IBM API Connect vs Kong Gateway Enterprise comparison

IBM and Kong are both solutions in the API Management category. IBM is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.5, while Kong is ranked #6 with an average rating of 7.7. IBM holds a 6.4% mindshare in APIM, compared to Kong’s 7.0% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Kong users who would recommend it.

IBM API Connect

Read 76 IBM API Connect reviews

8,187 Views
4,398 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Kong Gateway Enterprise

Read 25 Kong Gateway Enterprise reviews

7,788 Views
5,704 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

IBM API Connect

Kong Gateway Enterprise

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

IBM API Connect and Kong Gateway Enterprise are key players in the API management market. While IBM API Connect is notable for its robust security integration and advanced features, Kong Gateway Enterprise is valued for its plugin architecture and excellent performance.

Features: IBM API Connect offers robust security features, integration with IBM DataPower, and advanced analytics capabilities. It provides comprehensive environments for API development and a customizable developer portal. Kong Gateway Enterprise includes a plugin-based architecture, excellent plugin support, and strong integration abilities with various tools. It also features role-based access control and effective rate limiting.

Room for Improvement: IBM API Connect needs better integration with other platforms, improved stability, and enhanced support documentation. Users desire more customization options and streamlined administrative processes. Kong Gateway Enterprise could improve its pricing structure, developer portals, customer support, and scaling processes, alongside enhanced traffic analysis features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM API Connect supports varied deployment options, including on-premises, private and public clouds, and hybrid environments. While it offers comprehensive support, users report occasional delays and document deficiencies. Kong Gateway Enterprise offers flexible deployment across multiple environments, with generally positive support experiences although response times and costs are noted concerns.

Pricing and ROI: IBM API Connect is often viewed as costly, particularly for smaller implementations, yet it offers substantial ROI due to its extensive features. It provides on-premises and cloud-based pricing models, typically on a subscription basis. Kong Gateway Enterprise presents competitive pricing through its open-source version, but the enterprise edition has high costs that may not favor startups, although its functionality justifies its value for larger deployments.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM API Connect vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise

June 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:

ROI

Sentiment score

6.9

IBM API Connect enhances profitability and efficiency by reducing development time, improving security, and enabling seamless system integration.

Sentiment score

7.6

Kong Gateway Enterprise offers scalability, advanced features, and reduces detection time, supporting efficient API delivery with economic benefits.

Reducing development hours from eighty to four for an API was possible due to reusing existing scripts from DataPower.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.4

IBM API Connect support is proactive and expert but variable in speed, with regional availability challenges noted by users.

Sentiment score

6.9

Kong Gateway Enterprise support is helpful and responsive, but users note delays and desire quicker, more capable assistance.

Support is excellent when it comes to APIC.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

The technical support from Kong Gateway Enterprise would be rated about eight, as we missed local technical support.

reviewer2704218

Enterprise Architect at a transportation company with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.4

IBM API Connect offers excellent scalability through on-premise and cloud solutions, supporting enterprise-level operations and customization features.

Sentiment score

7.2

Kong Gateway Enterprise is praised for scalability across applications, but smaller entities face challenges due to resource constraints.

With container versions, scaling up or down the gateways deployed into pods is a two to three-minute task for the operations team.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

The scalability of this solution would be rated about eight or nine.

reviewer2704218

Enterprise Architect at a transportation company with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.3

IBM API Connect is generally stable and reliable, especially in government and banking, despite occasional upgrade issues.

Sentiment score

7.9

Kong Gateway Enterprise is stable with few issues, excellent architecture, and recommended strong configuration for optimal performance and versatility.

The runtime engine for the APIC Gateway is still a DataPower component, which has been stable in the industry for about fifteen years.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Room For Improvement

IBM API Connect needs better integration, automation, monitoring, documentation, and usability, facing issues in setup, costs, and support.

Kong Gateway Enterprise needs better pricing, integrations, API management, documentation, customization, support, and AI features for improved user experience.

