file system | file system | ||
| Data sources | JDBC, web service, custom | JDBC, web service, custom | JDBC, web service, custom | JDBC, web service, custom | JDBC, web service, custom | JDBC | ||
| Data formats | HTML, PDF, Excel, Word, CSV, other, custom | HTML, PDF, Excel, Word, CSV, other, custom | PDF, Excel, Word | HTML, PDF, Excel, Word | HTML, PDF, Excel, Word, CSV, other | HTML, PDF, Excel, Word, CSV, other | ||
| Report output | Email, database, (S)FTP, file system | Email, database, (S)FTP, file system | Email, database, (S)FTP, file system | Email, database, (S)FTP, file system | Email, file system | |||
| End user GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Extension | No | ||
| User interaction | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ||
| Dashboards | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ||
| Online data analysis | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ||
| Embedding | REST, iFrame | REST, iFrame, Javascript | REST | REST | REST | PL/SQL | ||
| REST API | GET, POST | GET, POST | GET | GET | GET | - | ||
| documentation | very good | very good | very good | very good | medium | medium | ||
| administration | medium | medium | good | good | medium | with potential | ||
| DEV OPS | medium | medium | good | good | medium | with potential | ||
| Report development | good | good | medium | medium | medium | medium |
Our comparison matrix can give you a rough idea of which server software is most likely to be suitable for you based on certain basic functions or cost aspects. Take advantage of our expertise and get access to detailed function comparisons, further information and experts, or put a DEMO system through its paces together with us. Talk to us
JasperReports Server
The JasperReports reference server. As a reporting engine, alternatives must be able to compete with it.
JasperReports Server supports all the features of the globally distributed JasperReports Library and integrates perfectly with the Jaspersoft Studio report development tool. JasperReports Server enables centralized, reusable storage of all report resources and is ideally suited for integration into your own applications. JasperReports Server can also handle cloud and container-based installations as well as server clustering, making it suitable for modern software architectures and demanding, performance-hungry installations.
JasperReports Server is offered in different versions and functionalities, which are briefly outlined below.
JasperReports Server Community Edition
Available until January 2024 in the latest version 8.2 as open source software. Unfortunately, TIBCO / Jaspersoft very surprisingly discontinued the open source development, which now raises questions for many long-time users in the short and medium term. Do you still need the installation files or even the source code of a specific Jasperserver version in running environments?
No problem! The BIOSDB has both the JasperReports Server installation files from version 3.7 and a copy of the code repository. If required, we can take care of installation, customization, maintenance and support for you. Contact us without obligation get in touch with us
JasperReports Server Professional, Enterprise
The upgrade for the well-known reporting engine supplemented with online data analytics and dashboarding in a modern web UI. Easily implement management-oriented visualizations online, with the proven Jaspersoft Studio or a combination of both!
With the current version 9 of Jasperreports Server, a new version of JasperReports Web Studio has also been released, which is now largely an adequate replacement for the widely used and proven Jaspersoft Studio.
Take advantage of our many years of experience in developing business intelligence applications with Jasperreports Server Professional and Enterprise. We will tell you about the advantages and disadvantages compared to other business intelligence software visualization tools.
JasperReports IO
The service-oriented lightweight version of Jasperreports Server. Runs without an end-user GUI and without a database, preferably in the cloud.
ReportServer
ReportServer is a lively reporting and business intelligence system that has grown over many years. ReportServer natively supports JasperReports, BIRT and, in the commercial version, Chrystal Reports. ReportServer is based on common global standards in development and middleware. ReportServer is developed by a German company and has found some distribution in this country.
We favor ReportServer as a good alternative to the Community Edition of JasperReports Server due to its wide range of functions, its open source character and the variability of the report engine. In some areas, ReportServer can do much more than JasperReports Server, and the free Community Edition already provides dashboards, unlike the Jaspersoft version. The possibilities for distributing end-user reports far exceed the limited capabilities of JasperReports Server. Of course, there are also differences in detail and a 1:1 migration at the push of a button is unfortunately not possible today.
We would be happy to explain the details and discuss possible migration paths or alternatives with you. We will give you an insight into our detailed analyses and functional comparisons and answer all questions arising from your specific requirements, architecture and infrastructure. An initial analysis is fully in line with our open source philosophy: not free, but free of charge! Give us a callor write to uswe look forward to hearing from you!
ReportServer Community Edition
ReportServer natively supports the widely used report libraries JasperReports and BIRT. BIRT in particular is worth mentioning here, as it offers a number of advantages over JasperReports (for example with regard to dynamic tables). Take advantage of both worlds with ReportServer!
In addition, the free version already offers a wide range of options for online business intelligence functions, including the display of all your visualizations in dashboards.
ReportServer Enterprise Edition
The Enterprise version of ReportServer offers a wide range of extended functionalities in the areas of reporting, data analytics and report distribution. As a central reporting engine, information platform and planning tool for medium-sized to large companies, ReportServer Enterprise provides the required enterprise toolset: professional support, integration into your security infrastructure, excellent support for administrative tasks and report development. End users, but also DevOps and report developers will appreciate ReportServer in equal measure!
Jasperreports Integration / JRI Publisher
Similar to Jasper4Oracle, this was developed from an Oracle world, but has been on the market and established for much longer. Functions are available to generate reports directly from PL/SQL code with JasperReports and store them in the file system.
With JRI-Publisher, a web-based approach has been added to administer and call up the reports generated with Jasperreports Integration and make them available for other applications via a REST call. Here too, we can look back on practical experience with customers and provide the best possible support for your decision, ask us
Jasper4Oracle Server
Do you "live" in an Oracle world, develop APEX applications and perhaps still carry Oracle Reports around with you as a "clog on your leg"? Then the Jasper4Oracle Server could be the reporting engine of choice for you.
Due to its closed source character, low distribution and thus high dependency on the provider, the system is unfortunately not a favored variant for us. However, we will be happy to put you in touch with the manufacturer or advise you on alternatives, please contact us!
servBIRD
The servBIRD server from TRADUI in Frankfurt a.M. is a genuine and complete alternative if your reports are based purely on BIRT. In terms of functionality and maturity, it is on a par with a Jasperreports Server Professional or Enterprise Edition.
We have only included servBIRD here at a later stage, as we initially developed a pure comparison page for Jasperreports-based runtime environments. However, we were so impressed with servBIRD and its wealth of functions that we could not leave the combination of BIRT as a development tool and servBIRD as a report engine unmentioned. In addition, servBIRD also masters business intelligence functionality with dashboarding and data analytics and is therefore in no way inferior to the commercial versions of the Jasperreports Server.