IBM App Connect vs IBM Cloud Pak for Integration comparison

IBM App Connect vs. IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

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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 App Connect

Ranking in Cloud Data Integration

11th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

Ranking in Cloud Data Integration

15th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

API Management (24th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Cloud Data Integration category, the mindshare of IBM App Connect is 4.7%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Cloud Pak for Integration is 2.1%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Data Integration

Featured Reviews

Mehdi El Filahi

Co-Founder at tenekit

Offers flexible adapters, good scalability but logging can be difficult at times

There is room for improvement in the logging messages. Sometimes, if you put someone new into App Connect, they can abandon it the same day. The logging is really painful. However, IBM has made efforts to integrate with Elasticsearch for logging, so that's an improvement. Overall, the logging can be difficult at times. One more important point is that if IBM improves its CI/CD capabilities, it will make a big difference. Right now, I have to create my own CI/CD setup from scratch for every client, which is inefficient. Back in 2013, I worked with Sonic ESB, and even then, it had CI/CD with Maven. With App Connect, you need to build everything yourself when using tools like Jenkins, Bamboo, or CircleCI. IBM really needs to provide official support for this.

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Neelima Golla

Senior Software Engineer at NessPRO Italy

A hybrid integration platform that applies the functionality of closed-loop AI automation

I recommend using it because, in today's context, the cloud plays a significant role. Within the same user interface, you can develop applications and manage multiple applications, making it a more user-friendly option. Moreover, you can explore various other technologies while deploying on the cloud, broadening your knowledge of cloud technologies. In my case, the transition led to my learning of Kubernetes, enabling multi-scaling and expanding my technical skills. It was a valuable experience, and I had the opportunity to learn many new things during the migration process. I can easily rate it an eight or nine out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One of the most beneficial features is the ability to handle multiple communication technologies, like integrating Kafka flows, which is helpful as other teams heavily use it. Regarding error handling, I initially wrote most of the handling myself. While built-in features for error handling are built-in, it largely depends on the developer. We use a custom solution that catches all exceptions, logs them in a database, and replays them as needed. It has been effective for us for over twenty years."

"It has an efficient design flow."

"I would say that the most valuable feature is the array of connectors and integration tools."

"I like the adapters. The adapters help us achieve scalability. If you want to connect to SAP, there's an adapter. Salesforce? There's an adapter. You want to connect to another system? There's likely an adapter for that."

"We use IBM App Connect for the integration between the applications."

"It's a powerful application for collaboration. It has many features for customization and integration."

"Provides good security features."

"Very scalable, flexible, and user-friendly."

More IBM App Connect pros

"The most preferable aspect would be the elimination of the command, which was a significant improvement. In the past, it was a challenge, but now we can proceed smoothly with the implementation of our policies and everything is managed through JCP. It's still among the positive aspects, and it's a valuable feature."

"The most valuable aspect of the Cloud Pak, in general, is the flexibility that you have to use the product."

"Redirection is a key feature. It helps in managing multiple microservices by centralizing control and access."

"Cloud Pak for Integration is definitely scalable. That is the most important criteria."

"It is a stable solution."

Cons

"The addition of string functionality would be a benefit, particularly in the ESQL space that IBM already uses internally."

"In the next release, I would like to get some quality connectors."

"One more important point is that if IBM improves its CI/CD capabilities, it will make a big difference. Right now, I have to create my own CI/CD setup from scratch for every client, which is inefficient."

"IBM App Connect should improve security features."

"They reply in one or two hours at most, but they could be better."

"The user interface of IBM App Connect can be a little bit more user-friendly, I would say because the first-time developer is onboarded while using IBM App Connect, he or she may get a little intimidated or daunted looking at all the options available or the pipelines, et cetera."

"IBM App Connect is scalable. From the administration side, they need to improve the RBAC model, as well as the clustering of this product. It will be good if we can start up the cluster, via IBM Connect Console. Some other products like MuleSoft, are providing this type of administration. MuleSoft is easy to use and user friendly."

"It is not easy to deploy. It requires someone with a high level of knowledge in the solution to deploy it, not just anyone can do it."

More IBM App Connect cons

"Enterprise bots are needed to balance products like Kafka and Confluent."

"Its queuing and messaging features need improvement."

"Setting up Cloud Pak for Integration is relatively complex. It's not as easy because it has not yet been fully integrated. You still have some products that are still not containerized, so you still have to run them on a dedicated VM."

"The initial setup is not easy."

"The pricing can be improved."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price could be better."

"The licensing cost for IBM App Connect is very high."

"App Connect is not cheap."

"Initially, App Connect was quite expensive because the cost was based on the number of processors we used. However, it's now based on containers, which means we can be more specific about our consumption and get a better price."

"IBM App Connect's pricing is high compared to other products."

"The solution's pricing isn't cheap, but you can get good discounts based on your competitive deal."

"It is very expensive if we want to scale."

"The cost depends upon the consumer."

"It is an expensive solution."

"The solution's pricing model is very flexible."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

50%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

19%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM App Connect?

I like the adapters. The adapters help us achieve scalability. If you want to connect to SAP, there's an adapter. Salesforce? There's an adapter. You want to connect to another system? There's like...

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

IBM App Connect's pricing is high compared to other products.

What is your primary use case for IBM App Connect?

Our company has a big project for delivery and e-commerce sites. We use IBM App Connect to deliver information to our end users after they buy our products. We get information from many places, suc...

What do you like most about IBM Cloud Pak for Integration?

The most preferable aspect would be the elimination of the command, which was a significant improvement. In the past, it was a challenge, but now we can proceed smoothly with the implementation of ...

What needs improvement with IBM Cloud Pak for Integration?

Enterprise bots are needed to balance products like Kafka and Confluent.

What is your primary use case for IBM Cloud Pak for Integration?

It manages APIs and integrates microservices at the enterprise level. It offers a range of capabilities for handling APIs, microservices, and various integration needs. The platform supports thousa...

webMethods.io vs IBM App Connect

Comparisons

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Compared 12% of the time

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Compared 10% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs IBM App Connect

Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

AWS Glue vs IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

Compared 7% of the time

Apigee vs IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

IBM App Connect

Download IBM App Connect product report

API Management

Download IBM Cloud Pak for Integration product report

Also Known As

IBM Cast Iron

No data available

Overview

Rapidly connect public clouds, private clouds and on-premises application

App Connect Professional is IBM’s cloud integration offering which delivers an integration solution
• With ease-of-use, flexibility and increased responsiveness to the evolving business needs, while removing the daunting complexities of integration.
• Provides the powerful combination of a ‘simple integration experience’ for business users looking to automate how their applications talk to each other; coupled with a ‘configuration based integration’ approach for IT.
• App Connect Professional is for the teams and integration developers who need to solve more complex problems and need powerful tooling for integration scenarios

IBM

IBM Cloud Pak for Integration gives you complete, flexible integration using capabilities you need to move at today's speed of business, including the tools to help you achieve your application modernization goals as part of your journey to the cloud.

IBM

Sample Customers

United Way of Allegheny County, Saint-Gobain CPS, Ricoh, SunTrust Banks Inc.

CVS Health Corporation

IBM App Connect vs. IBM Cloud Pak for Integration