IBM API Connect vs OpenLegacy comparison

IBM and OpenLegacy are both solutions in the API Management category. IBM is ranked #9 with an average rating of 7.9, while OpenLegacy is ranked #36. IBM holds a 5.8% mindshare in APIM, compared to OpenLegacy’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of OpenLegacy users who would recommend it.

IBM API Connect

Read 77 IBM API Connect reviews

6,510 Views
6,250 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

OpenLegacy

Read 5 OpenLegacy reviews

466 Views
466 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

IBM API Connect

OpenLegacy

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

IBM API Connect and OpenLegacy are competing products in the API management category. IBM API Connect appears to have the upper hand with its extensive features and integration capabilities tailored for enterprise environments, while OpenLegacy's modern technology and quick deployment options make it an appealing choice for businesses seeking agility and cost savings.

Features: IBM API Connect offers extensive API lifecycle management, robust security, and in-depth analytics, making it suitable for large enterprises needing comprehensive control and insights. OpenLegacy excels in rapid legacy system integration and microservice generation, which is ideal for organizations focused on modernization and operational streamlining.

Room for Improvement: IBM API Connect could improve its deployment process, which tends to be complex due to its wide range of capabilities, potentially extending initial setup time. Documentation could be more user-friendly to facilitate quicker installations. It would also benefit from enhancing its microservice support further. OpenLegacy can improve upon scalability for very large enterprise demands, expand its analytics capabilities to match those of its larger competitors, and increase its cloud integration features for hybrid environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OpenLegacy provides a straightforward deployment model, minimizing time-to-market with streamlined processes suitable for legacy systems, and it focuses on responsive customer service. IBM API Connect offers comprehensive support and documentation but tends to require more setup time due to its extensive capabilities, which can be intricate for users unfamiliar with its system.

Pricing and ROI: IBM API Connect has a perceived higher setup cost; however, it promises a strong ROI for enterprises that can fully leverage its extensive range of features over time. OpenLegacy presents a cost-effective solution with fast ROI, especially attractive to businesses aiming to reduce costs while modernizing efficiently without significant initial investments.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM API Connect vs. OpenLegacy Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect vs. OpenLegacy

September 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

9th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (10th)

OpenLegacy

Ranking in API Management

36th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of IBM API Connect is 5.8%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenLegacy is 0.5%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

API Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM API Connect	5.8%
OpenLegacy	0.5%
Other	93.7%

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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reviewer1042905

VP, Chief Enterprise Integration Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

The biggest advantage is how simple the technology was.

I'd like to see OpenLegacy develop its low-code/no-code (LCNC) solutions. They've expanded somewhat their horizons for integration beyond mainframe CICS, which is their sweet spot. They have some tooling in that area, but it's not as good as it needs to be. OpenLegacy handles the bread-and-butter TP monitoring stuff, but I am working for one of the six banks in the United States still using the Hogan mainframe, which has a slightly proprietary mechanism. But OpenLegacy currently doesn't have a connector for Hogan. So it would help if they could build one. That would appeal to financial institutions that still use Hogan, like US Bank, Wells Fargo, KeyBank, and Vanguard.

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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

"The functionalities on offer are very good."

"It acts as a central gateway for both external APIs and underlying systems. It's basically a central middleware for hosting APIs to the internet and consuming APIs from internal systems. It provides central governance for any APIs going outside the network, ensuring security and a common contract for API definitions."

"Overall, I rate it nine out of ten."

"It offers enhanced security features to protect APIs, enforce access control, and secure sensitive data."

"API Connect is a good product, and everything works fine. All the analytics are good, and it is easy to follow up. I like it in that sense. I'm more focused on following up on analytics by seeing how many API calls we are getting and where we see a lot of problems. I was working on that API level."

"The management of the API and API portal is good."

"The support is good and active. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten."

"The gateway is the most valuable aspect of this solution."

More IBM API Connect pros

"It is possible to solve larger legacy API issues on an enterprise level with this product."

"It is possible to connect a service to a mainframe program or back transaction in a matter of minutes or hours at the most."

"Opens the door to connect modern web products to an old legacy system."

"The biggest advantage of OpenLegacy was how simple the technology was. We were able to build out the OpenLegacy parts very quickly. We put together a couple hundred APIs in six months."

"OpenLegacy produces a war file which includes everything you need to deploy a Tomcat server."

"OpenLegacy provides a way to go from the outside world to the legacy mainframe, to move the old standard application to a REST API application. New digital services can be created in a few clicks and this can be done easily by COBOL programmers."

"Using OpenLegacy, the exposure of services is far easier and quicker. In many cases, exposure of services requires just a few clicks and takes only minutes. In very complex cases, it still only takes half a day. Without OpenLegacy, it would take us several months to create the same services."

"Using mainframe programs (not screens), the OpenLegacy services do not require any changes by the mainframe programmers, thus reducing development cycles."

Cons

"The solution is overly complex."

"The automation and the simplicity could be improved."

"Improving the documentation would be beneficial as it currently presents navigation challenges. Incorporating a step-by-step guide could facilitate the integration or migration of various systems, including databases. The existing documentation only comprises plain text, hence incorporating more interactive instructions could enhance its usefulness."

"The solution could improve security and performance."

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

"Understanding the architecture, deployment criteria, and communication methods of the installation can be time-consuming."

"It should be cheaper."

"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."

