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Apiary vs IBM DataPower Gateway comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

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

Apiary
Ranking in API Management
36th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM DataPower Gateway
Ranking in API Management
15th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (7th), Application Infrastructure (12th), SOA Application Gateways (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the API Management category, the mindshare of Apiary is 0.9%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM DataPower Gateway is 3.6%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM DataPower Gateway3.6%
Apiary0.9%
Other95.5%
API Management
 

Featured Reviews

PW
Enterprise Integration Architect at Capgemini
The ability to configure rules to check for consistency has helped
Apiary provides a free tier of the platform which allows a small group of developers to collaborate easily on the design of open source APIs. In addition to this, it provides mock endpoints allowing people to experiment with the API without depending or having to stand up a real backend. With our clients, using Apiary allows us to very quickly pull together an API definition (particularly when using API Blueprint). The whole API design process for the simpler use cases can be done in a relatively short workshop which makes it a lot easier to agree, publish, version-manage an API definition with suitable documentation. This can then be evolved and enhanced (particularly in the documentation aspects). With the ability to support Swagger (Open API v2 and introducing/ed support for v3) and API Blueprint makes it a very versatile tool.
AkshaySawant - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at CSB Bank Ltd
Security features excel but development limitations emerge
We are using the IBM DataPower Gateway for security purposes. As per the development perspective, there are some limitations with IBM DataPower Gateway because it only supports XML and XSLT language, but it does not support the Java language. This is the only limitation of the IBM DataPower Gateway. For the authentication and authorization purpose, we can use the IBM DataPower Gateway. It's a very good product. We are mostly using the IBM DataPower Gateway for security purposes and load balancing purposes. If we are handling the load for a particular server, then we can use the IBM DataPower Gateway. The IBM DataPower Gateway is mostly used for security purposes. If we have some APIs and we are using some security for those APIs, then we can use it. It can also be used as a load balancer. It's also used for certificate management, user management purposes, authentication, and authorization. For routing, the IBM DataPower Gateway has multiple URL-based routing and content-based routing capabilities. If we have multiple URLs, then we can use an XML script. Using the XSLT language, we can configure multiple URLs and implement URL-based routing. Content-based routing means if we have multiple requests, we can route the request to a particular URL. For this, we need to use the XSLT language only. We can't use XML, Java, or other scripting languages. With IBM DataPower Gateway, we are using all the APIs. All APIs have been configured on the gateway. We have configured the particular TLS profile and some TLS client profiles as well. Using that TLS profile, we have configured the APIs and authentication. We have configured some tokens also, including JWT tokens and different types of auth tokens. There is also a rate limiting feature which we use for handling API loads.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In two years, there was one time the service was down for an hour or so."
"Git integration"
"I do like the overall performance of the solution."
"Quick and easy way to share a new API design with teams."
"I find the generation of mock services very useful, especially when demonstrating for new consumers."
"This solution has allowed us to standardize API definitions and bring consistency into our shared components, reducing the effort and cost of using functionality across domains within the organization, with Apiary being crucial to our good API strategy."
"The feature I find most valuable is that it offers authentication and allows us to develop communication points."
"Vey high - very easy API design with no setup effort"
"If you are an enterprise customer, I would definitely advise that it is better to go for IBM DataPower, because you won't need to have a proxy or any other security measures required in the DMC, and it is easy to implement and easy to maintain and scale."
"You don't have to have a separate DMC proxy because DataPower Gateway is an appliance and will take care of a lot of security features. These include data validations, encryption, as well as XML or any type of scripting or security threats that are present."
"We are mostly using the IBM DataPower Gateway for security purposes and load balancing purposes."
"The solution is robust, and we use the appliance version, which comes with good security features and troubleshooting tools, so we are happy with IBM DataPower."
"We did not experience any downtime, even if the number of transactions increased heavily."
"The solution was very stable, we had no issues with it in that sense, it didn't crash or freeze and there were no bugs or glitches."
"The solution is very easy to work with."
"The product's most valuable features are AAA policies and security features."
 

Cons

"Validation messages could be a bit clearer."
"I don't think this solution is very stable so we try to manage stability from our side."
"Swagger (OpenAPI Specification) and Blueprint Support"
"The Oracle release cycle is very bad because the patches only update once a year."
"Better Swagger support."
"I would like an integrated option to download a Swagger version of the definition."
"We are always looking for more features wherein it could be easily integrated with cloud applications. We are looking for either a cloud solution or a cloud integration option."
"The initial setup isn't so easy, you need who has experience working with the solution to help."
"The solution requires a lot of training manuals in order to get to know it better and to be able to use it effectively."
"Scripting needs improvement. It's hard for our customers."
"New users just starting with this product find it a little complex or difficult to use, compared to other products such as AWS."
"Some pre-packaged connectors for integration with various applications, such as SaaS offerings, would be a useful addition."
"The product's cost for data appliances or hardware is quite high. It needs improvement."
"Traceability could be improved, especially for business operations."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a free subscription option to start and try the service."
"It is easy to get started with personal (free) accounts, but a subscription is required for additional features."
"Most customers' use case budgets are not inlined with the price of IBM DataPower Gateway. It is too expensive."
"The cost of this product varies from customer to customer and the relationship with IBM, including how many offerings from IBM are already being used."
"The tool's initial costing is expensive for small banks and financial institutions."
"This product is a bit expensive as IBM products are costly assets. However, for enterprise customers it is a worthwhile investment."
"The appliance is a bit on the expensive side for the workloads that are not too high."
"The total cost of IBM DataPower Gateway would depend on the configuration, but in my experience, it can amount to 60,000 Euros per box, even for the virtual version. Usually, customers need high availability and a non-production environment, so the total price for IBM DataPower Gateway can be quite a lot. It can be 200,000 Euros or a similar figure."
"The licensing cost is very expensive."
"It is an expensive solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
23%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise18
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM DataPower Gateway?
I don't know if the current licensing cost of IBM DataPower Gateway is high, but I think it's acceptable. I don't have any complaints about it.
What needs improvement with IBM DataPower Gateway?
I noticed that the Gateway Script libraries could be improved, as they are not covering everything I need.
What is your primary use case for IBM DataPower Gateway?
The primary purposes for which IBM DataPower Gateway is used include security purposes, and sometimes you need to put some configurations and mapping into the process.
 

Also Known As

No data available
WebSphere DataPower, IBM DataPower, IBM WebSphere DataPower
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft, salesforce.com, Bloomberg, GoodData, Viacom, Akamai Technologies, DigitalGlobe
RBL Bank, Availity
Find out what your peers are saying about Apiary vs. IBM DataPower Gateway and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.