Layer7 API Management vs webMethods.io comparison

Broadcom and IBM are both solutions in the API Management category. Broadcom is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.6, while IBM is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.2. Broadcom holds a 3.0% mindshare in APIM, compared to IBM’s 2.1% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Broadcom users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Layer7 API Management

Read 111 Layer7 API Management reviews

4,687 Views
3,479 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

webMethods.io

Read 92 webMethods.io reviews

3,174 Views
2,209 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Layer7 API Management

webMethods.io

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Layer7 API Management and webMethods.io are competitive in the API solutions category. Layer7 appears to have an edge in data security and traffic routing, which are vital for mobile-first strategies, while webMethods.io stands out in integration capabilities, especially with legacy systems.

Features: Layer7 is recognized for its robust API gateway that manages protocol and security token translation. It provides seamless REST-to-SOAP conversions and supports OAuth implementation, essential for securing API calls. Layer7 also offers load-balancing features and integrations with SiteMinder to guard against threats like DDoS. webMethods.io is notable for its comprehensive integration capabilities, efficient data mapping, and lifecycle management which are crucial in complex enterprise environments. It features a flow language that aids in simplifying the debugging and development process.

Room for Improvement: Layer7 users suggest foundational token support should be integrated directly into the base product to avoid additional costs for features like OAuth. Enhancements to the developer portal could elevate user experience. webMethods.io could improve its interface for more intuitive use and expand its middleware integration support, highlighting the need for a streamlined user experience aligned with existing infrastructures. Improving the developer portal is also noted as a potential area for webMethods.io.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Layer7 provides on-premises and hybrid cloud deployment options. Feedback on customer service varies, especially post-Broadcom acquisition, with some users noting responsiveness issues. webMethods.io also supports on-premises and hybrid deployments. It is generally praised for good support, though similar to Layer7, users occasionally report delays. Both are recognized for strong technical support, despite some concerns about timeliness.

Pricing and ROI: Layer7 is considered pricey yet competitive, often requiring negotiation to reach a suitable price point. It can offer cost savings compared to competitors depending on the specific feature set utilized. webMethods.io is also seen as expensive but is justified by its vast integration features. Users note the potential for a favorable ROI, thanks to efficient API management, despite higher upfront costs. Both platforms emphasize understanding their value propositions to justify the investment.

To learn more, read our detailed Layer7 API Management vs. webMethods.io Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Layer7 API Management vs. webMethods.io

January 2025

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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

Layer7 API Management

Ranking in API Management

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

111

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

webMethods.io

Ranking in API Management

10th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business-to-Business Middleware (3rd), Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (3rd), Managed File Transfer (MFT) (10th), Cloud Data Integration (7th), Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of Layer7 API Management is 3.0%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of webMethods.io is 2.1%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

API Management

Featured Reviews

Ronald D'Souza

Presales Consultant for CA Southern Africa at Hyperion Holding Pty Ltd

Has great drag-and-drop features and it requires minimal coding

I have mainly implemented using Layer 7 API Management. Some of the major challenges we were able to meet with a quick release to market methodology. Some of the tasks which we achieved for our customers were: 1. Translation service from SOAP to REST and vice versa. 2. API service to DB (Oracle, MySQL, MSSQL, Snowflake, SAP HANA) -- Created Swagger APIs that were able to perform CRUD operation to the backend API mentioned above and provided routes to query and get data. 3. Integration with Payment gateway service providers to perform (transaction on behalf of the customer with third-party payment gateway service providers white labeled with our APIs ) -- Followed TMF standards for payment gateway integration with the Telcom world. 4. Orchestration of the API. Build multiple microservers and provided orchestration based on route, path, and data in the request and perform actions that would be communicated with multiple APIs and provide a single consolidated response. 5. Provided API-driven security (Oauth 2.0, JWT, SAML, Basic, and a variety of means) to access the API giving the developer the freedom to concentrate only on application/service/microservice and let the gateway handle the threat. 6. Seamless Mutual Authentication allowed good segregation between APIs in the DMZ and internal network.