More IBM API Connect cons

"I would like to see SSL out-of-the-box. OpenLegacy certainly does SSL, but it was not the default for our use case. We are currently working with OpenLegacy to cross the SSL bridge and suspect that most users will want to do the same."

"Customer support for the product is slow and not very good. It makes using the product difficult if you need help quickly."

"I'd like to see OpenLegacy develop its low-code/no-code (LCNC) solutions. They've expanded somewhat their horizons for integration beyond mainframe CICS, which is their sweet spot. They have some tooling in that area, but it's not as good as it needs to be."

"The pricing of the solution could be more flexible and allow for once-off payment versus annual licensing. This would be more appealing to companies in Latin America."

"We would also be more than happy if the product had the option to work in the opposite direction – the ability to consume REST/SOW services in the outer world from the mainframe."

"Debugging and logging for programmers could be better."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive when compared to other products in this class. There were no extra fees for add-ons or technical support."

"It is an expensive solution. The licensing model is based on a per-subscription and per-subscriber end-user basis, meaning the price is determined by the end-users of the platform."

"We pay for the IBM API Connect monthly. We only need to pay the standard licensing fee."

"IBM API Connect could be cheaper."

"It's an expensive product."

"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."

"API Connect is expensive - I'd rate their pricing five out of ten."

"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."

More IBM API Connect pricing and cost advice

"The pricing of the solution could be more flexible and allow for once-off payment versus annual licensing. This would be more appealing to companies in Latin America."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

20%

Insurance Company

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	59

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.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM API Connect?

I have not worked on pricing, setup cost, or licensing for IBM API Connect; that part is handled by the architect.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM API Connect?

To improve IBM API Connect, based on customer experience, you could work on latency. You can increase scalability and availability. If you're connecting with any other cloud, it connects to the inf...

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Comparisons

IBM DataPower Gateway vs IBM API Connect

Compared 27% of the time

Apigee vs IBM API Connect

Compared 20% of the time

Microsoft Azure API Management vs IBM API Connect

Compared 13% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs IBM API Connect

Compared 6% of the time

MuleSoft API Manager vs IBM API Connect

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM API Connect Competitors

Amazon API Gateway vs OpenLegacy

Compared 19% of the time

Kong Gateway Enterprise vs OpenLegacy

Compared 18% of the time

MuleSoft API Manager vs OpenLegacy

Compared 17% of the time

SEEBURGER Business Integration Suite vs OpenLegacy

Compared 12% of the time

webMethods.io vs OpenLegacy

Compared 10% of the time

More OpenLegacy Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect

October 2025

Download IBM API Connect product report

Buyer's Guide

OpenLegacy

October 2025

Download OpenLegacy product report

Overview

IBM API Connect is an API management tool providing robust security, seamless REST and SOAP conversion, and flexible deployment options for diverse cloud environments. It aids organizations in securing and monetizing their APIs while streamlining the development process.

IBM API Connect offers features like a security gateway, API lifecycle management, and integration with DataPower. Its intuitive interface enhances ease of use, supporting extensive analytics and traffic management. However, there are areas for improvement in automation, system integration, and user configuration. Organizations can deploy API Connect on-premises or in the cloud, delivering secure access control and analytics for banking, financial services, and government sectors. Compliance with standards like PSD2 ensures secure external API exposure and integration with multiple systems.

What are the most important features of IBM API Connect?

Security Gateway: Provides robust protection and data security for APIs.
Seamless Conversion: Facilitates easy conversion between REST and SOAP protocols.
API Management: Supports full API lifecycle management for efficient development.
DataPower Integration: Integrates seamlessly with DataPower for enhanced functionality.
Developer Portal: Offers a user-friendly interface for managing APIs and developers.
Analytics: Delivers powerful insights through comprehensive API analytics.
Flexible Deployment: Supports deployment on different cloud platforms for versatility.

What benefits and ROI can users expect from IBM API Connect?

Traffic Management: Efficiently manages high volumes of API traffic without compromising performance.
Data Protection: Ensures data is protected during API communication.
API Monetization: Facilitates API monetization strategies to drive revenue.
Scalability: Provides scalable solutions to handle growing demands seamlessly.

In specific industries like banking, financial services, and government sectors, IBM API Connect plays a crucial role in API management, orchestration, and regulation tasks. It provides secure access, control, and compliance with industry standards, serving as an essential gateway for data exchange and integration across multiple systems.

IBM

OpenLegacy helps organizations quickly launch innovative digital services by extending their core back-end systems to the web, mobile and cloud in days or weeks versus months. Our microservice-enabled API integration and management software quickly reduces project backlog by automating and accelerating microservices and API creation, deployment, testing and management from core applications, mainframes and databases. Together, business and IT teams can quickly, easily and securely meet consumer, partner or employee demands for digital services without modernizing or replacing core systems, and without special programming skills or invasive changes to existing systems and architectures. OpenLegacy is designed for ongoing management of microservices APIs and is based on open standards, so our software plays nice with your current technology stack and supports agile, DevOps and continuous development. Learn why leading companies choose OpenLegacy at www.openlegacy.com.

OpenLegacy

Sample Customers

Heineken, Tine, Finologee, Axis Bank

Many of openLegacy's global customers are among the Global 100 companies. Review case studies in these industries: Agriculture, Airport Authority, Automotive, Auto, Finance, Insurance, Government, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Retailwww.openlegacy.com/case-studie...

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect vs. OpenLegacy

September 2025

Free Report: IBM API Connect vs. OpenLegacy

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