MuleSoft Anypoint Platform Reviews

We are customers of Mule.

This is a good platform for designing, flowing out APIs, and then doing API-based integrations. It also offers a lot of adapters for commercial products like Salesforce, SAP and the like. It has good monitoring abilities. If you use it for API management, security monitoring and things like that, it works well at the experience API layer.

One of the issues I have is that Jira tries to be more than an API-based integration platform and it encourages writing of Java-based applications underneath the cover, even though it's not meant to be an app service, so it's slow. That's how they try to sell it. The solution has three layers; the experience layer, the process layer and the system layer. The system layer is used to connect the systems; the process layer can be used to create processes like transformations, logic, etc.; and the experience layer is used to interface with whoever's going to consume it. The problem is that the process layer is not efficient. It acts like an interpreter and interpreters are slow, and if you give it some path like converting to a 100 kilobyte file, it takes 15 times more memory than if I just wrote a program 

When you try using it for the processing layer, it doesn't work well. We ended up pulling back to .NET for our own internal microservices that do a lot of processing. We use the .NET microservices as the process layer, because we know it's faster. Then we plug it into Mule to experience the API interface and that's when we need to make a choice, do we put our system APIs right through our microservice, or do we use Mule as a system API layer, but then let it interface with our process API. We just had to make choices.

I've been using this solution for two years. 

The solution has threading, but it has the interpreter feature which I think slows it down.

The technical support is not great and documentation is sparse. You really have to rely on the community, more experienced MuleSoft users, who know the strengths and weaknesses, rather than relying on the company. You can get an architect to assist with implementation.

It's an expensive solution and then you have to try and find a MuleSoft engineer, which is even harder.

The issue seems to be the way they've positioned the product, advocating the experience layer, process layer and system layer through Mule. As it competes with the likes of webMethods, it rates as an eight out of 10. As an end-to-end solution, however, I would rate it a five at best. 

We are using the solution for building business logic. It's like having a particular private cloud service that we can host on our premises, which is less cost-effective than Microsoft Logic Apps. It provides storage and data integration in a very good manner.

The solution's deployment and proxy processes are very good.

Although the solution's proxy design and process are good, it faces connecting issues because it lacks data integration. You have to filter the data before integrating it.

I have been using Mule Anypoint Platform for around one year.

I rate Mule Anypoint Platform a nine out of ten for stability.

We have to reintegrate it and create another structure on the same file instead of modifying the base one. We have to create other versions also. The solution's scalability is questionable compared to Microsoft Logic Apps.

Around 10 to 20 users are using the solution in our organization.

I rate Mule Anypoint Platform a six or seven out of ten for scalability.

The solution's technical support is not so good, but they are trying to provide on-time support. They take around 24 to 48 business hours to provide the solutions.

I rate the solution’s technical support eight and a half out of ten.

Positive

On a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy, I rate Mule Anypoint Platform ten out of ten for the ease of its initial setup.

The solution's deployment takes around five to seven minutes maximum.

Firstly, we have to understand how we can integrate with the clients provided, then build the proxies of APIs and deploy from Anypoint Studio to CloudHub. A single person was required to deploy the solution.

On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing as four or five out of ten.

As it is free of cost and we have to take an enterprise license, there is probably no fee.

For the big layer ones, Mule Anypoint Platform will be better than Microsoft Logic Apps or any other integration platform.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

The tool's use cases are mainly for enterprise-level integrations that require transformations and major publish-subscribe scenarios in which data needs to be published to multiple systems in different formats.

I rate the solution's ease of learning a nine out of ten. It has good documentation and self-learning videos. It promotes usability and provides an end-to-end integration solution with the Salesforce ecosystem

The tool helps with order management and automates the enterprise's orchestration, invoice creation, product maintenance, and product life cycle. The API manager feature helps us configure, secure, and call APIs. 

The tool requires programming language. 

I rate Mule Anypoint Platform's stability as nine out of ten.

I rate Mule Anypoint Platform's scalability as nine out of ten. 

