Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

IBM B2B Integrator vs webMethods.io comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 27, 2025

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 B2B Integrator
Ranking in Business-to-Business Middleware
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
webMethods.io
Ranking in Business-to-Business Middleware
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
92
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (3rd), Managed File Transfer (MFT) (9th), API Management (9th), Cloud Data Integration (7th), Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Business-to-Business Middleware category, the mindshare of IBM B2B Integrator is 6.8%, up from 6.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of webMethods.io is 10.0%, up from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business-to-Business Middleware
 

Featured Reviews

Nagasaikiran Kesana - PeerSpot reviewer
Fast, easy to use, and useful for integration purposes
In the initial stage, I used only business processes to build code. As I used the product more and more, I learned that we could monitor, perform support activities, and install and upgrade servers. We can learn how to manage the clients to get business. We must get into a call with customers and get their requirements. We must pass all the test cases, both positive and negative. We need to manage our team as well. We use various protocols for data security, like SFTP, FTP, and HTTP. We follow the security levels based on the customer’s requirements. We encrypt the file, and the customers decrypt it using the public and private keys we provide. Customers who need high security opt for HTTP certificates and AS2. I have also worked on AWS and Azure to pass files to the buckets. I also work on single sign-on authentication. External users can access our dashboard with a few details. For example, if our customers need to see whether a file is transferred from our end, they can easily log in to the details and monitor it. They can also perform health checks. I will recommend the tool to others. People who want to use the tool must not do anything blindly. They must analyze, learn the concept, and understand the purpose of the tool. There are other products in the market, like MuleSoft, that have the same functionality. We must understand why we are using IBM B2B Integrator. We must gather some information. I take some introductory classes for the new joiners in my organization. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Michele Illiano - PeerSpot reviewer
Can function as an ESB along with the core product, with decent integration of message protocols
I have noticed that webMethods ActiveTransfer has had problems when handling large files. For example, when we receive (and perform operations on) files that are larger than about 16 MB, the software starts losing performance. This is why, for most customers who have to deal with big files, I suggest that they use a product other than ActiveTransfer. I would like to note that this problem mainly concerns large files that undergo extra operations, such assigning, unassigning, or file translation. When these operations take place on large files, ActiveTransfer will use up a lot of resources. Within the product itself, I also believe that there is room for improvement in terms of optimization when it comes to general performance. I suspect that the issues underlying poor optimization are because it is all developed in Java. That is, all the objects and functions that are used need to be better organized, especially when it comes to big files but also overall. webMethods ActiveTransfer was born as an ESB to handle messages, and these messages were typically very short, i.e. small in size. A message is data that you have to send to an application, where it must be received in real-time and possibly processed or acknowledged elsewhere in the system as well. So, because it was initially designed for small messages, it struggles with performance when presented with very large files. All this to say, I suggest that they have an engineer reevaluate the architecture of the product in order to consider cases where large files are sent, and not only small ones. As for new features, compared to other products in the market, I think Software AG should be more up to date when it comes to extra protocol support, especially those protocols that other solutions have included in their products by default. Whenever we need to add an unsupported protocol, we have to go through the effort of custom development in order to work with it. Also, all the banks are obligated to migrate to the new standards, and big companies are all handling translations and operating their libraries with the new protocol formats. But webMethods ActiveTransfer doesn't seem to be keeping up with this evolution. Thus, they should aim to be more compliant in future, along the lines of their competitors such as IBM and Primeur.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features assist with understanding data formats and transforming data."
"Everything from the order to fulfillment to the payment process, except for physical packing and shipping, is fully automated for some customer orders."
"It uses VMs, allowing us to enable horizontal scaling."
"There are also different tabs where we can check the status of file transfers and business processes, and we can monitor adapters and services in the link."
"It is easy of use and it's easy to maintain. It's also faster to on-board partners."
"Very flexible product; it allows implementing different flows on the same infrastructure."
"The best feature is that many companies use the solution so there is a lot of peer support."
"B2B provides a secure communication channel."
"The solution's ease-of-use is its most valuable feature, in which complex issues may be resolved."
"The stability is good."
"All of the components are very independent but are tied together to give the business value."
"Most of the work in our organization can be more easily done using the tool."
"Best feature is Insight for monitoring, and as a debugging tool. It has saved us a lot of time during crisis situations."
"The main assets are its flow language, debugging, and Broker. Flow language is far better and more flexible for debugging."
"They are the building blocks of EAI in SAG products, and they offer a very good platform."
"The tool is very powerful and user-friendly."
 

