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3scale API Management vs Kong Gateway Enterprise 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
7.6
Kong Gateway Enterprise offers scalability, advanced features, and reduces detection time, supporting efficient API delivery with economic benefits.
Sentiment score
6.7
Layer7 API Management offers business growth and protection, with varying ROI timelines; quick benefits are observed by many users.
 

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
6.9
Kong Gateway Enterprise support is helpful and responsive, but users note delays and desire quicker, more capable assistance.
Sentiment score
7.3
Layer7 API Management is praised for support and resources, though some users note post-acquisition service challenges.
The technical support from Kong Gateway Enterprise would be rated about eight, as we missed local technical support.
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
7.2
Kong Gateway Enterprise is praised for scalability across applications, but smaller entities face challenges due to resource constraints.
Sentiment score
7.3
Layer7 API Management efficiently scales to handle significant traffic, supporting millions of daily requests with proper configuration.
The scalability of this solution would be rated about eight or nine.
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
7.9
Kong Gateway Enterprise is stable with few issues, excellent architecture, and recommended strong configuration for optimal performance and versatility.
Sentiment score
7.6
Layer7 API Management is stable and reliable, with minor scalability issues, often resolved through updates and support.
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.
Kong Gateway Enterprise needs better pricing, integrations, API management, documentation, customization, support, and AI features for improved user experience.
Layer7 API Management needs improvements in UI, documentation, integration, functionality, training, policy tools, monitoring, reporting, and migration.
More plugins for additional integrations would be helpful and openness for traditional development languages, such as .NET, because many enterprises are looking for .NET solutions or incorporating with .NET solutions.
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.
Kong Gateway Enterprise pricing is competitive, especially compared to Apigee, with value dependent on organizational needs and region.
Layer7 API Management offers competitive pricing with Essential and Enterprise tiers, though perceived costly for smaller enterprises.
 

Valuable Features

3scale API Management offers easy OpenShift integration, efficient traffic management, API automation, enhanced security, and container deployment capabilities.
Kong Gateway Enterprise provides scalable, secure API management with integration support, high performance, and adaptability via open-source community backing.
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.
The most valuable features of Kong Gateway Enterprise are its seamless integration with Kubernetes and cloud, many plugins that can be incorporated in a solution, and its incorporation with low-code function systems.
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 Kong Gateway Enterprise is 7.3%, up from 6.0% 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 (%)
Kong Gateway Enterprise7.3%
Layer7 API Management2.7%
3scale API Management2.3%
Other87.7%
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.
Sudhanshu Dev - PeerSpot reviewer
Custom plugin capability with enhanced high traffic handling and lightweight performance
We use Kong for our API gateway, handling all public traffic. It is an open-source tool, and even though we are a startup, it provides us with stability without incurring high costs initially Kong has helped us by performing smoothly even when we receive millions of requests, which prevents any…
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
19%
Insurance Company
11%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
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 Business8
Large Enterprise19
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...
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 sof...
What do you like most about Kong Enterprise?
The tool's feature that I find most beneficial is rate limiting. In our usage, especially in the financial sector, we...
What needs improvement with Kong Enterprise?
More plugins for additional integrations would be helpful and openness for traditional development languages, such as...
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
Cargill, Zillow, Ferrari, WeWork, Healthcare.gov, Yahoo! Japan, Giphy, SkyScanner
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.
866,324 professionals have used our research since 2012.