That was exactly my sentiments back in 2000s. I had to use SOAP a few times, then switched to a semi-proprietary binary protocol called Hessian [1] (and its XML based sister, Burlap [2]) and it saved my day.
What does the content on the rest of the site have to do with the link I posted? This is literally ad hominem - disregarding an argument because you dislike the author.
Why would it be ad hominem (which is not even that)? Also, the link I posted is even about the same topic, not unrelated - so a logical flow in that one (and it has plenty) will easily apply just as well to an elaboration of one of the listed contenders on this page.
[1] http://hessian.caucho.com/
[2] http://hessian.caucho.com/doc/burlap.xtp