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MuleSoft API Manager vs WSO2 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

MuleSoft API Manager
Ranking in API Management
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
WSO2 API Manager
Ranking in API Management
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of MuleSoft API Manager is 4.7%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WSO2 API Manager is 4.8%, up from 4.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user1257666 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 30, 2020
 

Featured Reviews

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.
VishalSingh14 - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to deploy APIs and easy to manage CORS configuration
I have used WSO2 Store and WSO2 API Manager at the architecture level. I worked on two versions, namely WSO2 API Manager 2.6.0 and 5.7.0. I have also worked with WSO2 Identity Server versions 5.7 and 5.11. There are certain things that Apigee handles better than WSO2 API Manager. The user interface of WSO2 API Manager is much easier than that of Apigee. The scope of flexibility was much greater in Apigee. In WSO2 API Manager, we had little flexibility and were restricted to a specific software or tool. On the other hand, we had the scope of customization in Apigee.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It can create high-cost solutions, allowing for a great deal of customization to make it well-suited for specific needs."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"The developer portal is easy to integrate. It is easy to use, easy to integrate, and I like the developer portal."
"Leveraging MuleSoft's Anypoint Platform allows us to seamlessly integrate across different systems within enterprises, enabling customers to extend their products and services to the market with seamless channel integration."
"The auto-creation of the API documentation is useful."
"Both the cloud and on-premises options are available. Customers can leverage the MuleSoft Cloud platform to deploy the applications or set up their own online infrastructure to deploy applications."
"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 most valuable features of the solution are the low code environment, the drag-and-drop functionality, and the ability to drop the connectors on the fly, which are extremely helpful."
"The user interface is easy to navigate, and the documentation is extensive. It's open-source, so everything is available, and we can create what we need. That's not necessarily a feature, but it's an advantage."
"The documentation is good."
"This is a flexible and versatile API management solution that has the power to integrate with more than just API."
"It is a scalable solution because it can be scaled horizontally and vertically."
"The main feature — the publication of the API, the management section — is great in general."
"One of the great things about WSO2 API Manager is that it is so easy to adopt. And because it's an open source solution, we're able to extend the implementation any time to suit our company needs better."
"The solution is open-source."
"Its open-source features are very good, especially for your production work."
 

Cons

"The most important thing that should be improved is that it is too heavy."
"MuleSoft has advanced features but is slower."
"The solution is missing a monetization module."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"The dashboards in Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager could improve."
"Anypoint could be improved by making it more open and configurable for small companies, who tend not to consider the solution as it's expensive and requires a lot of costs upfront."
"The solution's price is high."
"From an API management perspective, MuleSoft's API Manager is not as powerful as some other tools available."
"WSO2 API Manager should improve its marketplace subscription model and documentation in order to reach a higher level in the market."
"From what I have experienced from the versions I have tried, they could improve on the multi-tenant environments to allow some kind of SSO single sign-on between tenant."
"They are developing another platform called Choreo that allows you to create API itself using the WSO2 programming language Ballerina. It would be great if they added a direct connection between Choreo and API Manager, that would be great. I think they are working on that, but I'm not sure."
"For fresh graduates and engineers, the setup process can be very difficult."
"I think they could greatly improve the general UX with their solutions."
"I would like it to be a more convenient development platform with the ability to write orchestrations and so on. Our problem with this product is that in my country, we are the only enterprise that has been using this product. We're missing a lot of knowledge from colleagues to consult with, and we also aren't able to recruit people with relevant skills. It is a big problem. The small team that is maintaining this product is the only team that can actually relate to any technical issue. The support that we're getting from the company is not great. There is also a cultural gap there because they're from Sri Lanka, and it is not easy. They're putting in a lot of effort, but they are not meeting our expectations."
"WSO2 API Manager could improve by adding external API security features, which is one area where there is room for enhancement. Internally, API security is strong, and all other necessary features are already available. It has a solid marketplace, supports both Docker and standalone setups, and offers great enterprise integration. The developer portal has greatly improved the user experience, making it simple and user-friendly wherever we’ve implemented it. Overall, it’s not as complicated as other API gateways."
"They don't have different URLs for administrators."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I think that it is pretty expensive."
"Anypoint is the most expensive solution on the market, as far as I know, though it's also the most capable."
"Our customers have a lot of concerns about the increased pricing. The customer feels MuleSoft is very costly, and they are also exploring other integration tools for a lesser price. Maybe we should retain the existing customers by offering some discounts. At least the existing customers can be retained this way. This is regarding the licensing part only because customers based out of North America and Europe have shown many concerns recently. They are a bit concerned about pricing."
"Pricing can be improved."
"The licensing model is based on how many cores are used. It is a very simple licensing scheme."
"It is really expensive from a Zimbabwean perspective."
"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."
"There is a subscription-based pricing structure and also the open-sourced version available."
"For our projects, we found the pricing to be a little high."
"WSO2 API Manager is a low-cost solution. It is one of the most affordable solutions."
"The solution costs less than 20,000 euros a year. I'm not sure of the exact number."
"The challenge is the increasing pricing, which has led some customers to consider alternatives, like using Spring Boot solutions instead. The rising costs, especially as cores and usage increase, have been a concern, prompting some to migrate to other products."
"We use the open-source version — the free version."
"I think the other competitors that are providing the same solution are quite expensive. WSO2 API Manager is quite cheap."
"It's not expensive, but it could be cheaper."
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Answers from the Community

it_user1257666 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 30, 2020
Mar 30, 2020
I think the main difference is that WSO2 is open source and you can free download to use it in your on premises platform. But if you are willing to pay for a fully developed product, Mulesoft will provide better support in your full development of API cycle. You may consider their local support for further evaluation. I think the level of support offered by the product vendor is a key considera...
See 2 answers
SK
Jan 2, 2020
We have evaluated WS02, APIGEE, MuleSoft in the past and based on our selection criteria all three scored pretty close with APIGEE with overall high score with a very small difference. However, based on the key driver each one has an advantage such as WS02 on licensing, APIGEE on performance throughput and MuleSoft on robust integration platform. For more information please reach out to me at ksrinivas@techwave.net
reviewer1314810 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 30, 2020
I think the main difference is that WSO2 is open source and you can free download to use it in your on premises platform. But if you are willing to pay for a fully developed product, Mulesoft will provide better support in your full development of API cycle. You may consider their local support for further evaluation. I think the level of support offered by the product vendor is a key consideration for your choice.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What do you like most about WSO2 API Manager?
It is possible to scale up and scale down with the solution...I can say that I have not seen any issues related to scalability.
What needs improvement with WSO2 API Manager?
One area for improvement is monitoring. Dashboards for application monitoring of the APIs would be beneficial, allowing us to check for faulty APIs.
What is your primary use case for WSO2 API Manager?
We use WSO2 API Manager for our microservices and our APIs, both internally and externally.
 

Also Known As

Anypoint API Manager
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
1. eBay 2. StubHub 3. Cisco 4. Verizon 5. T-Mobile 6. Vodafone 7. Orange 8. BT Group 9. Telstra 10. Deutsche Telekom 11. Swisscom 12. AT&T 13. Sprint 14. Telefonica 15. O2 16. British Airways 17. Lufthansa 18. Emirates 19. Qatar Airways 20. Etihad Airways 21. Air France 22. KLM 23. American Express 24. Visa 25. Mastercard 26. PayPal 27. Western Union 28. Citibank 29. HSBC 30. Barclays 31. Santander 32. Goldman Sachs
Find out what your peers are saying about MuleSoft API Manager vs. WSO2 API Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
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