IBM DataPower Gateway vs Kong Gateway Enterprise comparison

IBM and Kong are both solutions in the API Management category. IBM is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.3, while Kong is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.9. IBM holds a 3.7% mindshare in APIM, compared to Kong’s 7.1% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Kong users who would recommend it.

IBM DataPower Gateway

Read 30 IBM DataPower Gateway reviews

5,383 Views
4,037 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Kong Gateway Enterprise

Read 25 Kong Gateway Enterprise reviews

6,455 Views
6,455 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

IBM DataPower Gateway

Kong Gateway Enterprise

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

IBM DataPower Gateway and Kong Gateway Enterprise are competitors in the API management and gateway solution space. DataPower excels in securing enterprise applications, while Kong Gateway Enterprise is favored for its scalable microservices architecture.

Features: IBM DataPower Gateway is known for its robust security, integrated support within IBM's ecosystem, and enterprise security features. Kong Gateway Enterprise stands out with its multi-cloud support, plugin-rich environment, and flexible architecture.

Room for Improvement: IBM DataPower could improve in user interface flexibility, cost-effective scaling options, and advanced cloud features. Kong Gateway Enterprise might benefit from enhanced compliance tools, tighter integration with non-open-source platforms, and more detailed monitoring and logging features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM DataPower employs a traditional deployment model, requiring IBM system knowledge but offering extensive support. Kong Gateway Enterprise provides quick deployment with open-source elements and offers community and premium support options.

Pricing and ROI: IBM DataPower Gateway has higher initial costs due to hardware and integration demands, yielding ROI from security capabilities. Kong Gateway Enterprise offers a cost-friendly entry point, leveraging open-source components with a scalable investment model that benefits evolving businesses.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise

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 DataPower Gateway

Ranking in API Management

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (5th), Application Infrastructure (12th), SOA Application Gateways (1st)

Kong Gateway Enterprise

Ranking in API Management

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of IBM DataPower Gateway is 3.7%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kong Gateway Enterprise is 7.1%, up from 6.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

API Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Kong Gateway Enterprise	7.1%
IBM DataPower Gateway	3.7%
Other	89.2%

API Management

Featured Reviews

AkshaySawant

Manager at CSB Bank Ltd

Security features excel but development limitations emerge

We are using the IBM DataPower Gateway for security purposes. As per the development perspective, there are some limitations with IBM DataPower Gateway because it only supports XML and XSLT language, but it does not support the Java language. This is the only limitation of the IBM DataPower Gateway. For the authentication and authorization purpose, we can use the IBM DataPower Gateway. It's a very good product. We are mostly using the IBM DataPower Gateway for security purposes and load balancing purposes. If we are handling the load for a particular server, then we can use the IBM DataPower Gateway. The IBM DataPower Gateway is mostly used for security purposes. If we have some APIs and we are using some security for those APIs, then we can use it. It can also be used as a load balancer. It's also used for certificate management, user management purposes, authentication, and authorization. For routing, the IBM DataPower Gateway has multiple URL-based routing and content-based routing capabilities. If we have multiple URLs, then we can use an XML script. Using the XSLT language, we can configure multiple URLs and implement URL-based routing. Content-based routing means if we have multiple requests, we can route the request to a particular URL. For this, we need to use the XSLT language only. We can't use XML, Java, or other scripting languages. With IBM DataPower Gateway, we are using all the APIs. All APIs have been configured on the gateway. We have configured the particular TLS profile and some TLS client profiles as well. Using that TLS profile, we have configured the APIs and authentication. We have configured some tokens also, including JWT tokens and different types of auth tokens. There is also a rate limiting feature which we use for handling API loads.

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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.

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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 like all of the features in this product and it does what it's supposed to do."

"The product's most valuable features are AAA policies and security features."

"The solution is straightforward and for large organizations, it functions well."

"My company has a good impression of IBM DataPower Gateway. What I like about it is that because it's an appliance, it's a turnkey solution that's very fast and out of the box. Compared to other gateways, I also like that IBM DataPower Gateway is function-rich. For example, for one of the projects, there was a need for specific transformation and security features available in IBM DataPower Gateway out of the box, so my team just needed to configure the appliance. There was no need for separate development, and I found it quite neat. Another valuable feature of IBM DataPower Gateway is that it's easy to integrate with other products."

