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IBM API Connect vs MuleSoft Anypoint Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 8, 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
IBM API Connect enabled rapid microservices development, enhancing governance, security, and integration, yielding significant financial and operational benefits within two years.
Sentiment score
7.2
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform reduces costs, modernizes legacy systems, and ensures ROI for enterprises, with variable outcomes for smaller companies.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
IBM API Connect's support is generally good but varies in speed and effectiveness, depending on location and ticket severity.
Sentiment score
6.8
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform offers responsive customer service, excelling for premium users, though mixed opinions exist on availability and documentation.
The Salesforce team offers different levels of support.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
IBM API Connect is praised for its high scalability and reliability, though customization and infrastructure costs may vary.
Sentiment score
7.6
MuleSoft Anypoint is scalable for medium to large enterprises, handling workloads efficiently but with noted costs and limitations.
MuleSoft provides the ability to scale, yet it is costly to do so.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
IBM API Connect is generally stable and reliable, particularly in newer versions, with most users rating its stability highly.
Sentiment score
7.8
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform is stable and reliable, with some limitations in scalability and issues with connectors and Java troubleshooting.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM API Connect needs better microservices, documentation, monetization, setup, multi-cloud support, development, debugging, security, automation, hybrid cloud, and performance.
Users seek enhanced support, simpler setup, better integration, improved documentation, AI capabilities, and cost reduction for MuleSoft Anypoint Platform.
MuleSoft is considered expensive, so pricing is a major concern.
When dealing with multiple transactions or trading, the system can lose control, and tracking becomes hectic.
 

Setup Cost

IBM API Connect pricing is high, escalating in cloud deployments, with some users suggesting a 20-30% cost reduction.
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform is complex and costly, with high prices but potential savings for large-scale usage and pay-as-you-go options.
MuleSoft is considered one of the more expensive products in the market.
The platform reduces manual workload in maintaining infrastructure, but it does come with some cost considerations.
 

Valuable Features

IBM API Connect offers a robust interface, enhanced security, seamless integration, and comprehensive management tools for efficient API lifecycle and performance.
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform excels in API management, integration, scalability, and user-friendly deployment with strong support and security features.
The platform is integrated with Salesforce, making it preferable when using Salesforce products.
The most valuable feature is the full lifecycle management, including Anypoint Designer and Exchange, as well as Discofolio API.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM API Connect
Ranking in Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS)
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
API Management (5th)
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform
Ranking in Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS)
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Message Queue (MQ) Software (4th), Business-to-Business Middleware (1st), Workload Automation (9th), Cloud Data Integration (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) category, the mindshare of IBM API Connect is 2.4%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MuleSoft Anypoint Platform is 12.0%, down from 16.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Shanmugasundaram Shanmuganathan - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers basic API orchestration and provides robust security and governance features
While Azure API Management offers configurable scalability, IBM API Connect relies on Kubernetes clusters. This might seem manual and require defining cluster instances upfront, but it's completely customizable and not on-the-fly scaling. It's completely custom-driven, not on-the-fly scaling, which some may consider cumbersome. Overall, I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten. Almost all applications we've been exposing lately go through this middleware, so it's used extensively. There are around sixty applications directly using it, but six Kubernetes clusters serve those applications. It's heavily used for integration, including system-to-system integration and product integrations. Our usage has been increasing year-on-year based on our needs.
Vijay Subramanyam - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust, reliable, and stable, ensuring high availability for critical integrations
I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten; it is a highly scalable solution. We have around 200 end users using this solution in our company. We use it to its maximum capacity. However, it's not for P1 applications, but definitely for severity two cases (P2 level). It integrates critical applications, but it's not a platform that, if it stops, the entire system would come down. So, it's more like a severity two level. However, it has the potential to eventually become a P1 platform. Not exactly P1 applications, but a P1 platform. Because now we are still in the transition to migrate everything, all the integrations to Mule Anypoint Platform. But once it's done, then this platform becomes critical. Because even now, we have point-to-point connections.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
21%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Insurance Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM API Connect?
Price depends on many factors like size of the deal, competitive factors, timing, customer profile or where the pricing for API Calls is very competitive comparing to any of the leader players.
What needs improvement with IBM API Connect?
The only downside where improvements are needed is probably on the licensing side. Scalability is an issue with IBM API Connect, making it an area where improvements are required.
What advice do you have for others considering Mule Anypoint Platform?
I architected solutions using Oracle SOA/OSB, Spring Boot, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform on cloud / on-premises and hybrid modes; What I see is though if you are an enterprise and have enough money th...
How does TIBCO BusinessWorks compare with Mule Anypoint Platform?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether TIBCO BusinessWorks or Mule Anypoint platform integration and connectivity software was the better fit for us. We decided to go with Mule...
What can Mule Anypoint Platform be used for and what do you use it for most often?
This is a very flexible solution that comes with multiple uses. My organization mostly uses Mule Anypoint Platform for API management, as it lets us build new APIs easily and design new interfaces...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Data Integrator, Anypoint MQ
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Heineken, Tine, Finologee, Axis Bank
VMware, Gucci, MasterCard, Target, Time Inc, Hershey's, Tesla, Spotify, Office Depot, Intuit, CBS, Amtrak, Salesforce, Gap, Ralph Lauren
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM API Connect vs. MuleSoft Anypoint Platform and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.