Cons

"When working on an elaborate rule, I end up creating it in notepad and then pasting it into the Extended Rule window, which is not convenient."
"The web interface of B2B is quite outdated and not particularly user-friendly."
"The reporting features could be better. right now, they are lacking a bit."
"They do not have a solid partner ecosystem, and they do not have a clear roadmap for down the line; they're missing that clear roadmap."
"Map translator needs more enhancements."
"It supports many of our use cases but falls short in some areas as technology evolves"
"The one thing that is lacking is easy visibility. It's hard to provide business users with a view into the statuses of their transactions."
"The initial setup is complex."
"We need more dashboards and reporting engines that can provide detailed information for management. In short, we need better analytics."
"There should be better logging, or a better dashboard, to allow you to see see the logs of the services."
"As webMethods Integration Server is expensive, that's its area for improvement."
"The price has room for improvement."
"Documentation needs tuning. There is a lot of dependency with SoftwareAG. Even with the documentation at hand, you can struggle to implement scenarios without SAG’s help. By contrast, IBM’s documentation is self-explanatory, in my opinion."
"The Software AG Designer could be more memory-efficient or CPU-efficient so that we can use it with middle-spec hardware."
"The licensing cost is high compared to other options."
"For code version control, you need to use some external software."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is based on how many cores are used and the type of cores."
"The product costs more than 40K."
"The solution is priced at $20,000 to $30,000 per year with no extra costs."
"Licensing depends upon the package you opt for within the solution. The solution is a bit costly compared to the other integration tools in the market."
"We pay an annual fee based on the number of VPUs. It's fairly reasonable. We're in the middle of analyzing other products, and they're all pretty much in the same range."
"The price of IBM B2B Integrator is too high. However, IBM may be willing to give a discount if there are negotiations. If they see that there is a good opportunity for them they can provide a discount."
"It is an expensive tool. I rate the product price a nine out of ten, where ten means it is very expensive."
"webMethods Integration Server is expensive, and there's no fixed price on it because it has a point pricing model. You can negotiate, which makes it interesting."
"I signed a three-year deal with them. It is a yearly locked-in price for the next three years."
"The price is high and I give it a five out of ten."
"Pricing has to be negotiated with the local Software AG representative. SAG can always prepare an appropriate pricing model for every client."
"Most of my clients would like the price of the solution to be reduced."
"With our current licensing, it's very easy for us to scale. With our older licensing model, it was very hard. This is definitely something that I would highlight."
"The pricing and licensing costs for webMethods are very high, which is the only reason that we might switch to another product."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business-to-Business Middleware solutions are best for your needs.
850,900 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Healthcare Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Retailer
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM B2B Integrator?
IBM B2B Integrator is a great tool, robust, reliable, low-maintenance, and ideal solution.
What needs improvement with IBM B2B Integrator?
It supports many of our use cases but falls short in some areas as technology evolves, especially with data transfer between edge locations and the cloud or on-premise systems. The solution doesn’t...
What do you like most about Built.io Flow?
The tool helps us to streamline data integration. Its BPM is very strong and powerful. The solution helps us manage digital transformation.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Built.io Flow?
webMethods.io is expensive. We have multiple components, and you need to pay for each of them.
What needs improvement with Built.io Flow?
webMethods.io needs to incorporate ChatGPT to enhance user experience. It can offer a customized user experience.
 

Also Known As

IBM Sterling B2B Integrator, Sterling Gentran Integration Suite
Built.io Flow, webMethods Integration Server, webMethods Trading Networks, webMethods ActiveTransfer, webMethods.io API
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bonnie Plants, Toshiba Europe, Florida Hospital
Cisco, Agralogics, Dreamforce, Cables & Sensors, Sacramento Kings
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM B2B Integrator vs. webMethods.io and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,900 professionals have used our research since 2012.