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3scale API Management vs Apigee vs Microsoft Azure API Management 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.5
3scale API Management offers quick ROI and cost-effective API access, ideal for SMEs seeking reduced licensing expenses.
Sentiment score
6.8
Apigee improves API management, enhances security, and boosts sales, despite costs, by monetizing digital assets and supporting collaborations.
Sentiment score
6.2
Microsoft Azure API Management boosts integration quality, reduces lead times, and offers significant financial benefits while impacting ROI through costs.
Proper configuration of the solution, implementation strategy and correct scaling tier selection are other factors that influence the ROI.
It helps connect all multi-environment applications to a single dashboard and give beautiful reports.
If I am working in AWS and with Azure, I see that Azure is much easier and helps save time while also being able to manage and deploy the API services.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.4
3scale API Management customer service receives mixed reviews, citing good partnerships but also delayed support and unclear documentation.
Sentiment score
6.3
Apigee's customer support is mixed, valued for responsiveness but criticized for delays and disparities in service attention.
Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Azure API Management support is generally positive but needs improved response times and expertise for complex issues.
They are responsive and provide assistance even during production issues.
The customer service and support are cooperative and effective in providing insights and solutions during challenges.
In the past two years, I have been experiencing less assistance.
The documentation from Microsoft helps our company to solve issues on our own.
The initial support engineers are often not qualified.
I logged an incident, and it was resolved promptly within three hours.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
3scale API Management offers strong scalability for enterprise applications, with high availability and ease of managing multiple instances.
Sentiment score
7.5
Apigee scales efficiently and flexibly, handling high traffic well, though cost challenges may arise with increased use.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Azure API Management offers scalable, cloud-based flexibility, efficiently handling multiple APIs and supporting thousands of users, though costs may rise.
Adding extra Cassandra databases is complex.
I've worked with multiple tools from an observability perspective, such as Dynatrace, AppDynamics, Splunk, and Elasticsearch, and I find KQL and APIM amazing and filled with useful features.
It handles our current workload well, and I'm optimistic it can scale effectively as our needs grow.
There are no limitations to adding any number of devices.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
3scale API Management is highly stable, runs effectively in cloud environments, and users expect improvements despite initial setup issues.
Sentiment score
8.0
Apigee is stable and reliable, with rare downtime and strong performance supported by Google Cloud, ideal for complex enterprise needs.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Azure API Management is reliable, stable, and integrates well, offering scalability and high availability with minor performance improvement needs.
Apigee is stable, and we have had the system running on Apigee servers for more than four years without any stability issues.
I can't guarantee its stability or flexibility until all our databases and financial systems are integrated.
Microsoft Azure API Management is very stable.
With high scalability and availability, it supports many users and endpoints without significant issues.
 

Room For Improvement

3scale API Management needs better CMS, customization, Open API 3 support, and improvements in user experience and integration capabilities.
Users desire better role-based access, Git integration, automation, pricing, analytics, documentation, and technical support in Apigee.
Microsoft Azure API Management users face high costs, integration issues, and demand better features, customization, and improved deployment efficiency.
Apigee only allows validation of transactions up to a four-hour period, which requires manual hovering over the date and time.
Analytics is one of the areas needing enhancement, specifically more visibility and control over traffic to improve capacity management and high availability.
Apigee should also incorporate these capabilities, especially in the on-premises version.
The service is extensive and expensive, and this added flexibility would make it more manageable and less prone to errors.
It's quite expensive, which could be a barrier for some users.
Documentations for the product should include examples of implementation.
 

Setup Cost

3scale API Management is cost-effective, especially with OpenShift, priced around $45,000 annually, seen as affordable by users.
Apigee is costly and complex, ideal for medium to large enterprises with comprehensive features justifying its subscription-based pricing.
Microsoft Azure API Management offers varied pricing models appealing to businesses, but premium features can become costly when scaling.
Apigee is perceived as slightly costly compared to other tools in the market.
Apigee is high-priced, suitable for large enterprises where the benefit aligns with the cost.
Apigee is costlier compared to other solutions.
It's an expensive solution.
However, once you scale up to your full volume, it'll be more expensive.
Microsoft Azure is an expensive solution not for the large enterprises but for medium and small.
 

Valuable Features

3scale API Management offers easy OpenShift integration, efficient traffic management, API automation, enhanced security, and container deployment capabilities.
Apigee offers robust API management with analytics, security, customization, scalability, and user-friendly features, enhancing enterprise decision-making.
Microsoft Azure API Management offers user-friendly API orchestration with robust features including security, scalability, and comprehensive Azure integration.
It simplifies exposing our APIs externally and inherently adds a layer of security, which I see as a positive impact from the product.
It provides all the necessary capabilities for current technologies, enabling communication and translation between protocols, along with supporting stringent security features.
The features for API security have been significant with Apigee.
Apigee provides catalog management, onboarding of new customers, an API portal, and security features.
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.
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of 3scale API Management is 2.3%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Apigee is 11.1%, down from 15.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure API Management is 16.5%, down from 19.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Azure API Management16.5%
Apigee11.1%
3scale API Management2.3%
Other70.1%
API Management
 

Featured Reviews

Jose Luis Bonilla - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides cost savings while maintaining the same functionality and capabilities
There were two main reasons for consideration. One of them was the cost. It is true that the other solution had more capabilities, but we didn't have plans to use them. We didn't need them, but the cost was slightly higher. Also, we were already working with the Red Hat solution and integrating it with some other solutions we have in place. It was better and more convenient for us. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
ShawkyFoda  - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides high visibility and control with good traffic monitoring
Analytics is one of the areas needing enhancement, specifically more visibility and control over traffic to improve capacity management and high availability. The replication process between Master and Slave for disaster recovery takes too long. Dependencies on analytics impact the performance of the user interface, which should be separate. The complex setup process on-premises, especially with multi-node installations, could also be improved. Additional control in product declarations, based on operations like POST and GET, is needed.
Allan Møller - PeerSpot reviewer
Transforms internal APIs with secure, manageable cloud compatibility
Microsoft Azure API Management could be improved by enhancing the preview feature, specifically the workspaces. The feature should allow for better delegation of permissions to specific groups without affecting others. The service is extensive and expensive, and this added flexibility would make it more manageable and less prone to errors.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Government
12%
Insurance Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise65
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise52
 

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 deve...
How does Apigee differ from Azure API Management?
Apigee offers both cloud-based and on-prem options while Microsoft Azure API Management currently only offers a clou...
Which is better - Apigee or Amazon API Gateway?
Amazon API Gateway is a platform that supports the creation and publication of API for web applications. The platform...
Which is better - Azure API Management or Amazon API Gateway?
If you use Azure products, API Management is a great solution. It solves many of the problems of externalizing web se...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure API Management?
Microsoft Azure API Management is a good, comprehensive solution for enterprise implementation.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure API Management?
The pricing is medium, which I find to be reasonable for the value we receive.
 

Also Known As

No data available
No data available
Azure API Management, MS Azure API Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Victor Ops, Coca Cola, The Telegraph, Skava, Orange, Typeform
Adobe, advance.net, Amadeus, AT&T, Bechtel, Belly, Burberry, Chegg, Citrix, Dell, eBay, Equifax, GameStop, First Data, Globe, HCSC, Intralinks, Kao, Meredith, Mitchell, Orange, Pearson
adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH, Opensistemas
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google and others in API Management. Updated: August 2025.
868,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.