IBM API Connect vs OpenLegacy comparison

IBM and OpenLegacy are both solutions in the API Management category. IBM is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.1, while OpenLegacy is ranked #36. IBM holds a 4.9% mindshare in APIM, compared to OpenLegacy’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of OpenLegacy users who would recommend it.

IBM API Connect

Read 79 IBM API Connect reviews

6,454 Views
6,067 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

OpenLegacy

Read 5 OpenLegacy reviews

824 Views
585 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

IBM API Connect

OpenLegacy

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

IBM API Connect and OpenLegacy are competing products in the API management category. IBM API Connect appears to have the upper hand with its extensive features and integration capabilities tailored for enterprise environments, while OpenLegacy's modern technology and quick deployment options make it an appealing choice for businesses seeking agility and cost savings.

Features: IBM API Connect offers extensive API lifecycle management, robust security, and in-depth analytics, making it suitable for large enterprises needing comprehensive control and insights. OpenLegacy excels in rapid legacy system integration and microservice generation, which is ideal for organizations focused on modernization and operational streamlining.

Room for Improvement: IBM API Connect could improve its deployment process, which tends to be complex due to its wide range of capabilities, potentially extending initial setup time. Documentation could be more user-friendly to facilitate quicker installations. It would also benefit from enhancing its microservice support further. OpenLegacy can improve upon scalability for very large enterprise demands, expand its analytics capabilities to match those of its larger competitors, and increase its cloud integration features for hybrid environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OpenLegacy provides a straightforward deployment model, minimizing time-to-market with streamlined processes suitable for legacy systems, and it focuses on responsive customer service. IBM API Connect offers comprehensive support and documentation but tends to require more setup time due to its extensive capabilities, which can be intricate for users unfamiliar with its system.

Pricing and ROI: IBM API Connect has a perceived higher setup cost; however, it promises a strong ROI for enterprises that can fully leverage its extensive range of features over time. OpenLegacy presents a cost-effective solution with fast ROI, especially attractive to businesses aiming to reduce costs while modernizing efficiently without significant initial investments.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM API Connect vs. OpenLegacy Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect vs. OpenLegacy

February 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

IBM API Connect

Ranking in API Management

8th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (14th)

OpenLegacy

Ranking in API Management

36th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

AI Software Development (83rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the API Management category, the mindshare of IBM API Connect is 4.9%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenLegacy is 0.9%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

API Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM API Connect	4.9%
OpenLegacy	0.9%
Other	94.2%

API Management

Featured Reviews

Sairathish Murugesan

Works at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Have addressed performance challenges while benefiting from flexible subscription models and reliable user access

To improve IBM API Connect, based on customer experience, you could work on latency. You can increase scalability and availability. If you're connecting with any other cloud, it connects to the infrastructure which needs to be managed with the customers and cloud providers, so if you have a setup, we can handle it easily. I have faced latency issues on the server, related to our management. If you need to stabilize your server based on peak traffic, you need to configure the scalability model. You need to know when traffic peaks, so use auto-scaling when traffic comes. If the application is not in use, the value should be zero, and it starts from zero. Based on customer experience, the value will increase, and when there is no customer servicing, the peak would be reduced, making the value remain zero. Following this approach, you should be able to optimize costs and satisfy customer experience.

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reviewer1042905

VP, Chief Enterprise Integration Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

The biggest advantage is how simple the technology was.

I'd like to see OpenLegacy develop its low-code/no-code (LCNC) solutions. They've expanded somewhat their horizons for integration beyond mainframe CICS, which is their sweet spot. They have some tooling in that area, but it's not as good as it needs to be. OpenLegacy handles the bread-and-butter TP monitoring stuff, but I am working for one of the six banks in the United States still using the Hogan mainframe, which has a slightly proprietary mechanism. But OpenLegacy currently doesn't have a connector for Hogan. So it would help if they could build one. That would appeal to financial institutions that still use Hogan, like US Bank, Wells Fargo, KeyBank, and Vanguard.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It is a complete all-in-one solution."

"The ability for all of our web applications to share standard functions and documents easily is valuable."

