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3scale API Management vs Apache APISIX comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

3scale API Management
Ranking in API Management
23rd
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Apache APISIX
Ranking in API Management
18th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the API Management category, the mindshare of 3scale API Management is 1.9%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Apache APISIX is 2.3%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Apache APISIX2.3%
3scale API Management1.9%
Other95.8%
API Management
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2747757 - PeerSpot reviewer
Program Manager at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Facilitates API exposure securely and highlights developer portal flexibility needs
Not much stands out for me regarding the advantages of this product. We usually don't tinker with it. Developing developer portals could be more standards-based. I think currently it's Ruby-based. Having more options on designing that would be beneficial. Additional flexibility would have been great; we would have used it more if it aligned with our platform. I don't use the analytics part. We don't use monetization features, which help to create a revenue generation model.
AS
Senior Java Software Developer at VOIS
Integration with backend systems and runtime configuration simplicity enhance operational efficiency
Apache APISIX is easy to configure. It supports coding for filters and can integrate with many languages. Its configuration at runtime is very easy. You can configure your gateway at runtime without needing to restart the gateway to apply configurations. This is a perfect feature. The service discovery feature integrates with backend systems and provides powerful load balancing. Also, its integration with Keycloak and authorization systems is a valuable feature.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"3scale: what a really good product to secure an unsecure API if you have multiple backend unsecured routes provided by an ESB (Red Hat Fuse), and available through one unique frontend acting as a secure gateway (with HTTPS protocol and API keys)."
"The standard deployment is very simple."
"3scale API Management's best feature is API management."
"The product is stable."
"3scale API Management is a containerized product, so all its parts are deployed into containers, and standard deployment is very simple because it goes on the OpenShift."
"The most valuable features are the gateway and security features."
"I like the API automation."
"One of the most valuable aspects of this solution for us is its ease of deployment."
"The most valuable features of Apache APISIX include routing for upstream and frontend services, masking using proxy rewrite, and the integration of different plugins like Prometheus and Grafana."
"I recommend Apache APISIX to others because of its many useful features."
 

Cons

"What was suggested by Red Hat was a crucial part of the configuration, but when we started to ask about the supportability of this configuration, Red Hat said only some parts of the configuration would be supported."
"I believe the CMS part of it has room for improvement though. That is where you write a couple of things if you want to publish your API. It's based on liquid scripting, which doesn't seem like the obvious ones to script with."
"What I'd like to improve in 3scale API Management is its route-limiting feature. Currently, I don't know how to do that effectively on the solution, but in Kong, I know how to do it, so I would love to see route-limiting being easily done on 3scale API Management. It would also be good if there was some authentication that you could do from 3scale API Management because Kong offers that functionality out of the box. What I'd love to see in the next release of 3scale API Management is the ability to integrate more plug-ins easily onto the platform, so you'll be able to extend it, and even do customs management. If Red Hat could offer that extension where it allows the internal organization where 3scale API Management is deployed on-premise to integrate its tools on top of 3scale API Management and provide an API for that, that will make the solution very powerful."
"The product is not that flexible for developers. It's less flexible and rigid. It's not easy to make changes or customize it."
"It would be helpful to improve the customization features so that the customer can do it based on their own needs."
"In my previous company, I used Kong, and in my current company, I'm using 3scale API Management, but I prefer Kong."
"3scale API Management only supports restful APIs and doesn't support SOAP."
"The user experience could be better. The developer portal is too complex and hard to configure."
"The user interface is limited and does not support all features of Apache APISIX."
"The routing algorithms in Apache APISIX, such as node-based and round-robin, could be improved. Introducing more plugins and supporting AI features can enhance the solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is affordable, it's cheap."
"The cost was around $45,000 per year."
"3scale API Management has reasonable pricing, judging from its competitor, Kong. My organization pays yearly for the 3scale API Management license, though I'm unable to give the exact figure because every single day there are new clusters deployed. I'm in charge of three to four clusters in my team, but give or take, it costs a few thousand lakhs."
"I don't think that 3scale is very expensive."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Government
12%
Insurance Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for 3scale API Management?
I rate the product’s pricing as two out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive.
What needs improvement with 3scale API Management?
Not much stands out for me regarding the advantages of this product. We usually don't tinker with it. Developing developer portals could be more standards-based. I think currently it's Ruby-based. ...
What is your primary use case for 3scale API Management?
Our company exposes different APIs, and we use it to monitor traffic, limit traffic, and similar functions. I don't have much involvement with the solution, though I did conduct some research. We s...
What needs improvement with Apache APISIX?
The routing algorithms in Apache APISIX, such as node-based and round-robin, could be improved. Introducing more plugins and supporting AI features can enhance the solution.
What is your primary use case for Apache APISIX?
The primary use case for Apache APISIX is to mask the API endpoints for my microservices and use self-given APIs in Apache APISIX and mask those with the actual real ones. This helps to prevent use...
What advice do you have for others considering Apache APISIX?
I rate Apache APISIX an eight out of ten overall. For new users, I advise going through the official documentation deeply to implement the solution efficiently.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Victor Ops, Coca Cola, The Telegraph, Skava, Orange, Typeform
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about 3scale API Management vs. Apache APISIX and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.