IBM API Connect vs MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM API Connect and MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two API Management solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed IBM API Connect vs. MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Q&A Highlights
Question: Which product do you prefer: Apigee, MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager or IBM API Connect?
Answer: MuleSoft Anypoint
Featured Review
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.""API Connect's data gateway is one of the strongest in the market.""It gives a holistic environment for us to set up the APIs and that's the main value that it adds. It gives end to end for us.""The solution is very scalable because it's on the cloud.""The most valuable features of IBM API Connect are its performance and user-friendliness.""The solution provides a common place for all APIs, allowing for easy sharing and exchange of information between internal and external stakeholders.""Using API Connect allows us to quickly create proxy APIs and saves time on end-to-end testing, which lets us deliver quickly to clients.""It allows enterprises to expose some of their tech to outside stakeholders."

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"The developer portal is easy to integrate. It is easy to use, easy to integrate, and I like the developer portal.""Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager's most valuable aspect is it has plenty of features.""MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager is a great solution. I like it very much because of its speed of delivery and because it allows API-led integration.""Overall, the platform is pretty good, I cannot say which one specific feature is good. The idea of an API manager is really interesting.""If you adopt the whole platform, you can build composable applications. This will cut your time creating new applications and updating them – once you have everything running – by up to 50%.""The product improved data exchange processes by enhancing communication between various messaging queues. There was a heavy reliance on queues for indexing clusters and data transfer in this particular environment. The product facilitated the transfer of messages from one queue to another, ensuring data flow and processing across different topics.""The most valuable feature is the ability to investigate APIs.""The stability overall has been pretty great."

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Cons
"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.""The platform’s integration with the payment gateway needs enhancement. The setup process and support services could be improved.""We ran it on top of the Kubernetes cluster, so it wasn't a standalone service. In the worst-case scenario, API Connect couldn't stay online if all the containers went down. We had to restart all the services. We shut down all the containers automatically one by one.""We have asked IBM for scalability and for some other features that we wanted. We had a dialogue with them and in the end, they have agreed to provide us with features related to API setup and security.""The installation process could use improvement. I hope that in the next release, the installation process is easier.""The automation and the simplicity could be improved.""The new version is very unstable.""The product's setup phase and its setup for the users in different environments, along with DevOps integration, are areas of concern where there is a need for improvement."

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"Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager can improve some of the gateway features. We could use some more customization in creating rules. A lot of the policies are related to the APIs rather than the client. If I want to apply a policy based on a client that is not available.""It can offer workflows, orchestration, and webhooks.""Monetization and cataloging can be improved.""I'd suggest more control over MQ restarts and greater transparency in traffic management.""The solution is expensive.""They should develop on MuleSoft as it would be a good way of improving API monetization.""To improve Anypoint API Manager for the next release, it should focus on better consumption scalability, especially for smaller APIs.""We find that the enterprise level is lacking scalability."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "API Connect is quite pricey."
  • "I haven't seen anyone go from on-premise to the cloud. In fact, I am seeing people go from the cloud to on-premise because the costs can quickly grow on the cloud."
  • "It would be a good idea to bring down the pricing by at least 20 to 30 percent."
  • "The pricing is too expensive with IBM. Sometimes, we prefer to go with an open source or something more lightweight."
  • "It is expensive when compared to other products in this class. There were no extra fees for add-ons or technical support."
  • "It's an expensive product."
  • "IBM API Connect could be cheaper."
  • "It is quite an expensive product."
  • More IBM API Connect Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "I'm unsure about licensing costs because I'm not the person who handles this. But, ballpark, it's probably somewhere around $300,000-$400,000 or something like that."
  • "The licensing fees are approximately $80,000 USD per year and there are costs for additional functionality, as well as premiums for connectors to systems such as Oracle and SAP."
  • "The pricing is very expensive, although you get a lot of power from the product."
  • "When it comes to determining price, the pre-sales team interacts with the customer's primary integration team and the price is negotiated based on the specific usage of the system."
  • "The licensing model is based on how many cores are used. It is a very simple licensing scheme."
  • "Anypoint is the most expensive solution on the market, as far as I know, though it's also the most capable."
  • "Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
  • "The price of Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager is very high."
  • More MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Answers from the Community
    Swetha Masala
    Walter Kuhn - PeerSpot reviewerWalter Kuhn
    Real User

    Of those three: MuleSoft Anypoint. But, cost-friendly is another term, I would choose a different solution. We are happy with Gravitee.

    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Publishers can easily identify, create, and publish APIs on the developer portal, defining plans, packages, and potentially billing rules.
    Top Answer: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.
    Top Answer:The platform’s integration with the payment gateway needs enhancement. The setup process and support services could be improved.
    Top Answer: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 one… more »
    Top Answer:I have found that Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager is the best integration tool out there for API management. It is easy to implement and learn; it provides several options for deployment, (including… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable features of the solution for securing APIs stem from the tool's ability to allow users to deploy policies.
    Ranking
    5th
    out of 64 in API Management
    Views
    12,746
    Comparisons
    9,726
    Reviews
    21
    Average Words per Review
    536
    Rating
    7.9
    4th
    out of 64 in API Management
    Views
    18,014
    Comparisons
    14,570
    Reviews
    26
    Average Words per Review
    425
    Rating
    8.3
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Anypoint API Manager
    Learn More
    Overview

    IBM API Connect is an enterprise-grade platform that provides a comprehensive solution for creating, securing, managing, sharing, monetizing, and analyzing APIs. Designed for cloud and on-premises deployment, it integrates seamlessly with various systems, ensuring robust security and enabling efficient API lifecycle management. The user feedback underscores its efficiency, user-friendly aspects, and practical customer support, making it a reliable choice for enterprises seeking to optimize their API strategies.