"The most valuable features of IBM API Connect are its performance and user-friendliness."

"API Connect's data gateway is one of the strongest in the market."

"It is easy to use and stable."

"The support is good and active. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten."

"Its speed and performance are valuable."

"IBM API Connect is a good product, and their technical support is excellent."

More IBM API Connect pros

"Using mainframe programs (not screens), the OpenLegacy services do not require any changes by the mainframe programmers, thus reducing development cycles."

"Using OpenLegacy, the exposure of services is far easier and quicker. In many cases, exposure of services requires just a few clicks and takes only minutes. In very complex cases, it still only takes half a day. Without OpenLegacy, it would take us several months to create the same services."

"Opens the door to connect modern web products to an old legacy system."

"It is possible to solve larger legacy API issues on an enterprise level with this product."

"The biggest advantage of OpenLegacy was how simple the technology was. We were able to build out the OpenLegacy parts very quickly. We put together a couple hundred APIs in six months."

"It is possible to connect a service to a mainframe program or back transaction in a matter of minutes or hours at the most."

"OpenLegacy provides a way to go from the outside world to the legacy mainframe, to move the old standard application to a REST API application. New digital services can be created in a few clicks and this can be done easily by COBOL programmers."

"OpenLegacy produces a war file which includes everything you need to deploy a Tomcat server."

Cons

"Understanding the architecture, deployment criteria, and communication methods of the installation can be time-consuming."

"Components, like caching, should be implemented as policies, not requiring dependency on an external solution."

"The design time setup has a lot of customizable fields, but we need certain standard fields to be added, such as what all of the consuming systems are. This needs to be very clearly articulated during the design time."

"I would like to see support for non-Java based services. We struggle a bit to be able to deploy and connect our .NET services because of things like data types. We had to map a couple of things. For one solution provider, we had to move them to .NET Core before we could use it properly. I would like to see more agnostic tool service platforms rather than moving it more towards Java or open source."

"Like any typical IBM infrastructure setup, you need to learn to set it up yourself. It's not one of those simple zip files or an archive unzip and you're up and running in some few minutes. Knowledge to set it up is key."

"The integration of an API gateway that implements the sidecar pattern, which can be deployed in cloud applications, and expose the microservices directly in each pod, this can be more decentralized components."

"We've had some issues upgrading to the latest version of the solution."

"The new version is very unstable."

More IBM API Connect cons

"I'd like to see OpenLegacy develop its low-code/no-code (LCNC) solutions. They've expanded somewhat their horizons for integration beyond mainframe CICS, which is their sweet spot. They have some tooling in that area, but it's not as good as it needs to be."

"Customer support for the product is slow and not very good. It makes using the product difficult if you need help quickly."

"We would also be more than happy if the product had the option to work in the opposite direction – the ability to consume REST/SOW services in the outer world from the mainframe."

"I would like to see SSL out-of-the-box. OpenLegacy certainly does SSL, but it was not the default for our use case. We are currently working with OpenLegacy to cross the SSL bridge and suspect that most users will want to do the same."

"Debugging and logging for programmers could be better."

"The pricing of the solution could be more flexible and allow for once-off payment versus annual licensing. This would be more appealing to companies in Latin America."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"API Connect's license cost could be a little lower. But, unfortunately, there aren't many open-source API gateways. Ideally, some new developers could come up with a minimum-functionality open-source solution."

"The pricing is significantly high."

"This is a licensed product. If your company is looking to obtain a license, you have to work with IBM partners."

"It is an expensive solution. The licensing model is based on a per-subscription and per-subscriber end-user basis, meaning the price is determined by the end-users of the platform."

"It would be a good idea to bring down the pricing by at least 20 to 30 percent."

"We pay for the IBM API Connect monthly. We only need to pay the standard licensing fee."

"It's an expensive product."

"API Connect is expensive - I'd rate their pricing five out of ten."

More IBM API Connect pricing and cost advice

"The pricing of the solution could be more flexible and allow for once-off payment versus annual licensing. This would be more appealing to companies in Latin America."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Insurance Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	61

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM API Connect?

