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IBM API Connect vs MuleSoft API Manager 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM API Connect
Ranking in API Management
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (7th)
MuleSoft API Manager
Ranking in API Management
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of IBM API Connect is 6.5%, up from 6.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MuleSoft API Manager is 5.4%, down from 8.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management
 

Q&A Highlights

 

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.
Dipanjan_Nandi - PeerSpot reviewer
Valuable testing stubs and policy enforcement with room for better security and cost management
From an API management perspective, MuleSoft's API Manager is not as powerful as some other tools available. Features like monetization and advanced security, which are present in Apigee, are missing. I also want the API Manager to be used as a separate product apart from MuleSoft's other integration solutions. Additionally, the licensing cost is high, and many clients are looking to switch due to this.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"WSRR is a powerful component for getting the endpoints."
"IBM API Connect is a good product, and their technical support is excellent."
"It has all of the tools that are needed for the specific mission."
"This is a very easy to use solution."
"The statistics component is easy to use."
"It is quite stable. We've not had any problem. It has made for a good buy because we are finding that other companies that have similar set ups go down maybe once a month."
"Security is well organized and managed within the solution."
"I have found IBM API Connect to be highly secure, efficient, easy to deploy, and has a great GUI. It can operate and integrate well with other vendors, such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft."
"The scalability is good. It's passable."
"The most valuable features of Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager are the API gateway, rate limiting, and orchestration."
"The tool has a private area. It also has a cloud deployment option."
"Its best feature is that its plugins are somewhat unique in the market. We have budgets, Prime membership, and pre-plugins available in the marketplace that we can use immediately."
"Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager's most valuable aspect is it has plenty of features."
"The entire offering and suite of tools that this solution provides have been very valuable. We are able to manage APIs on runtime on a cloud basis which has been very useful."
"The solution has been very stable."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to investigate APIs."
 

Cons

"Support for this platform could still be improved. It also needs to have more levels of versatility. Its compatibility and integration with different platforms also need improvement."
"Installation is weak."
"There is room for improvement regarding the connectivity of the DevOps."
"Due to bugs in integration, we have to look for workaround on fixing and using DataPower as gateway."
"Possible improvement is mainly around having more of the cloud oriented architecture bringing stability in adding new capabilities around security."
"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."
"The solution is not scalable."
"We've had some issues upgrading to the latest version of the solution."
"The pricing is quite expensive. It should be adjusted to make it more affordable for users."
"The roadmap could include more GenAI use cases integrated into the platform, focusing on various industry verticals."
"I'd like more monitoring and analyzing features included in the future."
"I'd suggest more control over MQ restarts and greater transparency in traffic management."
"The initial setup is very complex."
"There should be more pricing options or certain discounts for the education sector."
"The solution is expensive."
"From an API management perspective, MuleSoft's API Manager is not as powerful as some other tools available."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"It can be quite expensive. It's okay for large-scale usage but quite expensive for smaller-scale implementations."
"API Connect is quite pricey."
"There was a need to purchase an upfront license or a one-time license or upfront license, but I cannot remember the details about it clearly."
"The pricing is too expensive with IBM. Sometimes, we prefer to go with an open source or something more lightweight."
"It is quite an expensive product."
"The price for IBM API Connect is reasonable. It's $20,000 to $30,000 yearly for a subscription, and the pricing could vary around $40,000 per year, per subscription. Its price is reasonable for customers who have around sixty million API calls yearly for unlimited environments."
"The price of the solution is very expensive, it can turn many customers away."
"If one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the product price as six and a half to seven."
"The licensing fees are approximately $80,000 USD per year and there are costs for additional functionality, as well as premiums for connectors to systems such as Oracle and SAP."
"The pricing is quite reasonable and affordable."
"It's not very expensive, reasonably priced. There are no additional costs."
"The product is expensive."
"It is extremely high, and I would rate it one out of ten."
"The pricing for this solution is cheaper than GCP and Bluemix."
"When it comes to determining price, the pre-sales team interacts with the customer's primary integration team and the price is negotiated based on the specific usage of the system."
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Answers from the Community

SM
Dec 2, 2022
Dec 2, 2022
MuleSoft Anypoint
See 2 answers
reviewer1315965 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 2, 2022
MuleSoft Anypoint
WK
Dec 2, 2022
Of those three: MuleSoft Anypoint. But, cost-friendly is another term, I would choose a different solution. We are happy with Gravitee.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
21%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Insurance Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

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.
How does Kong Enterprise compare with Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager?
The Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager was designed with its users in mind. Though it is a reasonably complex piece of software, it is easy to install and upgrade. While there are different things that ...
How does Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager compare with Amazon API Gateway?
I have found that Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager is the best integration tool out there for API management. It is easy to implement and learn; it provides several options for deployment, (including ...
What do you like most about Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager?
The most valuable features of the solution for securing APIs stem from the tool's ability to allow users to deploy policies.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Anypoint API Manager
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Heineken, Tine, Finologee, Axis Bank
Coca-Cola, Splunk, Citrix, UCSF, Vertu, State of Colorado, National Post, TiVo, Deakin, LLS, Oldcastle Precast, ParcelPoint, Justice Systems, Ube, Sumitomo Corporation, PacificComp, University of Witwatersrand, Groupe Initiatives, Camelot, Panviva
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM API Connect vs. MuleSoft API Manager and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.