The solution's deployment is 10-20 percent longer.

We have a team to deploy the tool. 

The tool's pricing is cheaper than other RPAs' since it is execution-based. Other RPAs charge based on subscriptions.

I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten. 

We use Mule Anypoint Platform in our company for API integration, API orchestration, and other related things.

Mule Anypoint Platform's valuable features are its flexibility in terms of deployment and its SaaS capabilities. One of the solution's features is its connectors, which allow for any specific integrations within any other package software. Mule provides a lot of connectors for integration purposes.

I think Mule Anypoint Platform is one of the market leaders, so our customers prefer it, which is why I also use it.

The solution's user interface has shortcomings and can be made much better. Mule Anypoint Platform can be made more user-friendly so that people with lesser technical knowledge can understand the product. Mule Anypoint Platform can get too complex for non-technical people.

I have been working as a system integrator using Mule Anypoint Platform for two to three years.

It is a scalable solution.

My company caters to the needs of medium-sized businesses.

Mule's technical support is good. I rate the technical support between eight and nine out of ten.

Positive

Regarding Mule Anypoint Platform's installation, I can say that since we use the SaaS platform, we didn't face any issues with the installation of SaaS modules.

Mule Anypoint Platform is a SaaS system. The platform is available, so you just configure it and don't need to deploy anything. You just have to configure whether you want high availability, DR, or anything else. Otherwise, there is nothing much to deploy since it all falls on the SaaS capabilities.

We have only three engineers required for the configuration and adaptation of the product.

Price-wise, it is a good product since it is reasonably priced.

The product's maintenance part is easy and requires only one person.

Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

We use the infrastructure of the Mule Anypoint Platform to host our application and services on Amazon. We are end-users and I'm a technical delivery manager.

The most valuable feature of this solution is the ease of developing APIs. It's very, very easy and very fast. Anypoint offers good performance and security. 

The pricing should be improved, it's an expensive product. 

I've been using this solution for six years. 

The solution is stable. 

The scalability is good but again, you need to be aware that if you want to scale up your APIs, it requires spending more. 

We're not so happy with the technical support, it could definitely be improved. 

Generally, deployment of one API wouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes. We use CICD DevOps for our deployment strategy and it's carried out in-house. We use this product continuously and extensively.

It's important to be aware of the cost implications of using this solution. Unless you know the extent to which you are going to use MuleSoft, you'll begin with a handful of APIs that need to be developed and then you'll start implementing more and more until you realize it's become quite expensive. 

I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

The solution is used as a middle environment as we have our own database settings and PostgreSQL database. If an API requires some information then they need to go through Mule Anypoint. We are also trying to implement our own DataGraph. 

In our company, we have some other ETL tools but comparatively, MuleSoft is much more compatible in many other ways for data transformation. MuleSoft can handle a lot of different types of data. So even if something is not available, there are some workarounds, and this is professionally advantageous. 

I have a lot of resources as a developer and I don't want to always ask Mule for help. There are a lot of online resources which can be referred to easily even as a beginner, which is a positive.

Most of the people who work here are long-term employees who are much more versatile in German, than English, and MuleSoft supports the local languages. That was one of the positives and was why Mulesoft was considered beyond its scalability and other functions. Whenever we need some support in our local language, we get it easily. They also have an office in Germany and if a person is unable to contact them by phone, they can go to the office in person.

The initial setup should be made easy and the documentation should have some guidance. 

I have been using Mule Anypoint Platform for two years. 

The solution's stability has increased over time. 

It is a scalable solution. Presently, five to ten people use the solution. 

The technical support team is quick with their responses and are prompt in providing a solution. 

The initial setup is complex as there is no documentation that can guide you. There are professionals to help but they charge a lot.

I would recommend others to use the solution because it is easy to use. If they want to learn, there is a free course available on the website for developers. At the same time, even if you are not able to get some information readily available, there are a lot of other resources that are available online. 

I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten as they are still improving. 