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Michele Illiano

Head of Division at Innovery

Can function as an ESB along with the core product, with decent integration of message protocols

I have noticed that webMethods ActiveTransfer has had problems when handling large files. For example, when we receive (and perform operations on) files that are larger than about 16 MB, the software starts losing performance. This is why, for most customers who have to deal with big files, I suggest that they use a product other than ActiveTransfer. I would like to note that this problem mainly concerns large files that undergo extra operations, such assigning, unassigning, or file translation. When these operations take place on large files, ActiveTransfer will use up a lot of resources. Within the product itself, I also believe that there is room for improvement in terms of optimization when it comes to general performance. I suspect that the issues underlying poor optimization are because it is all developed in Java. That is, all the objects and functions that are used need to be better organized, especially when it comes to big files but also overall. webMethods ActiveTransfer was born as an ESB to handle messages, and these messages were typically very short, i.e. small in size. A message is data that you have to send to an application, where it must be received in real-time and possibly processed or acknowledged elsewhere in the system as well. So, because it was initially designed for small messages, it struggles with performance when presented with very large files. All this to say, I suggest that they have an engineer reevaluate the architecture of the product in order to consider cases where large files are sent, and not only small ones. As for new features, compared to other products in the market, I think Software AG should be more up to date when it comes to extra protocol support, especially those protocols that other solutions have included in their products by default. Whenever we need to add an unsupported protocol, we have to go through the effort of custom development in order to work with it. Also, all the banks are obligated to migrate to the new standards, and big companies are all handling translations and operating their libraries with the new protocol formats. But webMethods ActiveTransfer doesn't seem to be keeping up with this evolution. Thus, they should aim to be more compliant in future, along the lines of their competitors such as IBM and Primeur.

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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

"Simple to use and easy to develop APIs."

"What I found most valuable in Layer7 API Management is that you can launch the API from the gateway quickly and securely, making it less complicated to deploy APIs. I also like that Layer7 API Management has a good portal and dashboards and that the dashboards show you statistics regarding how many people used the API, etc."

"They have got a very compelling platform that enables organizations to easily develop and roll out mobile applications."

"The product supports more than just HTTP protocols; it also caters to JMS and FTP protocols."

"The administration interface (Policy Manager) is very easy to understand and use."

"The most valuable feature was the gateway because it has a good dashboard which shows all the hits, misses, and issues, how often you are viewing, what was the response time, etc. The gateway was very easy to deploy."

"It is fairly stable for the Gateway side."

"The Gateway can front our APIs very easily."

More Layer7 API Management pros

"This solution has given us a competitive advantage because we have better automation and insight."

"The solution's ease-of-use is its most valuable feature, in which complex issues may be resolved."

"What I like the most about the solution is that it comes with ready-made tools like handling security tokens and OAuth."

"The solution is scalable."

"ActiveTransfer lets us maintain the file in the staging area before we transfer it. After that, we can remove the file to make sure that the reconciliation process is done. Sometimes we will zip and unzip the files, but if we have a GKB file, we often ignore it."

"With webMethods, the creation of servers and the utilization of Trading Networks facilitate B2B integration. It resolves any related issues effectively."

"I like the solution's policies, transformation, mediation, and routing features."

"The core product can be used not only for automatic file transfers between applications, but also as an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)."

More webMethods.io pros

Cons

"I feel there is a lot to improve in terms of providing plug-and-play functionalities, as at the moment it requires a lot of coding in their specific language for implementing a medium-complexity use case."

"There is still room for improvement for the CA API Developer Portal. It is still not on par with what the competencies are."

"I understand that clients are often concerned about costs. They might be exploring other options due to the high cost associated with our current package."

"One day, where we can have a microservices gateway and we will not need the classic gateway at all, that is what we want to see."

"The solution should prioritize ease of use and align with the growing trend of cloud-native environments."

"They need a multifactor authentication solution for the API layer and the other layers, as well."

"It needs better mobile features and HA configuration."

"The setup was not as straightforward as it should have been. Support should be improved."

More Layer7 API Management cons

"I have noticed that webMethods ActiveTransfer has had problems when handling large files. For example, when we receive (and perform operations on) files that are larger than about 16 MB, the software starts losing performance."

"One area that needs improvement is the version upgrade process. Many customers I've worked with encounter challenges when transitioning from their current version, such as x or 9, to a newer version. The process is not smooth, and they must shift their entire website."

"Understanding the overall architecture is difficult."

"The solution's release management feature could be better."

"Need to see more API portal features like monetizing APIs and private cloud readiness."

"webMethods.io needs to incorporate ChatGPT to enhance user experience. It can offer a customized user experience."

