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3scale API Management vs IBM API Connect vs Layer7 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
6.9
IBM API Connect enhances profitability and efficiency by reducing development time, improving security, and enabling seamless system integration.
Sentiment score
6.7
Layer7 API Management offers business growth and protection, with varying ROI timelines; quick benefits are observed by many users.
Reducing development hours from eighty to four for an API was possible due to reusing existing scripts from DataPower.
 

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
6.4
IBM API Connect support is proactive and expert but variable in speed, with regional availability challenges noted by users.
Sentiment score
7.3
Layer7 API Management is praised for support and resources, though some users note post-acquisition service challenges.
Support is excellent when it comes to APIC.
Technical support is excellent, and I would rate them as ten.
 

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
7.4
IBM API Connect offers excellent scalability through on-premise and cloud solutions, supporting enterprise-level operations and customization features.
Sentiment score
7.3
Layer7 API Management efficiently scales to handle significant traffic, supporting millions of daily requests with proper configuration.
With container versions, scaling up or down the gateways deployed into pods is a two to three-minute task for the operations team.
All nodes communicate with one primary database, affecting connections and causing crashes under high load.
 

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
7.3
IBM API Connect is generally stable and reliable, especially in government and banking, despite occasional upgrade issues.
Sentiment score
7.6
Layer7 API Management is stable and reliable, with minor scalability issues, often resolved through updates and support.
The runtime engine for the APIC Gateway is still a DataPower component, which has been stable in the industry for about fifteen years.
Without rebooting for ninety to one hundred eighty days, cache builds up in Linux boxes, causing memory utilization issues.
 

Room For Improvement

3scale API Management needs better CMS, customization, Open API 3 support, and improvements in user experience and integration capabilities.
IBM API Connect needs better integration, automation, monitoring, documentation, and usability, facing issues in setup, costs, and support.
Layer7 API Management needs improvements in UI, documentation, integration, functionality, training, policy tools, monitoring, reporting, and migration.
Examples include the lack of connectivity to MQ.
Broadcom's push for upgrades from version nine to ten, ten to 10.3, and onwards to twelve needs improvement in migration processes, especially with service dependencies.
 

Setup Cost

3scale API Management is cost-effective, especially with OpenShift, priced around $45,000 annually, seen as affordable by users.
IBM API Connect offers scalable solutions with high costs, suitable for large enterprises, available in SaaS and on-premise versions.
Layer7 API Management offers competitive pricing with Essential and Enterprise tiers, though perceived costly for smaller enterprises.
Pricing depends on how many instances run across environments.
Seeing other products makes the tool's pricing seem high.
 

Valuable Features

3scale API Management offers easy OpenShift integration, efficient traffic management, API automation, enhanced security, and container deployment capabilities.
IBM API Connect excels with strong security, integration, usability, analytics, flexibility, and scalability, enhancing API management and monetization.
Layer7 API Management excels with robust security, scalability, and features like content routing and drag-and-drop functionality.
It simplifies exposing our APIs externally and inherently adds a layer of security, which I see as a positive impact from the product.
It offers significant development efficiency, reducing man-hours from eighty to four when creating APIs.
The flexibility to develop APIs for various platforms, from front-end applications to ATM machines, is valuable.
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 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 IBM API Connect is 6.1%, down from 6.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Layer7 API Management is 2.7%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM API Connect6.1%
Layer7 API Management2.7%
3scale API Management2.3%
Other88.9%
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.
Shanmugasundaram Shanmuganathan - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers basic API orchestration and provides robust security and governance features
While Azure API Management offers configurable scalability, IBM API Connect relies on Kubernetes clusters. This might seem manual and require defining cluster instances upfront, but it's completely customizable and not on-the-fly scaling. It's completely custom-driven, not on-the-fly scaling, which some may consider cumbersome. Overall, I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten. Almost all applications we've been exposing lately go through this middleware, so it's used extensively. There are around sixty applications directly using it, but six Kubernetes clusters serve those applications. It's heavily used for integration, including system-to-system integration and product integrations. Our usage has been increasing year-on-year based on our needs.
NikhilChaudhari - PeerSpot reviewer
Valued for its drag-and-drop functionalities, the available policy options, and the excellent security features
I work as a PG developer, primarily dealing with Layer7 API Management and MuleSoft API management. My focus is mainly on VM management platforms such as Layer7 and Apigee Layer7 API Management is most valued for its drag-and-drop functionalities, the available policy options, and the excellent…
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Government
11%
Insurance Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Insurance Company
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare 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 Business19
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise58
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise84
 

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...
What do you like most about IBM API Connect?
Publishers can easily identify, create, and publish APIs on the developer portal, defining plans, packages, and poten...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM API Connect?
Pricing depends on how many instances run across environments. I don't deal with licensing, but compared to other IBM...
What needs improvement with IBM API Connect?
When comparing API Gateway with DataPower Gateway, several features in DataPower Gateway are absent in the APIC layer...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Layer7 API Management?
Pricing is more than average. While I am used to Layer7 API Management ( /products/layer7-api-management-reviews ), s...
What needs improvement with Layer7 API Management?
Broadcom's push for upgrades from version nine to ten, ten to 10.3, and onwards to twelve needs improvement in migrat...
 

Also Known As

No data available
No data available
CA API Management, CA Live API Creator, Espresso Logic, CA API Gateway
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Victor Ops, Coca Cola, The Telegraph, Skava, Orange, Typeform
Heineken, Tine, Finologee, Axis Bank
1. IBM  2. Microsoft  3. Oracle  4. Salesforce  5. SAP  6. Cisco  7. Dell  8. HP  9. Adobe  10. VMware  11. Accenture  12. Capgemini  13. Deloitte  14. PwC  15. Ernst & Young  16. Infosys  17. TCS (Tata Consultancy Services)  18. Wipro  19. Cognizant  20. HCL Technologies  21. Tech Mahindra  22. Fujitsu  23. Hitachi  24. NEC  25. NTT Data  26. Ericsson  27. Nokia  28. Siemens  29. AT&T  30. Verizon  31. Vodafone  32. Orange
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google and others in API Management. Updated: August 2025.
868,183 professionals have used our research since 2012.