We have a strong presence in various use cases, with the primary focus being on digital integration and API monetization. Our main objective is to help our customers maximize the value of their APIs and generate revenue from them.

We have adopted an API-led digital transformation approach which has already started delivering value for our clients.

The community manager is the standout feature of the Mule Anypoint Platform, as it provides a platform to showcase your API to external parties. It is exceptionally user-friendly and enables external parties to easily utilize and consume the APIs.

In order to set up a storefront, we currently rely on a third-party solution. It would greatly enhance our operations if this feature was integrated into their existing solution.

Some of the functionalities are hosted in the cloud, which occasionally poses challenges when integrating with on-premises applications. Improving this aspect could be beneficial for a smoother and more seamless experience.

I have been using the Mule Anypoint Platform for approximately one year.

The stability of the Mule Anypoint Platform is excellent.

I rate the stability of the Mule Anypoint Platform a ten out of ten.

The solution is scalable. One of our large companies that use the solution has not had any problems.

We have between 20 and 30 engineers, developers, and architects using the solution.

I rate the scalability of the Mule Anypoint Platform a ten out of ten.

The support from the vendor is great.

I rate the support of the Mule Anypoint Platform a ten out of ten.

Positive

I have previously used IBM. 

The system we have is straightforward yet highly integrated. It is a single platform, unlike IBM, where they had multiple platforms and systems to deliver similar value. This complexity made the IBM system challenging to navigate as their technical resources had to learn various platforms, including integration and API gateway, which had different formats. Consolidating these platforms into one unified system would simplify management and reduce complexity.

Setting up the Anypoint platform is a very easy process especially when supported by the Catalyst Launch services from MuleSoft.

The pricing of our solution is highly competitive. While it may not be categorized as exceptionally low, it is certainly more affordable compared to IBM.

I rate the price of the Mule Anypoint Platform a seven out of ten.

We come from IBM Integration Bus background and the decision to adopt Mule was easy after a few engagements with the MuleSoft team.

The initial setup of the Mule Anypoint Platform is simple. My team was trained in only a few weeks. The process of deployment took a couple of hours.

My advice to others is for them to use the catalyst service. They help you get started and gradually let you be on your own.

Mule Anypoint Platform is also highly convenient since my team was able to quickly set up the new team for the initial implementation. Within a few weeks, they began developing independently, gradually reducing the need for external support and focusing on efficiently running the system with internal resources.

I rate the initial setup of the Mule Anypoint Platform a nine out of ten.

Primarily we use the product for our retail platform to build our integrations. That is the main feature of what it does. So, it's an API (Application Programming Interface) and ETL.

It integrates better with our main platform than our previous solution.

There are a couple of valuable features in the product. API management is very useful. In general, the management of the application has been much better over time and it has improved a lot. The graphic interface became much better visually. Specifically, the monitoring capabilities are good because of the statistics and feedback it supplies.

As far as improvements, the runtime management in MuleSoft can be much better. It has some issues, or we have issues with it.

As for additions, the first thing that I want is for them to create their own connectors. That is very important. Other things beyond that are hard for me to imagine right now especially because they have a lot of features already that we are not yet using. 

I've been using Mulesoft Anypoint Platform for about 2 years. Previously I've used its earlier version - Mule ESB Enterprise Edition

The stability is another thing on MuleSoft that can be improved. They introduced connectors for other platforms and sometimes the connectors are not great quality and they are not very robust. So that affects the stability and is an area where stability and the product overall could be improved as well. It isn't the product itself as much as the integration opportunities. The volume of products that the solution works with in one release version is affected when the platform changes. When they change to a new version all-of-a-sudden the connector doesn't work or works poorly. That can cause stability issues. Basically, when they roll out a new version, it seems they simply don't make enough consideration and do enough testing as to how it affects the compatibility with the connectors.