"Its initial setup was straightforward."

"I like the API Gateway feature."

"If you have an API application in your organization that you want to make safe and secure, in addition to your existing WAF or load balancer, this product comes with all those capabilities:"

"We are mostly using the IBM DataPower Gateway for security purposes and load balancing purposes."

More IBM DataPower Gateway pros

"We use the solution for load-balancing, caching, and rate-limiting APIs."

"The solution's technical support is good and fast in terms of responsiveness and problem-solving skills."

"It offers a wide range of plugins that we leverage, including OIDC, Rate Limiting, Lambda functions, and more."

"Based on my experience, I would definitely recommend Kong Gateway Enterprise to other people."

"The solution provides good performance."

"I like everything about it. It provides the security we need."

"Kong's most valuable features are its lightweight performance when handling millions of requests and the ability to write custom plugins to enhance security, such as end-to-end encryption, even in the open-source version."

"There are a few features that I like about Kong when it comes to authentication and authorization. Specifically, being able to use Kong for role-based access control (RBAC), and then further being able to integrate the RBAC mechanism with our enterprise directory, was very useful."

More Kong Gateway Enterprise pros

Cons

"The two biggest issues of this solution are the complexity and the maintenance procedures."

"Scripting needs improvement. It's hard for our customers."

"The IBM community does not have much engagement from the IT community in Saudi Arabia and developers for this solution are difficult to find."

"In terms of OEM support, it is poor. If I raise a CBRT one, as per the SLA, they should respond in one hour, however, sometimes it takes four or five hours to respond."

"Making it more user-friendly would be an improvement."

"An area for improvement in IBM DataPower Gateway is its price point because it's a relatively expensive product. Sometimes, when the customer use case is just a very small subset of what's being offered in IBM DataPower Gateway, then the product can be expensive, making my company lose some of the opportunities because of the expensive pricing. A lower price point for IBM DataPower Gateway, even if that results in a less feature-rich version, would be appreciated. In terms of additional features that I'd like to see in the next release of IBM DataPower Gateway, nothing specific comes to mind because IBM constantly improves its standards and provides quarterly updates to the product, so it's quite fine."

"DataPower isn't the most user-friendly tool. It is not an easy tool to use. Some things could use better wizards to guide you through processes."

"The components that they include in the product that are, in fact, a WTX, really need to be removed from the product because they tend to fail."

More IBM DataPower Gateway cons

"The solution should include policy features that are available in other solutions like MuleSoft API manager but missing in Kong Enterprise."

"The developer portal needs to be improved."

"The tool needs improvement in UX."

"Kong Enterprise can improve the customization to be able to do the integration properly."

"The technical support team's response time needs to be improved."

"From an improvement perspective, the product should offer more readily available connectors and also allow for more seamless AI integrations."

"Kong Enterprise fails to provide live tracing of the APIs, which is possible nowadays."

"Kong Enterprise has decided not to support the web portal feature anymore, but I think that feature should stay in the on-premises solution."

More Kong Gateway Enterprise cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive in comparison to other products."

"The solution has a return on investment but is a little expensive."

"The product is expensive."

"The tool's initial costing is expensive for small banks and financial institutions."

"The appliance is a bit on the expensive side for the workloads that are not too high."

"It is an expensive solution."

"The cost is very high and requires all five components in the API management solution."

"The cost of this product varies from customer to customer and the relationship with IBM, including how many offerings from IBM are already being used."

More IBM DataPower Gateway pricing and cost advice

"It's expensive in Thailand (10 million baht, in Thai currency)."

"The licensing fees are paid yearly."

"I don't have any information on licensing costs currently."

"The product is reasonably priced because it goes by the SaaS model."

"The licensing is expensive."

"Kong Enterprise is cheaper than Apigee. I rate its pricing as four out of ten."

"Basically, my company uses the tool's open-source version."

"There is a need to pay towards the licensing charges...In some areas, the functionalities are available free of charge."

