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Frends vs IBM API Connect 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

Frends
Ranking in API Management
23rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM API Connect
Ranking in API Management
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of Frends is 0.2%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM API Connect is 6.4%, up from 6.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management
 

Featured Reviews

Kalle Reponen - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers simplicity, ease of customization, and visibility of integrations
One thing is that Frends keep the integration, and that is something I know that it's coming, like, a later version; that is something we will be currently missing. So the end-users could take an interest in use by themselves, with the release thing some result flow. That is the most wanted and requested feature for now. Another enhancement includes the monitoring part. It would be nice to have some sort of maybe mobile app on which we can see how integrations are running if there are some problems, and getting those alerts on the mobile would be really nice.
KavitaChavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Quite flexible and provides excellent performance for API gateway
The only disadvantage I can see is that it requires heavy hardware support, which can be considered quite expensive. In terms of new functionality, I think the analytics can be improved in V10. The analytics feature was better in the older version, 2.18. But in V10, it's not as flexible. When exporting analytics as KSP or JSON, it's not well formatted. They can work on enhancing the analytics part. Additionally, they can focus on reducing the hardware cost.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The user-friendly interface for constructing integration solutions is also a notable benefit."
"One of the benefits is the speed of creating something new. Second, it's replacing the old integration quite fast. Then it is like the visibility of the integration and the possibility to see what is happening in the integration."
"The product has valuable features for version control."
"It is a very scalable solution."
"I have found IBM API Connect to be highly secure, efficient, easy to deploy, and has a great GUI. It can operate and integrate well with other vendors, such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft."
"One of the most valuable features is the easy-to-use web interface."
"The most valuable feature of IBM API Connect is the security of the protocol."
"The support is good and active. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten."
"We really like the runtime capabilities of IBM API Connect. The creation of products and the control of the monetization and hit rate are some of the features which we've found very valuable."
"It's quite flexible and easy to deploy, especially for beginners. It has almost all the features that an API gateway should have."
"Its speed and performance are valuable."
 

Cons

"One of the primary areas for improvement is a more mobile-friendly interface for the control center."
"It is a new application and lacks some essential features compared to competitors."
"Another enhancement includes the monitoring part. It would be nice to have some sort of maybe mobile app on which we can see how integrations are running if there are some problems, and getting those alerts on the mobile would be really nice."
"Understanding the architecture, deployment criteria, and communication methods of the installation can be time-consuming."
"I would like to see support for non-Java based services. We struggle a bit to be able to deploy and connect our .NET services because of things like data types. We had to map a couple of things. For one solution provider, we had to move them to .NET Core before we could use it properly. I would like to see more agnostic tool service platforms rather than moving it more towards Java or open source."
"Due to bugs in integration, we have to look for workaround on fixing and using DataPower as gateway."
"In terms of what needs improvement, some of the product documentation could be better."
"IBM API Connect could improve the security of the application and the integration."
"There are some performance issues and issues related to asynchronous APIs."
"Our main pain points are in these two areas: creating a better developer portal and improving stability in terms of synchronization and monetization."
"We've had some issues upgrading to the latest version of the solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Recent changes in their pricing have removed this benefit, moving towards process-specific pricing."
"The pricing is quite fair."
"This is a licensed product. If your company is looking to obtain a license, you have to work with IBM partners."
"The price of the solution is expensive. However, there are a lot of customization capabilities."
"It can be quite expensive. It's okay for large-scale usage but quite expensive for smaller-scale implementations."
"The price of the solution is very expensive, it can turn many customers away."
"It is a pretty expensive tool."
"Pricing for IBM API Connect varies, e.g. it could be subscription-based. Deploying it on private cloud also means you have to own most of the software licensing."
"It is quite an expensive product."
"API Connect is quite pricey."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
60%
Computer Software Company
14%
Construction Company
4%
Insurance Company
3%
Educational Organization
24%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Insurance Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Frends?
The product has valuable features for version control.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Frends?
The pricing is quite fair. It is quite low compared to competitors, especially when you consider that Frends is a US-based company. So, it's almost cheap compared to them. But, we have an unlimited...
What needs improvement with Frends?
It is a new application and lacks some essential features compared to competitors. Basic features like reading and editing into Excel file format could be included.
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 potentially billing rules.
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 products, the licensing is not significantly higher.
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. Examples include the lack of connectivity to MQ ( /categories/message-queue-mq...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Heineken, Tine, Finologee, Axis Bank
Find out what your peers are saying about Frends vs. IBM API Connect and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,451 professionals have used our research since 2012.