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3scale API Management vs IBM DataPower Gateway comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.5
3scale API Management offers quick ROI and cost-effective API access, ideal for SMEs seeking reduced licensing expenses.
Sentiment score
5.1
IBM DataPower Gateway offers financial benefits by consolidating features and saving costs, despite being perceived as expensive.
We count the number of hits and can say we earn and actually get the benefit from it.
Deputy director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.4
3scale API Management customer service receives mixed reviews, citing good partnerships but also delayed support and unclear documentation.
Sentiment score
6.4
IBM DataPower Gateway support is generally positive but varies in cost, response time, and client engagement quality.
In terms of OEM support, it is poor.
Middleware Administrator at Pronteff IT Solutions
I would rate the technical support of IBM as an eight on a scale from one to ten.
Software Engineer at EJADA
I would evaluate customer service and technical support as a little bit weak, so I give it a seven out of ten.
Deputy director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
3scale API Management offers strong scalability for enterprise applications, with high availability and ease of managing multiple instances.
Sentiment score
6.6
IBM DataPower Gateway is scalable and ideal for large enterprises but may be costly and less flexible for smaller firms.
Once you install the product, we can't scale the resources on the IBM DataPower Gateway.
Manager at CSB Bank Ltd
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
3scale API Management is highly stable, runs effectively in cloud environments, and users expect improvements despite initial setup issues.
Sentiment score
8.2
IBM DataPower Gateway is praised for high stability and reliability, especially in finance, with minimal configuration and strong performance.
IBM DataPower Gateway does not handle all the traffic on a single node.
Manager at CSB Bank Ltd
 

Room For Improvement

3scale API Management needs better CMS, customization, Open API 3 support, and improvements in user experience and integration capabilities.
IBM DataPower Gateway needs simplified scripting, user-friendly design, flexible pricing, enhanced integration, and improved maintenance and customization.
If we require additional features, we can't configure them on the IBM DataPower Gateway.
Manager at CSB Bank Ltd
Whenever I am writing code, it should give recommendations automatically by incorporating AI so I can write the code in a few minutes or seconds.
Middleware Administrator at Pronteff IT Solutions
My experience with the pricing of this product is that pricing is too high and should be reduced.
Deputy director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

3scale API Management is cost-effective, especially with OpenShift, priced around $45,000 annually, seen as affordable by users.
IBM DataPower Gateway is costly, especially for smaller firms, yet valued by enterprises; more flexible pricing would broaden accessibility.
 

Valuable Features

3scale API Management offers easy OpenShift integration, efficient traffic management, API automation, enhanced security, and container deployment capabilities.
IBM DataPower Gateway excels in security, integration, performance, and API management, offering robust features like SSL management and load balancing.
It simplifies exposing our APIs externally and inherently adds a layer of security, which I see as a positive impact from the product.
Program Manager at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
No other Gateway offers this as part of the integration offering.
Middleware Administrator at Pronteff IT Solutions
For routing, the IBM DataPower Gateway has multiple URL-based routing and content-based routing capabilities.
Manager at CSB Bank Ltd
IBM DataPower Gateway has positively impacted my organization by allowing me to implement rate limits on the different API usage, which is the benefit.
Deputy director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

3scale API Management
Ranking in API Management
23rd
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM DataPower Gateway
Ranking in API Management
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (5th), Application Infrastructure (6th), SOA Application Gateways (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the API Management category, the mindshare of 3scale API Management is 2.0%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM DataPower Gateway is 3.1%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM DataPower Gateway3.1%
3scale API Management2.0%
Other94.9%
API Management
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2747757 - PeerSpot reviewer
Program Manager at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Facilitates API exposure securely and highlights developer portal flexibility needs
Not much stands out for me regarding the advantages of this product. We usually don't tinker with it. Developing developer portals could be more standards-based. I think currently it's Ruby-based. Having more options on designing that would be beneficial. Additional flexibility would have been great; we would have used it more if it aligned with our platform. I don't use the analytics part. We don't use monetization features, which help to create a revenue generation model.
AkshaySawant - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at CSB Bank Ltd
Security features excel but development limitations emerge
We are using the IBM DataPower Gateway for security purposes. As per the development perspective, there are some limitations with IBM DataPower Gateway because it only supports XML and XSLT language, but it does not support the Java language. This is the only limitation of the IBM DataPower Gateway. For the authentication and authorization purpose, we can use the IBM DataPower Gateway. It's a very good product. We are mostly using the IBM DataPower Gateway for security purposes and load balancing purposes. If we are handling the load for a particular server, then we can use the IBM DataPower Gateway. The IBM DataPower Gateway is mostly used for security purposes. If we have some APIs and we are using some security for those APIs, then we can use it. It can also be used as a load balancer. It's also used for certificate management, user management purposes, authentication, and authorization. For routing, the IBM DataPower Gateway has multiple URL-based routing and content-based routing capabilities. If we have multiple URLs, then we can use an XML script. Using the XSLT language, we can configure multiple URLs and implement URL-based routing. Content-based routing means if we have multiple requests, we can route the request to a particular URL. For this, we need to use the XSLT language only. We can't use XML, Java, or other scripting languages. With IBM DataPower Gateway, we are using all the APIs. All APIs have been configured on the gateway. We have configured the particular TLS profile and some TLS client profiles as well. Using that TLS profile, we have configured the APIs and authentication. We have configured some tokens also, including JWT tokens and different types of auth tokens. There is also a rate limiting feature which we use for handling API loads.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Government
12%
Insurance Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Insurance Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise18
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for 3scale API Management?
I rate the product’s pricing as two out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive.
What needs improvement with 3scale API Management?
Not much stands out for me regarding the advantages of this product. We usually don't tinker with it. Developing developer portals could be more standards-based. I think currently it's Ruby-based. ...
What is your primary use case for 3scale API Management?
Our company exposes different APIs, and we use it to monitor traffic, limit traffic, and similar functions. I don't have much involvement with the solution, though I did conduct some research. We s...
What do you like most about IBM DataPower Gateway?
The MPGW (Multi-Protocol Gateway) is great because it allows you to easily expose services using various protocols – web services, REST (JSON), and others. This flexibility simplifies things.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM DataPower Gateway?
This product is definitely expensive because if any issue occurs in the live environment or production environment, and our organization faces some issue with the IBM DataPower Gateway, then the IB...
What needs improvement with IBM DataPower Gateway?
The developer portal should be an integrated part of IBM DataPower Gateway to improve it. I think it is fine as is, and maybe no other additional features should be included in the next release. My...
 

Also Known As

No data available
WebSphere DataPower, IBM DataPower, IBM WebSphere DataPower
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Victor Ops, Coca Cola, The Telegraph, Skava, Orange, Typeform
RBL Bank, Availity
Find out what your peers are saying about 3scale API Management vs. IBM DataPower Gateway and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,122 professionals have used our research since 2012.