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Apiary vs Microsoft Azure API Management 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
Microsoft Azure API Management
Ranking in API Management
1st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
83
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

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 Microsoft Azure API Management is 11.9%, down from 16.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure API Management11.9%
Apiary0.9%
Other87.2%
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.
AD
Technical Solution Architect at liwa
Has supported smooth channel partner integration and data analysis for several years
We use the existing services hosted in Microsoft Azure API Management without making any changes. For transformation capabilities, we utilize ADF, Data Factory instead of Microsoft Azure API Management. Regarding security features in Microsoft Azure API Management, we utilize token bearer authentication. As retailers with integration to our channel partners, we haven't experienced any security issues with Microsoft Azure API Management since it isn't exposed to external parties. We use a basic Azure function hosted in Microsoft Azure API Management rather than the integrated developer portal. Tracking analytics and performance analytics in Microsoft Azure API Management is straightforward. We use basic features for performance analytics and log analytics due to additional subscription charges. We enabled log analytics for Microsoft Azure API Management in the past month to investigate issues such as unreachable endpoints or request timeouts.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The feature I find most valuable is that it offers authentication and allows us to develop communication points."
"Quick and easy way to share a new API design with teams."
"I do like the overall performance of the solution."
"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."
"Git integration"
"Vey high - very easy API design with no setup effort"
"In two years, there was one time the service was down for an hour or so."
"I find the generation of mock services very useful, especially when demonstrating for new consumers."
"The solution is quite stable. We have no issues with it. there have been no crashes and we haven't experienced bugs or glitches. It's been quite reliable."
"We get all enterprise flavor with very optimum cost, when compared to multivendor environment."
"The Azure Active Directory Synchronization is quite good."
"We're pretty much using all of the monetizations features out of the API manager so we can put up a portal and have a dev portal and then a prod portal and do rate limiting."
"The stability and performance are good. It is easy to install, and it scales well too."
"Everything is already available and ready to operate without a lot of preparation work."
"API Management is scalable based on the load."
"Monitoring: It gives us a detailed overview of how clients are using the API and it allows us to see the consumption trends in real-time."
 

Cons

"Better Swagger support."
"The Oracle release cycle is very bad because the patches only update once a year."
"Validation messages could be a bit clearer."
"Swagger (OpenAPI Specification) and Blueprint Support"
"I don't think this solution is very stable so we try to manage stability from our side."
"I would like an integrated option to download a Swagger version of the definition."
"Support for GraphQL could be better."
"This solution is only available as a cloud-based deployment and it would be very helpful to have an on-premises version."
"Azure is our most expensive resource; it's costly."
"It's okay. It's not as good as Google."
"There is always room for improvement. There should be more analytics abilities so you can know how much traffic there is. Log Analyzer isn't well integrated with this solution."
"When you start with Azure API management, you also need to onboard the Azure console and the Azure cloud environment, which comes with a price."
"The solution's data mapping and orchestration are very code-intensive or require callouts to external systems."
"Microsoft Azure API Management needs to improve stability."
 

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."
"We pay for a yearly license."
"Azure's pricing is very competitive compared to platforms like Apigee and MuleSoft."
"This is an expensive solution."
"Based on the resources that we are leveraging, the price we are paying to use this solution is slightly higher than other competitors. In a few cases, it has its own advantage in some resources."
"There are no additional costs above the main license."
"Microsoft is competitively priced."
"The solution is highly expensive. Our customers worry about the costs. The price should be a lot less."
"Microsoft Azure is an expensive solution not for the large enterprises but for the medium and small."
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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
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise54
 

Questions from the Community

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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 cloud-based solution. Both solutions are easy to use. Apigee allows for the ability...
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 services. For example, when you need versioning, establish a developer portal and ...
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
Azure API Management, MS Azure API Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft, salesforce.com, Bloomberg, GoodData, Viacom, Akamai Technologies, DigitalGlobe
adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH, Opensistemas
Find out what your peers are saying about Apiary vs. Microsoft Azure API Management and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,877 professionals have used our research since 2012.