Publishers can easily identify, create, and publish APIs on the developer portal, defining plans, packages, and potentially billing rules.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM API Connect?

I do not handle the pricing, setup cost, and licensing details.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM API Connect?

We are relatively new to IBM API Connect, so I do not have significant improvements to suggest at this time.

See all answers

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Comparisons

IBM DataPower Gateway vs IBM API Connect

Compared 32% of the time

Apigee vs IBM API Connect

Compared 16% of the time

Microsoft Azure API Management vs IBM API Connect

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs IBM API Connect

Compared 5% of the time

MuleSoft API Manager vs IBM API Connect

Compared 5% of the time

More IBM API Connect Competitors

Pipedream vs OpenLegacy

Compared 14% of the time

MuleSoft API Manager vs OpenLegacy

Compared 14% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs OpenLegacy

Compared 11% of the time

Apigee vs OpenLegacy

Compared 11% of the time

Kong Gateway Enterprise vs OpenLegacy

Compared 10% of the time

More OpenLegacy Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect

January 2026

Download IBM API Connect product report

Buyer's Guide

OpenLegacy

January 2026

Download OpenLegacy product report

Overview

IBM API Connect is an API management tool providing robust security, seamless REST and SOAP conversion, and flexible deployment options for diverse cloud environments. It aids organizations in securing and monetizing their APIs while streamlining the development process.

IBM API Connect offers features like a security gateway, API lifecycle management, and integration with DataPower. Its intuitive interface enhances ease of use, supporting extensive analytics and traffic management. However, there are areas for improvement in automation, system integration, and user configuration. Organizations can deploy API Connect on-premises or in the cloud, delivering secure access control and analytics for banking, financial services, and government sectors. Compliance with standards like PSD2 ensures secure external API exposure and integration with multiple systems.

What are the most important features of IBM API Connect?

Security Gateway: Provides robust protection and data security for APIs.
Seamless Conversion: Facilitates easy conversion between REST and SOAP protocols.
API Management: Supports full API lifecycle management for efficient development.
DataPower Integration: Integrates seamlessly with DataPower for enhanced functionality.
Developer Portal: Offers a user-friendly interface for managing APIs and developers.
Analytics: Delivers powerful insights through comprehensive API analytics.
Flexible Deployment: Supports deployment on different cloud platforms for versatility.

What benefits and ROI can users expect from IBM API Connect?

Traffic Management: Efficiently manages high volumes of API traffic without compromising performance.
Data Protection: Ensures data is protected during API communication.
API Monetization: Facilitates API monetization strategies to drive revenue.
Scalability: Provides scalable solutions to handle growing demands seamlessly.

In specific industries like banking, financial services, and government sectors, IBM API Connect plays a crucial role in API management, orchestration, and regulation tasks. It provides secure access, control, and compliance with industry standards, serving as an essential gateway for data exchange and integration across multiple systems.

IBM

OpenLegacy helps organizations quickly launch innovative digital services by extending their core back-end systems to the web, mobile and cloud in days or weeks versus months. Our microservice-enabled API integration and management software quickly reduces project backlog by automating and accelerating microservices and API creation, deployment, testing and management from core applications, mainframes and databases. Together, business and IT teams can quickly, easily and securely meet consumer, partner or employee demands for digital services without modernizing or replacing core systems, and without special programming skills or invasive changes to existing systems and architectures. OpenLegacy is designed for ongoing management of microservices APIs and is based on open standards, so our software plays nice with your current technology stack and supports agile, DevOps and continuous development. Learn why leading companies choose OpenLegacy at www.openlegacy.com.

OpenLegacy

Sample Customers

Heineken, Tine, Finologee, Axis Bank

Many of openLegacy's global customers are among the Global 100 companies. Review case studies in these industries: Agriculture, Airport Authority, Automotive, Auto, Finance, Insurance, Government, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Retailwww.openlegacy.com/case-studie...

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect vs. OpenLegacy

February 2026

Free Report: IBM API Connect vs. OpenLegacy

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