Microsoft Azure API Management and MuleSoft API Manager are prominent competitors in the API management category. Azure API Management has an edge with seamless integration into the Azure ecosystem, while MuleSoft excels with superior API orchestration and hybrid environment flexibility.
Features: Microsoft Azure API Management provides seamless access management, multifactor authentication, and comprehensive API capabilities. It includes a developer-friendly portal, advanced policy implementation, and real-time analytics for monitoring. MuleSoft API Manager offers a wide range of connectors, security features, and low-code customization to handle complex integration scenarios effectively.
Room For Improvement: Microsoft Azure API Management requires more customization options, enhanced integration with third-party solutions, and improved configuration documentation. Scalability and performance enhancements are also needed. MuleSoft API Manager needs an enhanced user interface, improved pricing models, especially in terms of Kubernetes and Docker integration, and more transparency on future developments post-Salesforce merger.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Azure API Management supports deployment across public, private, and hybrid clouds and offers good technical support, although with reports of occasional inefficiencies. MuleSoft API Manager provides flexible deployment options across various environments and is praised for responsive and competent support.
Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Azure API Management offers a cost-effective pay-as-you-go model with flexible pricing but can become expensive with premium tiers. Its ROI is notable for reducing integration times. MuleSoft API Manager, perceived as expensive, justifies its cost with strong capabilities and integration options, delivering substantial ROI for large-scale deployments.
Proper configuration of the solution, implementation strategy and correct scaling tier selection are other factors that influence the ROI.
Most of the time, where we work in companies, it is more of an internal policy or security guidance that we need to have an API gateway.
It helps connect all multi-environment applications to a single dashboard and give beautiful reports.
We have regular sessions with Microsoft where we can have private previews of new features.
I rate the support from Microsoft Azure API Management a ten out of ten.
The documentation from Microsoft helps our company to solve issues on our own.
Our enterprise pays for a special success program, which provides priority support.
They can be slow in addressing security vulnerabilities.
I rate the scalability of Microsoft Azure API Management a ten out of ten.
You can add more computing power to your APM gateway.
It handles our current workload well, and I'm optimistic it can scale effectively as our needs grow.
This is the best service we have used within Azure and it has high availability.
I can't guarantee its stability or flexibility until all our databases and financial systems are integrated.
Microsoft Azure API Management is very stable.
There was an issue when trying to implement a request-reply pattern using JMS, which was not functioning as expected despite being documented.
The service is extensive and expensive, and this added flexibility would make it more manageable and less prone to errors.
Support for GraphQL, which is a different communication specification, needs to improve.
It's quite expensive, which could be a barrier for some users.
Introducing features related to auto governance without manual effort would make the API Manager smarter and more efficient for enterprises with complex landscapes.
Managing the cost of MuleSoft, particularly the billing model based on the number of active cores/threads, has been challenging.
The more enterprise-level features you go to, the more expensive it gets.
The solution is highly expensive.
It's an expensive solution.
The cost for using MuleSoft is approximately $500,000 USD per year.
MuleSoft is typically more expensive compared to using Java or Spring Boot APIs hosted in containers.
The platform's most valuable features are its rule-based permissions and comprehensive API lifecycle management capabilities.
The ability to create a subscription model for APIs allows companies to monetize valuable data and share it securely.
The analytics phase of API Management is very beneficial for tracking API usage and identifying suspicious users.
MuleSoft's ability to connect to third-party monitoring platforms like AWS, Datadog, and Elastic makes operational analysis more efficient.
It also enables us to create additional layers of authentication, like integrating external providers for OAuth, within reduced timelines.
Microsoft Azure API Management is essential for managing APIs, facilitating integration, and ensuring secure internal and external communication.
Organizations leverage Microsoft Azure API Management for seamless integration and effective API management. It supports microservices, legacy modernization, and platform orchestration in sectors like healthcare, telecom, and finance. Features such as developer portals and centralized libraries simplify usage. While it showcases strengths in hybrid cloud support and scalability, improvements are suggested in versioning and multi-tenancy.
What key features does it offer?Microsoft Azure API Management aids modernization across healthcare, telecom, and financial services by enabling legacy system updates and facilitating smooth platform orchestration.
Mulesoft API Manager is the portion of the Anypoint Platform that is used for the designing, building, managing, and publishing of APIs. Anypoint Platform uses Mule as its core runtime engine.
Mulesoft API Manager is an extremely versatile solution. It offers users the ability to deploy their APIs in a number of different settings. You can use API Manager on a public cloud, a private cloud, or a hybrid. Additionally, users can use the solution to manage their deployments with ease. A few clicks are all you need to alter your deployment.
Benefits of Mulesoft API Manager
Some of the benefits of using Mulesoft API Manager include:
Reviews from Real Users
Mulesoft API Manager is a highly effective piece of software whose purpose is to enable users to design, build, manage, and publish APIs. It stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are the ease with which users can connect it to their applications and the high level of value that its support offers. It provides users with the ability to easily connect this solution with whatever program they need to join it with. Users can create connections without having to write code. It offers different types of support which ensure that users have a high level of understanding about the product and how to use it.
PeerSpot user Tolulope A., a technical lead specializing in integration and middleware at a financial services firm, notes the ease with which users can connect Mulesoft API Manager to their applications. He writes, “One good thing about MuleSoft is that they have a lot of connectors to those back-end applications. We don't really need to write code to be able to connect to a database or to connect with SAP. You just need credentials and the connectivity details. Most of the development of what we do is just drag and drop. They're able to connect with applications using standard connectors that are provided by ESB, by MuleSoft.”
The CEO & Co-Founder at a computer retailer notes the value of Mulesoft’s supporting documentation. They write, “The documentation is great; it is always up-to-date and well-presented. If any details are missing, then there is a blog available that contains a lot of details. There are also channels on YouTube to help you better understand the solution and what some of the processes look like.”
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