    IBM API Connect provides end-to-end management of APIs, facilitating the creation, security, management, sharing, monetization, and analysis​​. It allows the creation of custom APIs, exposing the full capabilities of applications and ensuring thorough testing before deployment.​ The platform offers robust security features, applying out-of-the-box and custom gateway policies to protect back-end data and services. Users can manage the entire lifecycle of their APIs, including publishing, replacing, migrating, deprecating, and retiring.

    API Connect includes a customizable portal for sharing APIs with developers, complete with built-in communication tools like blogs and forums​​. The solution offers comprehensive analytics for managing service levels, setting quotas, establishing controls, and analyzing trends.

    IBM API Connect stands out as a versatile and robust API management solution. It is well-suited for organizations looking for a comprehensive tool to handle the entire lifecycle of their APIs with a focus on integration, security, and analytics.

    Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager is the portion of the Anypoint Platform that is used for the designing, building, managing, and publishing of APIs. Anypoint Platform uses Mule as its core runtime engine.

    Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager is an extremely versatile solution. It offers users the ability to deploy their APIs in a number of different settings. You can use API Manager on a public cloud, a private cloud, or a hybrid. Additionally, users can use the solution to manage their deployments with ease. A few clicks are all you need to alter your deployment.

    Benefits of Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager

    Some of the benefits of using Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager include:

    • The ability to deploy APIs and integrations in the location of your choice. Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager enables users to deploy APIs on their own servers or on the cloud via Mulesoft’s cloud service. It also allows users to change the deployment location with only a few clicks.
    • The ability to automatically protect your APIs with cutting-edge security software and protocols. Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager’s security software can automatically detect attacks against your APIs. This triggers an escalation of security protocols that push the attack to the perimeter of the system. The solution then proceeds to seal up any vulnerabilities. Mulesoft uses machine learning in order to adapt to any new threat that emerges.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager is a highly effective piece of software whose purpose is to enable users to design, build, manage, and publish APIs. It stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are the ease with which users can connect it to their applications and the high level of value that its support offers. It provides users with the ability to easily connect this solution with whatever program they need to join it with. Users can create connections without having to write code. It offers different types of support which ensure that users have a high level of understanding about the product and how to use it.

    PeerSpot user Tolulope A., a technical lead specializing in integration and middleware at a financial services firm, notes the ease with which users can connect Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager to their applications. He writes, “One good thing about MuleSoft is that they have a lot of connectors to those back-end applications. We don't really need to write code to be able to connect to a database or to connect with SAP. You just need credentials and the connectivity details. Most of the development of what we do is just drag and drop. They're able to connect with applications using standard connectors that are provided by ESB, by MuleSoft.”

    The CEO & Co-Founder at a computer retailer notes the value of Mulesoft’s supporting documentation. They write, “The documentation is great; it is always up-to-date and well-presented. If any details are missing, then there is a blog available that contains a lot of details. There are also channels on YouTube to help you better understand the solution and what some of the processes look like.”

    Sample Customers
    Heineken, Tine, Finologee, Axis Bank
    Coca-Cola, Splunk, Citrix, UCSF, Vertu, State of Colorado, National Post, TiVo, Deakin, LLS, Oldcastle Precast, ParcelPoint, Justice Systems, Ube, Sumitomo Corporation, PacificComp, University of Witwatersrand, Groupe Initiatives, Camelot, Panviva
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm41%
    Computer Software Company16%
    Retailer9%
    Insurance Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm20%
    Educational Organization17%
    Insurance Company10%
    Computer Software Company10%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company33%
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Manufacturing Company12%
    Computer Retailer9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Computer Software Company15%
    Insurance Company7%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise67%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business13%
    Midsize Enterprise24%
    Large Enterprise63%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise63%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise72%
    Buyer's Guide
    IBM API Connect vs. MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about IBM API Connect vs. MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    IBM API Connect is ranked 5th in API Management with 73 reviews while MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager is ranked 4th in API Management with 47 reviews. IBM API Connect is rated 7.8, while MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of IBM API Connect writes "Good speed and performance, but it's based on a bit dated architecture". On the other hand, the top reviewer of MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager writes "Responsive technical support, low tickets issued showing great stability, and limitless expansion". IBM API Connect is most compared with IBM DataPower Gateway, Apigee, Microsoft Azure API Management, Amazon API Gateway and Kong Enterprise, whereas MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager is most compared with Microsoft Azure API Management, Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, Kong Enterprise and Layer7 API Management. See our IBM API Connect vs. MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager report.

    See our list of best API Management vendors.

    We monitor all API Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.