More Kong Gateway Enterprise pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

29%

Insurance Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

19%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Large Enterprise	19

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM DataPower Gateway?

The MPGW (Multi-Protocol Gateway) is great because it allows you to easily expose services using various protocols – web services, REST (JSON), and others. This flexibility simplifies things.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM DataPower Gateway?

This product is definitely expensive because if any issue occurs in the live environment or production environment, and our organization faces some issue with the IBM DataPower Gateway, then the IB...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM DataPower Gateway?

I have significant experience with the IBM DataPower Gateway. As a security product, it is very good. However, from the development perspective, it has limitations because it only supports the XSLT...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Kong Enterprise?

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 ...

See all answers

Comparisons

IBM API Connect vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 35% of the time

Apigee vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft Azure API Management vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 6% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 5% of the time

IBM Integration Bus vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM DataPower Gateway Competitors

WSO2 API Manager vs Kong Gateway Enterprise

Compared 12% of the time

Apache APISIX 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

3scale API Management vs Kong Gateway Enterprise

Compared 4% of the time

More Kong Gateway Enterprise Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM DataPower Gateway

October 2025

Download IBM DataPower Gateway product report

Buyer's Guide

Kong Gateway Enterprise

October 2025

Download Kong Gateway Enterprise product report

Also Known As

WebSphere DataPower, IBM DataPower, IBM WebSphere DataPower

No data available

Overview

IBM DataPower Gateway is a robust, secure next-generation enterprise-grade single multichannel API gateway that supplies dynamic access, integration, control, and outstanding security. The solution is available in a broad range of workload capabilities, including application programming interface (API), service oriented architecture (SOA), B2B, cloud, web, and mobile. These dynamic capabilities ensure users are able to quickly increase the reach of an organization's critical IT resources to new channels, which will provide shareholders, team members, and clients with safe, secure access at all times.

DataPower Gateway is very flexible and is widely available in virtual, cloud, traditional, physical, Docker, and Linux form factors.

IBM DataPower Gateway Features

IBM DataPower Gateway has many value-added features. Some of these features are included below:

Control: The solution provides decision point authorization and authentication for all standards, including Lightweight Direct Access Protocol (LDAP) and Open Authorization (OAuth), which allow for better access control across an organization’s entire network.
DataPower dashboard: The dashboard is specifically designed to enhance performance and determine problematic processes. The solution provides intuitive real-time performance transparency to diagnose operational and performance anomalies and offer repair and restoration recommendations.
Enhanced messaging: Users are able to easily mediate messaging and protocols by incorporating the best of today’s traditional and modern application standards.
Integration: IBM DataPower Gateway offers super fast mainframe connectivity, database connectivity, transport protocol bridging, content-based routing, and any-to-any message transformation, ensuring secure and immediate connect service.

IBM DataPower Gateway Benefits

IBM DataPower Gateway provides many benefits. Some of those benefits include:

Flexibility: The solution is easy to use and configure and provides for a pleasant, intuitive overall user experience. The solution can immediately be used out of the box, which makes overall process management simple.
Protection: The solution provides sturdy continuous service protection and application performance using robust powerful routing and traffic control.
Security: The solution’s enterprise-grade De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) ready gateway enables users to enforce the desired runtime application security across all messaging protocols.
Profitability: The solution’s design ensures significant reduction of development costs in addition to the streamlining of overall operations. Users are able to achieve reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) and experience a near-immediate ROI.

Reviews from Real Users

“My company has a good impression of IBM DataPower Gateway. What I like about it is that because it's an appliance, it's a turnkey solution that's very fast and out of the box. Another valuable feature of IBM DataPower Gateway is that it's easy to integrate with other products.”- Bálint T., Solution Manager at Intalion

“You don't have to have a separate DMC proxy because DataPower Gateway is an appliance and will take care of a lot of security features. These include data validations, encryption, as well as XML or any type of scripting or security threats that are present. From a security point of view, being an appliance in the DMC zone, IBM DataPower Gateway will take care of the entire security angle for the infrastructure.” - Sathyan K., Founder/Director at perfTech Solutions Pvt Ltd

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

RBL Bank, Availity

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise

September 2025

Free Report: IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise

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