Microsoft Azure API Management vs MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Mar 16, 2022

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Azure API Management and Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Most users of Microsoft Azure API Management say that the initial setup is simple and straightforward, with the exception of a few reviewers who mentioned they experienced some challenges with deployment. Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager users express mixed reviews. Some say that they did not have any issues with deployment, while some others say that it is somewhat complex.
  • Features: Valuable features of Microsoft Azure API Management include ease of use, stability, seamless user management, easy configuration, good integration, simplicity of use, flexibility, a solid developer portal, scalability, API management, compatibility with other Azure products, and high performance. Areas of the product that users feel need improvement include more integration options for third-party solutions, better documentation, an on-premise version rather than just a cloud version, a better user interface, and a more robust API gateway.

    Valuable features of Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager include API development, API management, great policy management, good gateway service, RTF, runtime fabric, clear and well-presented documentation, easy to integrate developer portal, flexibility, and excellent stability. Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager users feel that the analytics are lacking, as well as the scalability (on the enterprise level), and that the product could benefit from having more automations.
  • Pricing: Microsoft Azure API Management users say that the pricing is fair and reasonable in comparison to competitors. In contrast, users of Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager feel that the pricing is expensive and could be improved.
  • Service and Support: Some users of Microsoft Azure API Management feel that the service and support are average, while other users have expressed that they have been satisfied with it. From the reviews of Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager, it is apparent that their service and support are outstanding.
  • ROI: While none of the Microsoft Azure API Management users explicitly mention a direct ROI, users of Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager mention it adds a lot of value to the organization, noting that it has a noticeable impact.

Comparison Results: Based on the parameters we compared, Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager seems to be the more desirable product. With overwhelming responses applauding its stability and reliability, it is evident that users of Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager are happy with the solution. In addition, users had only positive experiences with service and support, and were satisfied with the ROI. Users consider it to be expensive, but worth the expense.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Azure API Management vs. MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The stability and performance are good. It is easy to install, and it scales well too.""Everything is already available and ready to operate without a lot of preparation work.""It's a very robust tool. So you see that there is a developer portal which can be used by developer or the vendors as well. And other external partners to create keys and manage their own APIs. The other thing is that they have a lot of policies there are too many options within API. So I do the difficult to tell one, but probably I would say, like, proxy sorry. The policies is one of the thing wherein you can just configure the policies and modify the behavior of the APIs.""The most valuable features of Microsoft Azure API Management are the easy configuration and deployment with automation.""Ease of integration into the entire Microsoft environment.""I like the API Management functions.""The mediation and translation from SOAP to REST technology makes it possible to open up legacy systems that couldn't be opened before.""This solution is very flexible, and it's very compatible with the other Azure products."

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"The initial setup was straightforward.""Overall, the platform is pretty good, I cannot say which one specific feature is good. The idea of an API manager is really interesting.""This is a good API management product.""The stability overall has been pretty great.""MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager has the most valuable data components and can integrate APIs across multiple microservices.""One of the more valuable features is the stability of the platform.""Anypoint is very capable in terms of scalability.""Offers good integration and flexibility."

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Cons
"The licensing tiers can be misleading.""Price is the first thing that comes to mind. It's quite expensive, which could be a barrier for some users.""They're trying to implement versioning and trying to be able to manage different versions of your API all at the same time, but they're not doing that just quite right yet.""The external policies are impossible to look at and configure.""It could be more user friendly for developers. It would be nice if developers could view things more easily.""There is a limitation of 32 kb of data in the APIs. Having the limitation increase would be a benefit.""API Management's price could be lower.""In the next release, Azure APIM should include deployment in various environments and CI/CD for deployment."

More Microsoft Azure API Management Cons →

"The pricing is quite expensive. It should be adjusted to make it more affordable for users.""Since most components are situated in the cloud, there's one particular hosted in the cloud. This presents a considerable challenge. While all other components are implemented on-premises, this specific one isn't permitted to be hosted in the cloud as per customer requirements. Shifting this component to an on-premises environment requires a significant effort.""In the next release, Mulesoft should make it easier for people who don't have the native connectors to build their own rather than using the APA from the power platform or outlet.""It can offer workflows, orchestration, and webhooks.""One improvement is maybe to add a plugin in the API manager. Let's say an organisation is using SOAP services or legacy APIs. Maybe I don't want to migrate it to rest API, but my plugin should be able to convert Jason to XML. Basically, protocol transformation features in API Manager.""Licensing costs should be reduced, it's quite expensive.""Their analytics needs a lot of improvement. It's really lacking right now.""Monetization and cataloging can be improved."

More MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The developer and standard pricing tiers of Azure API Management are very competitive compared to other products."
  • "It's being paid monthly."
  • "Based on the resources that we are leveraging, the price we are paying to use this solution is slightly higher than other competitors. In a few cases, it has its own advantage in some resources."
  • "Since this is a cloud-based solution you have to abide by those financial limits, this creates some different challenges compared to other solutions."
  • "The licensing fees are expensive."
  • "The price of the solution is reasonable compared to others."
  • "Since everyone is isocentric here, it is reasonable for me."
  • "We pay for a yearly license."
  • More Microsoft Azure API Management 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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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer: Apigee offers both cloud-based and on-prem options while Microsoft Azure API Management currently only offers a cloud-based solution. Both solutions are easy to use. Apigee allows for the ability… more »
    Top Answer:If you use Azure products, API Management is a great solution. It solves many of the problems of externalizing web services. For example, when you need versioning, establish a developer portal and… more »
    Top Answer:It seems quite good so far. It handles our current workload well, and I'm optimistic it can scale effectively as our needs grow.
    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
    1st
    out of 64 in API Management
    Views
    38,702
    Comparisons
    31,743
    Reviews
    37
    Average Words per Review
    446
    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
    Azure API Management, MS Azure API Management
    Anypoint API Manager
    Learn More
    Overview

    Microsoft Azure API Management is a reliable and scalable way to publish, consume, and manage APIs running on an Microsoft Azure platform. Azure API Management provides all essential tools required for end-to-end management of APIs. It ensures optimal performance of the APIs by tracking and enforcing usage and authentication.

    Microsoft Azure API Management is primarily used to provide a central interface to create, provision, and manage APIs for web and cloud applications and services. Today's innovative enterprises are adopting API architectures to accelerate growth. With Microsoft Azure API Management, businesses can streamline their work across hybrid and multi cloud environments with a unified place to manage all their APIs.

    Microsoft Azure API Management Features

    Microsoft Azure API Management has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Manage APIs across clouds and on premises: Optimize API traffic flow by deploying API gateways side by side with the APIs hosted in Azure, other clouds, and on premises. Meet security and compliance requirements with a unified management experience and full visibility across all APIs.
    • Customized usage limits: By applying authentication, authorization, and usage limits, you can protect your resources by controlling how data and services are exposed to employees, partners, and customers.
    • API-first approaches: Accelerate your business by building apps faster and delivering immediate value to customers through API-first approaches. This helps you decouple front- and back-end teams through API mocking, API revisions and versioning, and automated API documentation.
    • Customizable developer portal: Improve API discoverability by creating a customizable developer portal for all your APIs. This enables you to simply manage and share APIs with internal teams, external partners, and customers.
    • Facades for back-end services: Transform your existing services and automatically turn legacy web services into modern REST-based APIs using facades.
    • Security for your API’s: Keep all your APIs behind a single static IP or domain, and help protect them with tokens, keys, and IP filtering.

    Microsoft Azure API Management Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing Microsoft Azure API Management. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Monitor the health of APIs, configure throttling, identify errors, and rate limits.
    • Enforce flexible and fine-grained quotas and rate limits. Modify the shape and behavior of your APIs using policies. Improve latency and scale your APIs with response caching.
    • Connect on-premises APIs to cloud services by creating a façade that lets you safely integrate.
    • Create and manage user roles and define end-to-end API usage policies.
    • Consolidate and manage thousands of APIs across multiple platforms in a central interface.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Microsoft Azure API Management stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Some of these include its DevOps integration, its easy setup, and its dynamic pricing. PeerSpot users take note of the advantages of these features in their reviews:

    Cecil S., a Software Engineer, writes of the solution, “The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure API Management is the developer portal because it's very quick and easy to get something published."

    Dmitri E., an Integration Architect at MiBanco, notes, “In particular, in API Management, used as front-end APIs, it's easy to manage. We use Microsoft due to the stability of the company. It is easy to set up. The solution is scalable. It is stable as a product as well.

    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
    adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH, Opensistemas
    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
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Comms Service Provider6%
    Engineering Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Insurance Company7%
    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 Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise58%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise69%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise63%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise72%
    Buyer's Guide
    Microsoft Azure API Management vs. MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure API Management vs. MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Microsoft Azure API Management is ranked 1st in API Management with 67 reviews while MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager is ranked 4th in API Management with 47 reviews. Microsoft Azure API Management is rated 7.8, while MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Microsoft Azure API Management writes "Efficiently manages and monetizes API ". 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". Microsoft Azure API Management is most compared with Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, Kong Enterprise, IBM API Connect and WSO2 API Manager, whereas MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager is most compared with Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, Kong Enterprise, IBM API Connect and Layer7 API Management. See our Microsoft Azure API Management 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.