IBM API Connect vs IBM Cloud Pak for Integration comparison

IBM API Connect and IBM Cloud Pak for Integration are both solutions in the API Management category. IBM API Connect is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.3, while IBM Cloud Pak for Integration is ranked #26 with an average rating of 8.5. IBM API Connect holds a 6.3% mindshare in APIM, compared to IBM Cloud Pak for Integration’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of IBM API Connect users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of IBM Cloud Pak for Integration users who would recommend it.

IBM API Connect

Read 76 IBM API Connect reviews

7,841 Views
7,606 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

Read 5 IBM Cloud Pak for Integration reviews

1,330 Views
652 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM API Connect

IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

IBM API Connect and IBM Cloud Pak for Integration are key competitors in the integration technology sector. IBM Cloud Pak for Integration holds a slight edge due to its expansive feature set, which appeals to enterprises needing comprehensive solutions.

Features: IBM API Connect delivers essential API management capabilities such as lifecycle management, powerful security protocols, and monitoring options. It also supports seamless integration with multiple service providers. Conversely, IBM Cloud Pak for Integration provides an extensive suite with features like application, data, and messaging integration, ensuring a holistic approach to complex enterprise needs.

Room for Improvement: IBM API Connect could enhance its user interface for simpler navigation and increase its scalability for larger deployments. It would also benefit from enhanced automation features to streamline processes further. IBM Cloud Pak for Integration could improve by simplifying its setup process and improving documentation. It could also offer more native integrations to avoid reliance on third-party solutions and reduce implementation times.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM API Connect is known for its ease of deployment, making it attractive for organizations seeking quicker integrations. Its responsive customer service supports users through implementations smoothly. On the other hand, IBM Cloud Pak for Integration offers a flexible deployment model suited to more intricate systems. Its customer service effectively assists clients through complex setups, enhancing its appeal for large enterprises.

Pricing and ROI: IBM API Connect stands out with a cost-effective pricing strategy and relatively low initial costs, offering quicker returns for straightforward API management tasks. IBM Cloud Pak for Integration demands a higher upfront investment, but its extensive features potentially deliver higher ROI by optimizing broader business operations.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM API Connect vs. IBM Cloud Pak for Integration Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect vs. IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

July 2025

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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

IBM API Connect

Ranking in API Management

8th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (9th)

IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

Ranking in API Management

26th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Data Integration (15th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of IBM API Connect is 6.3%, up from 6.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Cloud Pak for Integration is 0.5%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

API Management

Featured Reviews

Shanmugasundaram Shanmuganathan

Solutions Architect at Synechron

Offers basic API orchestration and provides robust security and governance features

While Azure API Management offers configurable scalability, IBM API Connect relies on Kubernetes clusters. This might seem manual and require defining cluster instances upfront, but it's completely customizable and not on-the-fly scaling. It's completely custom-driven, not on-the-fly scaling, which some may consider cumbersome. Overall, I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten. Almost all applications we've been exposing lately go through this middleware, so it's used extensively. There are around sixty applications directly using it, but six Kubernetes clusters serve those applications. It's heavily used for integration, including system-to-system integration and product integrations. Our usage has been increasing year-on-year based on our needs.

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Igor Khalitov

Owner/Full Stack Software Engineer at Maraphonic, Inc.

Manages APIs and integrates microservices with redirection feature

IBM Cloud Pak for Integration includes monitoring capabilities to track the performance and health of your integrations. You can quickly roll back to a previous version if an issue arises. Additionally, it supports incremental deployments, allowing you to shift traffic to a new version of an API gradually. For example, you can start by directing 10% of traffic to the new version while the rest continue using the legacy version. If everything works as expected, you can gradually increase the traffic to the new version over time. IBM Cloud Pak for Integration has a client base that includes numerous organizations using AI and machine learning technologies. We leverage an open-source machine learning framework and integrate it with Kafka to help create and manage various products and data retrieval processes. For companies with private data, the framework first retrieves relevant data from a GitHub database, which is then combined with the final request before being sent to a language model like GPT. This ensures that the language model uses your specific data to generate responses. Kafka plays a key role by streaming real-time data from file systems and databases like Oracle and Microsoft SQL. This data is published to Kafka topics, then vectorized and used with artificial intelligence to enhance the overall process. It's like an old-fashioned approach. The best way is to redesign it with products such as Kafka. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I have found the API Management to be most valuable."

"The solution is very scalable because it's on the cloud."

"This product is well integrated with other products. Its ability to interact with IBM Secure Gateway and other integration products is the core feature. Also, the lead time to put it into production is relatively short ."

"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."

"The functionalities on offer are very good."

"Since it runs on top of Datapower, all Datapower based custom policies can be utilized and exported to API connect but its not straightforward/simple process."

"The ability for all of our web applications to share standard functions and documents easily is valuable."

"The developer portal has been the most useful feature."

More IBM API Connect pros

"Redirection is a key feature. It helps in managing multiple microservices by centralizing control and access."

"Cloud Pak for Integration is definitely scalable. That is the most important criteria."

"It is a stable solution."

"The most valuable aspect of the Cloud Pak, in general, is the flexibility that you have to use the product."