Examples include the lack of connectivity to MQ.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

More plugins for additional integrations would be helpful and openness for traditional development languages, such as .NET, because many enterprises are looking for .NET solutions or incorporating with .NET solutions.

reviewer2704218

Enterprise Architect at a transportation company with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Setup Cost

IBM API Connect offers scalable solutions with high costs, suitable for large enterprises, available in SaaS and on-premise versions.

Kong Gateway Enterprise pricing is competitive, especially compared to Apigee, with value dependent on organizational needs and region.

Pricing depends on how many instances run across environments.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Valuable Features

IBM API Connect excels with strong security, integration, usability, analytics, flexibility, and scalability, enhancing API management and monetization.

Kong Gateway Enterprise provides scalable, secure API management with integration support, high performance, and adaptability via open-source community backing.

It offers significant development efficiency, reducing man-hours from eighty to four when creating APIs.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

The most valuable features of Kong Gateway Enterprise are its seamless integration with Kubernetes and cloud, many plugins that can be incorporated in a solution, and its incorporation with low-code function systems.

reviewer2704218

Enterprise Architect at a transportation company with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Categories and Ranking

IBM API Connect

Ranking in API Management

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (8th)

Kong Gateway Enterprise

Ranking in API Management

6th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of IBM API Connect is 6.4%, up from 6.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kong Gateway Enterprise is 7.0%, up from 5.9% 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.

Read full review

ASHOK YADAV

Solutions Architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Offers OIDC, Rate Limiting, Lambda functions but lacks software upgrades

Upgrading Kong Gateway Enterprise should be more sophisticated and innovative. The main issue is with the update process. Our DevOps and admin teams need to update multiple files, which is cumbersome. For instance, in cases where Palantir countries are involved, they have to update many files, which is not ideal. However, for other tasks like configuring the message routing and services and handling all the configurations, the process is acceptable. The software version upgrade process should be improved. Additionally, the DevOps portal should be integrated more natively. There are a few other areas for improvement, such as implementing automatic load balancing. The status of the office team, whether it is up or down, should be checked at the API gateway level to facilitate load balancing.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

20%

Financial Services Firm

18%

Insurance Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

20%

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

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How does Kong Enterprise compare with Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager?

The Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager was designed with its users in mind. Though it is a reasonably complex piece of software, it is easy to install and upgrade. While there are different things that ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Kong Enterprise?

The tool's feature that I find most beneficial is rate limiting. In our usage, especially in the financial sector, we prioritize limiting API usage. This is crucial because we provide APIs to other...

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What needs improvement with Kong Enterprise?

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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 15% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs IBM API Connect

Compared 7% of the time

MuleSoft API Manager vs IBM API Connect

Compared 5% of the time

More IBM API Connect Competitors

WSO2 API Manager vs Kong Gateway Enterprise

Compared 13% of the time

Microsoft Azure API Management vs Kong Gateway Enterprise

Compared 11% of the time

Apigee vs Kong Gateway Enterprise

Compared 11% of the time

Kong Konnect vs Kong Gateway Enterprise

Compared 10% of the time

Layer7 API Management vs Kong Gateway Enterprise

Compared 5% of the time

More Kong Gateway Enterprise Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect

June 2025

Download IBM API Connect product report

Buyer's Guide

Kong Gateway Enterprise

June 2025

Download Kong Gateway Enterprise product report

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

Kong delivers a next generation API platform built for modern architectures. With a lightnight-fast, lightweight, and flexible core, Kong delivers sub-millisecond latency across all your services. Kong's is deployment-, vendor-, and pattern-agnostic, allowing you to run your services how you want, where you want, and with who you want - from baremetal to cloud, monolith to microservices, service mesh, and beyond.

Kong

Sample Customers

Heineken, Tine, Finologee, Axis Bank

Cargill, Zillow, Ferrari, WeWork, Healthcare.gov, Yahoo! Japan, Giphy, SkyScanner

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise

June 2025

Free Report: IBM API Connect vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise

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