"The improvement needed is related to the model's position. As of now, it seems to be more of a conceptual idea rather than a widely implemented solution. For how long"

"The interface needs some work. It is not very user-friendly."

More webMethods.io cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's my manager who takes care of the pricing. But I keep on hearing that it's a little pricey, it's on the higher side. That is what he says."

"I feel that it is costly for medium-sized companies."

"At the time we bought the product it was a perpetual users license and there has been no need for additional licensing fees."

"I do not have experience with the pricing or licensing of the product."

"Licenses are required to operate the product, but I don't know much about the validity periods attached to it."

"CA API Management has a licensing path. If you want more features, it requires more licenses and more installation time."

"Purchase 4.0 now and wait until they flush out the 4.1 problems."

"CA has great pricing for gateways, so negotiate with your sales team."

More Layer7 API Management pricing and cost advice

"The price is a little bit high, especially regarding their support."

"Initialy good pricing and good, if it comes to Enterprise license agreements."

"Always plan five years ahead and don’t jeopardize the quality of your project by dropping items from the bill of materials."

"With our current licensing, it's very easy for us to scale. With our older licensing model, it was very hard. This is definitely something that I would highlight."

"Its cost depends on the use cases."

"webMethods Integration Server is expensive, and there's no fixed price on it because it has a point pricing model. You can negotiate, which makes it interesting."

"The solution’s pricing is too high."

"The price is high and I give it a five out of ten."

More webMethods.io pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Energy/Utilities Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Layer7 API Management?

The solution's technical support is good.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Layer7 API Management?

The pricing is expensive compared to other products.

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What needs improvement with Layer7 API Management?

Layer7 API Management could be improved in its logging and alert mechanisms. Furthermore, although cloud deployment has been introduced, I am not familiar with all recent updates. In previous versi...

See all answers

What do you like most about Built.io Flow?

The tool helps us to streamline data integration. Its BPM is very strong and powerful. The solution helps us manage digital transformation.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Built.io Flow?

webMethods.io is expensive. We have multiple components, and you need to pay for each of them.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Built.io Flow?

webMethods.io needs to incorporate ChatGPT to enhance user experience. It can offer a customized user experience.

See all answers

Comparisons

Apigee vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 32% of the time

MuleSoft API Manager vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 15% of the time

Kong Gateway Enterprise vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 15% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 12% of the time

WSO2 API Manager vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 2% of the time

More Layer7 API Management Competitors

Apigee vs webMethods.io

Compared 8% of the time

IBM Integration Bus vs webMethods.io

Compared 8% of the time

IBM App Connect vs webMethods.io

Compared 8% of the time

Mule ESB vs webMethods.io

Compared 4% of the time

Boomi iPaaS vs webMethods.io

Compared 4% of the time

More webMethods.io Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Layer7 API Management

February 2025

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Buyer's Guide

webMethods.io

February 2025

Download webMethods.io product report

Also Known As

CA API Management, CA Live API Creator, Espresso Logic, CA API Gateway

Built.io Flow, webMethods Integration Server, webMethods Trading Networks, webMethods ActiveTransfer, webMethods.io API

Overview

Layer7 API Management is a comprehensive solution that enables organizations to securely expose, manage, and monetize their APIs.

It provides features such as API gateway, developer portal, analytics, and security to ensure seamless integration and control over API traffic.

With Layer7 API Management, businesses can streamline their API operations and drive innovation.

Broadcom

webMethods.io Integration is a powerful integration platform as a service (iPaaS) that provides a combination of capabilities offered by ESBs, data integration systems, API management tools, and B2B gateways.

IBM

Sample Customers

1. IBM 2. Microsoft 3. Oracle 4. Salesforce 5. SAP 6. Cisco 7. Dell 8. HP 9. Adobe 10. VMware 11. Accenture 12. Capgemini 13. Deloitte 14. PwC 15. Ernst & Young 16. Infosys 17. TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) 18. Wipro 19. Cognizant 20. HCL Technologies 21. Tech Mahindra 22. Fujitsu 23. Hitachi 24. NEC 25. NTT Data 26. Ericsson 27. Nokia 28. Siemens 29. AT&T 30. Verizon 31. Vodafone 32. Orange

Cisco, Agralogics, Dreamforce, Cables & Sensors, Sacramento Kings

Buyer's Guide

Layer7 API Management vs. webMethods.io

January 2025

Free Report: Layer7 API Management vs. webMethods.io

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