"The most preferable aspect would be the elimination of the command, which was a significant improvement. In the past, it was a challenge, but now we can proceed smoothly with the implementation of our policies and everything is managed through JCP. It's still among the positive aspects, and it's a valuable feature."

Cons

"The integration of an API gateway that implements the sidecar pattern, which can be deployed in cloud applications, and expose the microservices directly in each pod, this can be more decentralized components."

"The administration of the user interface and the technical documentation are areas of concern in the solution where improvements are required."

"Automation for our Domino applications could be improved."

"It would be nice to have a SaaS solution that can be deployed into the cloud."

"The new version is very unstable."

"The implementation process could benefit from improvements, as it may take some time to become accustomed to the deployment."

"The solution could improve security and performance."

"They seem to have left out a feature for microservices and also a certification module for OIDC."

More IBM API Connect cons

"Enterprise bots are needed to balance products like Kafka and Confluent."

"Its queuing and messaging features need improvement."

"The pricing can be improved."

"The initial setup is not easy."

"Setting up Cloud Pak for Integration is relatively complex. It's not as easy because it has not yet been fully integrated. You still have some products that are still not containerized, so you still have to run them on a dedicated VM."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It should be cheaper. It has a yearly licensing."

"API Connect's license cost could be a little lower. But, unfortunately, there aren't many open-source API gateways. Ideally, some new developers could come up with a minimum-functionality open-source solution."

"The pricing is too expensive with IBM. Sometimes, we prefer to go with an open source or something more lightweight."

"It can be quite expensive. It's okay for large-scale usage but quite expensive for smaller-scale implementations."

"The pricing is significantly high."

"I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."

"It would be a good idea to bring down the pricing by at least 20 to 30 percent."

"This is a licensed product. If your company is looking to obtain a license, you have to work with IBM partners."

More IBM API Connect pricing and cost advice

"It is an expensive solution."

"The solution's pricing model is very flexible."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

20%

Insurance Company

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Cloud Pak for Integration?

The most preferable aspect would be the elimination of the command, which was a significant improvement. In the past, it was a challenge, but now we can proceed smoothly with the implementation of ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Cloud Pak for Integration?

Enterprise bots are needed to balance products like Kafka and Confluent.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Cloud Pak for Integration?

It manages APIs and integrates microservices at the enterprise level. It offers a range of capabilities for handling APIs, microservices, and various integration needs. The platform supports thousa...

See all answers

Comparisons

IBM DataPower Gateway vs IBM API Connect

Compared 25% of the time

Apigee vs IBM API Connect

Compared 20% of the time

Microsoft Azure API Management vs IBM API Connect

Compared 14% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs IBM API Connect

Compared 7% of the time

WSO2 API Manager vs IBM API Connect

Compared 1% of the time

More IBM API Connect Competitors

IBM App Connect vs IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

Compared 40% of the time

IBM DataPower Gateway vs IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

Compared 7% of the time

MuleSoft API Manager vs IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

Compared 7% of the time

IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

Compared 7% of the time

webMethods.io vs IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM Cloud Pak for Integration Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect

July 2025

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Buyer's Guide

API Management

June 2025

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Overview

IBM API Connect facilitates API management and integration in the financial sector. Companies use it to expose, secure, and manage APIs for banking, insurance, and fintech, deploying it on-premises, in the cloud, or as a hybrid solution.

IBM API Connect focuses on creating and monetizing APIs while enabling seamless transactions and integration with third-party services. It is vital for compliance with regulations and enhances external communication among institutions. With deployment options suitable for different environments, it supports centralized gateway management, robust security features, and comprehensive API lifecycle management. Users benefit from powerful analytics, user-friendly interfaces, and high performance with capabilities in message transformation and efficient monitoring.

What are the most important features?

Centralized Gateway: Manages all APIs through a single entry point.
Robust Security: Ensures API protection with advanced security measures.
Comprehensive API Lifecycle Management: Covers creation, deployment, and retirement of APIs.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies API creation and management tasks.
Powerful Analytics: Provides insights into API usage and performance.
Seamless Integration: Connects easily with third-party services and internal systems.
Flexible Deployment Options: Supports on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.
High Performance: Optimizes API performance and reduces latency.
Message Transformation: Manipulates and formats messages between different systems.
Visualization Tools: Enables clear and detailed views of API usage statistics.

What benefits or ROI should users look for?

API Monetization: Generates additional revenue streams from APIs.
Enhanced Compliance: Ensures adherence to industry regulations and standards.
Improved External Communication: Facilitates integration and communication among financial institutions.
Technical Support: Benefit from reliable customer support and easy configuration.
Deployment Flexibility: Choose from on-premises, cloud, or hybrid options.

IBM API Connect is extensively implemented in the financial sector, enabling banking, insurance, and fintech services to manage APIs efficiently. Companies use it to ensure secure transactions, integration with third-party services, and compliance with regulatory standards. Its deployment flexibility accommodates different infrastructure needs, making it suitable for a wide range of financial applications.

IBM

IBM Cloud Pak for Integration gives you complete, flexible integration using capabilities you need to move at today's speed of business, including the tools to help you achieve your application modernization goals as part of your journey to the cloud.

IBM

Sample Customers

Heineken, Tine, Finologee, Axis Bank

CVS Health Corporation

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect vs. IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

July 2025

Free Report: IBM API Connect vs. IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

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