Layer7 API Management vs webMethods.io comparison

Broadcom and IBM are both solutions in the API Management category. Broadcom is ranked #10 with an average rating of 7.6, while IBM is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.0. 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

5,068 Views
3,774 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

webMethods.io

Read 91 webMethods.io reviews

3,332 Views
2,348 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

10th

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

9th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business-to-Business Middleware (4th), Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (3rd), Managed File Transfer (MFT) (10th), Cloud Data Integration (8th), Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (5th)

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

"From a security standpoint, it works great. It is the right solution for us. It's lightweight, a software-appliance configuration which was easy to deploy and configure."

"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."

"The most valuable feature is that it enables me to present data in the format that the client wants to consume it. That client might be a visualization tool, that client might be a report, that client might be a customer's API requirements."

"There are many security policies within this solution that help to prevent attacks. We are also able to implement TLS to allow us to look at the application from the backend. There are workflows inside of the gate that help us a lot to implement customers and improve user experience. Our customers are also able to move from a customized creative view to taking advantage of AI bot solutions."

"It is able to withstand the number of API calls and handle different API requirements to secure, transform, log, and track API usage patterns."

"For developers to be able to come, sign up, or find APIs."

"It is fairly stable for the Gateway side."

"This improved our organization, because it gives the management data to discuss for the next course of action and it suggests what to work on, as the next thing."

More Layer7 API Management pros

"The most valuable feature of the webMethods Integration Server is the built-in monitoring, auditing, RETS, and SOAP services."

"We needed a tool that was able to orchestrate and help us configure our APIs so that we could maintain and see the heartbeat, traffic, trends, etc."

"There were no complexities involved in the setup phase...The product is able to meet my company's API protection needs."

"It is good for communicating between the systems and for publishing and subscribing. We can easily retrieve data. It is good in terms of troubleshooting and other things."

"webMethods API Portal is overall very valuable. It is now a comprehensive API catalogue that serves various purposes, including API assessment and evaluation."

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

"How simple it is to create new solutions."

"The cloud version of the solution is very easy to set up."

More webMethods.io pros

Cons

"The product's initial setup phase is not very straightforward, making it an area where improvements are required."

"There are old algorithms that the tool does not support - and it shouldn't, in my opinion. But sometimes customers need old algorithms, from old use cases and old applications, migrated to the platform. At those times, there are hiccups that happen."

"Provide complete documentation with examples of usage on its build in assertion/function."

"The developer portal needs to fully supported SOAP services (including WSDL publication with security), it would certainly push adoption for us."

"Layer7 API Management should give a clear roadmap of the product and where it is going, and they should not change the underlying layers."

"They should incorporate deeper monitoring features into the solution to make the offering more complete. Doing so would help to showcase traffic patterns and usage to better engage customers and partners proactively. It would also help with API management and capacity planning."

"The API Development tool can be made more user-friendly by providing folder properties."

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

More Layer7 API Management cons

"The installation process should be simplified for first time users and be made more user-friendly."

"The products, at the moment, are new and there should perhaps be support for the older version of the protocols."

"With respect to the API gateway, the runtime component, the stability after a new release is something that can be improved."

"I would like to see the price improve."

"We got the product via a reseller, and the support from the reseller has been less than desirable."

"The on-premises setup can be difficult."

"The configuring of the JWT token would be improved as it is a confusing process. We require more information on this part of the solution."

"wM SAP Adapter User Guide - Example, like Message Broker setup was unclear, leading to issues during Testing and we had refer the internet forums to understand that there is a Message Broker Cleanup utility and that needs to be setup as well."

More webMethods.io cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are various licensing models for Layer7 API Management. We have to buy additional licenses to get new versions."

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

"We weren't comfortable with the pricing of licensing. It was slightly more expensive than its competitors."

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

"It was very high at that time. We are a Broadcom CA partner, and we got it only for testing purposes. We didn't pay anything for it."

"Do not buy piecemeal."

"There is an annual license for the use of this solution. I think we are paying for some support maintenance fees, included in that license. I don't know how it works. They should provide more information."

"The price of Layer7 API Management is too high and should be reduced. However, it is a good solution in the market."

More Layer7 API Management pricing and cost advice

"I would like to see better pricing for the license."

"It is worth the cost."

"Based on our team discussions and feedback, it is pretty costly because they charge us for each transmission."

"It's a good deal for the money that we pay."

"This is an expensive product and we may replace it with something more reasonably priced."

"It is a cost-effective solution."

"The solution's development license is free for three to six months. We have to pay for other things."

"I do think webMethods is coming under increasing pressure when it comes to their price-to-feature value proposition. It's probably the single biggest strategic risk they have. They're very expensive in their industry. They've been raising the price recently, especially when compared with their competitors."

More webMethods.io pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

20%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Government

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 33% of the time

MuleSoft API Manager vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 16% of the time

Kong Gateway Enterprise vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 15% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 11% of the time

3scale API Management vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 2% of the time

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IBM Integration Bus vs webMethods.io

Compared 7% of the time

Apigee vs webMethods.io

Compared 7% of the time

IBM App Connect vs webMethods.io

Compared 6% of the time

Mule ESB vs webMethods.io

Compared 4% of the time

SAP Cloud Platform vs webMethods.io

Compared 4% of the time

More webMethods.io Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Layer7 API Management

January 2025

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Buyer's Guide

webMethods.io

December 2024

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

Learn More

Broadcom

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IBM

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.

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.

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

Find out what your peers are saying about Layer7 API Management vs. webMethods.io and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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