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IBM MQ vs MuleSoft Anypoint Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

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
7.2
IBM MQ ensures stability, cost-effectiveness, and rapid ROI, excelling in transaction handling and message management without data loss.
Sentiment score
7.2
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform reduces TCO, simplifies integration, and offers high ROI, though pricing may challenge smaller companies.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
IBM MQ support is reliable, knowledgeable, but improvement is needed in response times and staff expertise for faster service.
Sentiment score
6.8
Users praise MuleSoft's responsive support but suggest documentation and response time improvements; satisfaction varies with support levels.
The response time for IBM MQ support could be better because when we are using IBM MQ and something goes wrong, support is required as the resource availability of the IBM product is very limited.
With containerized flavors of these products, we are having a tough time dealing with PMRs because the versions are new to IBM.
Support can be better because sometimes we need explanations for some behaviors of the product.
The support team is responsive and helpful.
The Salesforce team offers different levels of support.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
IBM MQ scales well across environments, requiring expertise for optimization, and supports high transaction volumes with flexible configurations.
Sentiment score
7.6
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform is highly flexible and scalable but faces challenges with file sizes and scaling costs.
In our environment, we do not have horizontal scaling for IBM MQ, but as demand increases, we would just vertically scale it.
IBM MQ handles many thousands of messages in a second, indicating good scalability.
Performance-wise, it is scalable, and other features such as DR, DC, replication, and active passive mode are complex to configure, but it remains scalable.
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform is quite scalable, and it meets our use cases with no issues preventing implementation.
MuleSoft provides the ability to scale, yet it is costly to do so.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
IBM MQ is highly regarded for reliability and stability, despite configuration complexities and performance issues under high transaction volumes.
Sentiment score
7.9
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform shows improved stability, minimal issues, and high reliability with optimized resource management in cloud environments.
The message availability is always guaranteed.
We have never had any downtime or crashes since it's been running.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM MQ users desire better security, cloud integration, modern protocols, improved monitoring, better tools, training, and cost-effective licensing.
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform needs enhancements in processing, support, integration, and user interface for improved efficiency and usability.
Having a graphical user interface would improve usability.
The pricing model for IBM MQ could be more flexible for clients.
Support can be better because sometimes we need explanations for some behaviors of the product, and it's not easy to reach the proper person in IBM support.
MuleSoft is considered expensive, so pricing is a major concern.
Currently, it uses other standards, but adopting OpenAPI, the standard in the market, would be beneficial.
When dealing with multiple transactions or trading, the system can lose control, and tracking becomes hectic.
 

Setup Cost

IBM MQ is considered expensive due to complex licensing, but some find value in its bundled services.
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform's pricing is complex and high, potentially deterring smaller organizations despite offering enterprise support.
It's possible to get some training, but the cost of this learning is expensive.
IBM MQ is pretty reasonable when compared to IBM ESB.
I am not exactly sure about the licensing cost compared to similar products, but I assume it is affordable since we continue to use it, and it is also used by our customers.
I do not know the specific costs, but given that it is part of MuleSoft, I suspect it is not cheap.
MuleSoft is considered one of the more expensive products in the market.
The platform reduces manual workload in maintaining infrastructure, but it does come with some cost considerations.
 

Valuable Features

IBM MQ ensures reliable, secure data transfer and integration across platforms, offering scalability and ease of use in critical environments.
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform excels with API management, integration features, a user-friendly interface, and robust data management capabilities.
These are financial transactions, so we do not want to lose the message at any cost.
There is a saying that for the last 30 years IBM MQ has never been hacked.
We suppose it's secure because we use secure tools within the frame of this product, such as TLS 1.3 and so on.
The platform is integrated with Salesforce, making it preferable when using Salesforce products.
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform helps to standardize data integration approaches, making it easier to implement integration projects.
The most valuable feature is the full lifecycle management, including Anypoint Designer and Exchange, as well as Discofolio API.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM MQ
Ranking in Message Queue (MQ) Software
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
168
Ranking in other categories
Business Activity Monitoring (1st), Message Oriented Middleware (MOM) (1st)
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform
Ranking in Message Queue (MQ) Software
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
58
Ranking in other categories
Business-to-Business Middleware (1st), Workload Automation (4th), Cloud Data Integration (4th), Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Message Queue (MQ) Software category, the mindshare of IBM MQ is 26.2%, up from 20.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MuleSoft Anypoint Platform is 9.5%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Message Queue (MQ) Software
 

Featured Reviews

Md Al-Amin - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable and secure performance consistently enhances message transfer
IBM MQ is more reliable and secure than other software. There is a saying that for the last 30 years IBM MQ has never been hacked. It is more secure and reliable. Whenever the configuration is done, I do not have to touch it again. It works fine, it is stable, and its communication is to the point and accurate. All performance-related aspects are better. Performance-wise, it is scalable, and other features such as DR, DC, replication, and active passive mode are complex to configure, but it remains scalable. The pricing model for IBM MQ could be more flexible for clients.
Vijay Subramanyam - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust, reliable, and stable, ensuring high availability for critical integrations
I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten; it is a highly scalable solution. We have around 200 end users using this solution in our company. We use it to its maximum capacity. However, it's not for P1 applications, but definitely for severity two cases (P2 level). It integrates critical applications, but it's not a platform that, if it stops, the entire system would come down. So, it's more like a severity two level. However, it has the potential to eventually become a P1 platform. Not exactly P1 applications, but a P1 platform. Because now we are still in the transition to migrate everything, all the integrations to Mule Anypoint Platform. But once it's done, then this platform becomes critical. Because even now, we have point-to-point connections.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
37%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Government
4%
Educational Organization
19%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is MQ software?
Hi As someone with 45+ years of experience in the Transaction and Message Processing world, I have seen many "MQ" solutions that have come into the market place. From my perspective, while each pro...
What are the differences between Apache Kafka and IBM MQ?
Apache Kafka is open source and can be used for free. It has very good log management and has a way to store the data used for analytics. Apache Kafka is very good if you have a high number of user...
How does IBM MQ compare with VMware RabbitMQ?
IBM MQ has a great reputation behind it, and this solution is very robust with great stability. It is easy to use, simple to configure and integrates well with our enterprise ecosystem and protocol...
What advice do you have for others considering Mule Anypoint Platform?
I architected solutions using Oracle SOA/OSB, Spring Boot, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform on cloud / on-premises and hybrid modes; What I see is though if you are an enterprise and have enough money th...
How does TIBCO BusinessWorks compare with Mule Anypoint Platform?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether TIBCO BusinessWorks or Mule Anypoint platform integration and connectivity software was the better fit for us. We decided to go with Mule...
What can Mule Anypoint Platform be used for and what do you use it for most often?
This is a very flexible solution that comes with multiple uses. My organization mostly uses Mule Anypoint Platform for API management, as it lets us build new APIs easily and design new interfaces...
 

Also Known As

WebSphere MQ
Data Integrator, Anypoint MQ
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Deutsche Bahn, Bon-Ton, WestJet, ARBURG, Northern Territory Government, Tata Steel Europe, Sharp Corporation
VMware, Gucci, MasterCard, Target, Time Inc, Hershey's, Tesla, Spotify, Office Depot, Intuit, CBS, Amtrak, Salesforce, Gap, Ralph Lauren
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM MQ vs. MuleSoft Anypoint Platform and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.