The customer service and technical support are unique compared to other providers. They are very involved, very responsive, and they are very eager to help and to provide what we need. Early on, I had bi-weekly calls with the support team and now we have just monthly calls. There is a very dedicated support team that works with us. Any time we brought up any issues, they send specific specialists that are interested to know more about specific aspects of the platform or if they need to discover more about the product usage. That relationship was driven by both sides and fulfilled by both sides. It was a very positive situation. It is kind-of a very client-centric approach to customer service and really nice. It is really different from the type of relationship we have with other vendors like Salesforce or even in general.

Before switching to MuleSoft Anypoint Platform we were using Talend Data Integration. We ended up choosing Mule over Talend for a number of reasons. There was easier adaptability for our current resources. The most important reason was that we had a reason to believe that the compatibility would be better because we were strategically using Salesforce as one of our core frameworks. Salesforce acquired MuleSoft and we were trying to avoid more problems by staying with a competing product in this situation. We hoped there would be more integrations between the Salesforce and MuleSoft platforms and that played a role in our decision. After that, we had a little bit of a price break. For our use case, MuleSoft seemed to be a better fit. Talend, in general, is a great platform but just did not fit as well for our use case.

The setup was pretty straightforward. I actually got very good support. On the presale, post-sale and to this day, we have a very interesting and kind of unique relationship with MuleSoft. I can see from the difference in our service than they maintain with other customers.

MuleSoft was involved in deployment on the initial setup of our deployment. And they were involved in the setup of the deployment processes like CI/CD (Continuous Information Continuous Delivery) practices. That's another good point that they have is strength in working through the deployment processes.

It was not so easy to do the configuration, but they supported us by helping to set up all the things we needed. In all, it was not just a push of a button. The cloud solution itself is nothing to start because you don't need to deploy it, but you need to do configuration before you start using it.

The product is one cost. Support comes complete with no additional cost even though they pay some special attention to us. We are not a huge client. I would say we are smaller than a lot of their clients. But they do have, as I understand, some interest to grow in Canada and build their local assets. It works out well for us because we have some benefits with the company.

Apigee, Informatica, Azure API Management

Mulesoft Anypoint Platform was chosen because of the best combination of functional capabilities, price, and current (and possible future) level of integration with Salesforce.  

My advice for anyone considering this as a solution is first to get to understand exactly what resources will be needed from an architecture perspective. It is important to know how the MuleSoft Anypoint Platform works, what are the limitations, and the kind of consumption gradient they need. The idea would be to acquire enough resources — not too much that you overspend for nothing and not too low that there are performance or other problems.

That was actually one of the good things about MuleSoft when we started to do our discovery or due diligence. In the presale process, a presale engineer explained some technical perspective on the MuleSoft solution and we were able to plan and handle it accordingly. They explained how their runtime how it works and what the provisions were. We had to decide how many cores we needed to get. They might delve into areas where we needed any additional explanation as to what they meant. They were very, very helpful because they assisted us in understanding instead of making anyone feel bad or have a difficult deployment because it was not so straightforward a process. They helped us to understand it and when you understand it, it becomes very easy from a planning perspective.

On a scale from one to ten, one being the worst and ten being the best. I would rate this product about an eight. It is not a ten because of the problem with the connectors and right now the pricing models. Sometimes with pricing, you need to understand what you understand and when you need to be careful. The pricing may not be good or bad I don't know. In our case, it is what it is and we are satisfied. The thing that I saw was that other people who are dealing with MuleSoft, who don't have such a great relationship and perfect support team, might have misunderstood the pricing model. Because of that, the customer did not know what exactly they need to get and how the product filled their needs. So MuleSoft needs to keep their level of client education up to the level they did for us.

Another thing with education has to do with training. There's not too much material on the MuleSoft cloud platform around anywhere. This is probably because at this point they have to do it by themselves because there is not a big community of users. It is very rare to find something on MuleSoft easily if you have an issue.

You always can find information on Google and sometimes you can solve your issues. But what I am talking about is something a little bit more organized as clusters of information and videos. I wish I could get information from dedicated community platforms. It is maybe not something that they feel they can address, but maybe they actually can. Maybe they can create some kind of relationship with information and training platforms to introduce some awareness of their product.