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

IBM API Connect pros and cons

Vendor: IBM

3.9 out of 5

77 reviews
90% willing to recommend

Pros & Cons summary

IBM API Connect offers a comprehensive environment for API setup and management, valued for stability and security features. Integration with Datapower boosts security, while seamless cloud and on-premises hosting supports scalability. Though praised for technical support, challenges include complex installation, lacking microservices, limited language support, and documentation gaps. Despite a high pricing model, it effectively distributes developer workloads, integrating agile CICD. Limitations exist in scalability and stability compared to open-source alternatives.

Buyer's Guide

Get pricing advice, tips, use cases and valuable features from real users of this product.

Prominent pros & cons

PROS

IBM API Connect provides a comprehensive environment for developing and managing APIs, enabling seamless sharing internally and externally.

The platform excels in security features, offering enhanced protection, access control, and data security, suitable for industries like banking and retail.

API Connect is recognized for its stability and scalability, integrating efficiently with other systems and adapting easily to increased demands.

It offers strong administrative capabilities, including central management for deploying security policies and handling compliance checks across various environments.

The technical support for IBM API Connect is highly rated, with effective solutions and a robust framework to support API life cycle management.

CONS

IBM API Connect faces challenges with its scalability and stability, including the cloud version being buggy and difficult upgrades.

Documentation needs improvement, especially for CLI and integration instructions, which could benefit from interactive guidance.

API Connect's pricing is high compared to other open-source options, requiring heavy hardware support.

Installation and setup processes are complex and may require specialized knowledge and significant resources.

Security and performance enhancements are needed, with emphasis on improving integration capabilities and reducing latency issues.

IBM API Connect Pros review quotes

MM

Group CEO at Mmusi Group

Mar 4, 2022

Scalable and stable API platform for creating and managing APIs.

Read full review

KA

Sales Director at Jordan Business Systems

Sep 29, 2022

What's best about IBM API Connect is the excellent administration. The development tool that builds the API is also very simple, and user-friendly, and it doesn't consume too much time. Another valuable feature in IBM API Connect is its good reporting feature, particularly for operations, but the most valuable feature of the solution for the customer is security. IBM API Connect provides a DMZ and a security gateway between the external and internal environment, so you can publish your API safely. IBM API Connect can also integrate with any tool or middleware that works on open standards without the need for development or coding, so integration with the solution is easier.

Read full review

KT

AIT Solution Manager at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

Jul 16, 2019

The most valuable feature is the security we get from this solution. I know of a bank that uses it to ensure that everything is secure. The second feature I like is the retail environment, where we actually want to be able to provide as many suppliers and consumers with APIs as possible. If you are well-trained in the writing of RESTful API's, you can actually publish an API in a matter of minutes, test it, and publish it.

Read full review

IBM API Connect

Free Report: IBM API Connect Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about IBM API Connect. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2025.

873,003 professionals have used our research since 2012.

reviewer1680618

Consulting architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

Sep 30, 2021

API Connect's most valuable feature is its ability to act as a gateway. It's very easy to configure security and everything else in it. You don't have to kill yourself implementing custom configurations.

Read full review

reviewer1534368

Manager Integration Platform Engineering at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees

Mar 25, 2021

The solution offers a pretty good SLA.

Read full review

AO

AdemolaOsindero

CEO at Lopworks Limited

Apr 1, 2020

Our version supports containerized integration. I can write APIs, which can be moved into a testing environment without needing a forklift. It can check if APIs are compliant before moving them into production.

Read full review

Shanmugasundaram Shanmuganathan

Solutions Architect at Synechron

Jan 15, 2024

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.

Read full review

reviewer1709634

Integration Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

Nov 11, 2021

One of the most valuable features is that we can seamlessly and harmoniously expose our capabilities, from a security point of view.

Read full review

reviewer1411329

Lead Architect at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees

Oct 11, 2020

Security is well organized and managed within the solution.

Read full review

SM

Sairathish Murugesan

Works at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Oct 13, 2025

The best features IBM API Connect offers in my experience are the middleware capabilities, as it can connect the front end, and you can be more secure using JWT tokens with IBM API Connect.

Read full review

Show 10 more reviews (out of 65)

IBM API Connect Cons review quotes

MM

Group CEO at Mmusi Group

Mar 4, 2022

Support for this platform could still be improved. It also needs to have more levels of versatility. Its compatibility and integration with different platforms also need improvement.

Read full review

KA

Sales Director at Jordan Business Systems

Sep 29, 2022

The implementation of IBM API Connect is complex, as it's an enterprise solution with many components that require more than one person. It's not a single product that you work on, and this is an area for improvement, but normally, it's good. Having a more structured model for IBM API Connect support is also room for improvement that would help customers better.

Read full review

KT

AIT Solution Manager at a retailer with 10,001+ employees

Jul 16, 2019

The new version is very unstable.

Read full review

IBM API Connect

Free Report: IBM API Connect Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about IBM API Connect. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2025.

873,003 professionals have used our research since 2012.

reviewer1680618

Consulting architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

Sep 30, 2021

One thing about API Connect that could be improved is the security schemes. There are so many security schemes, and from a product perspective, IBM could improve the user experience of the configuration security scheme.

Read full review

reviewer1534368

Manager Integration Platform Engineering at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees

Mar 25, 2021

We've had some issues upgrading to the latest version of the solution.

Read full review

AO

AdemolaOsindero

CEO at Lopworks Limited

Apr 1, 2020

There are issues with upgrading in the cloud version. The cloud version is extremely buggy. We prefer to use the on-premise version.

Read full review

Shanmugasundaram Shanmuganathan

Solutions Architect at Synechron

Jan 15, 2024

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.

Read full review

reviewer1709634

Integration Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

Nov 11, 2021

Our main pain points are in these two areas: creating a better developer portal and improving stability in terms of synchronization and monetization.

Read full review

reviewer1411329

Lead Architect at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees

Oct 11, 2020

Different versions of the same thing can mean unnecessary duplication.

Read full review

SM

Sairathish Murugesan

Works at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Oct 13, 2025

I have faced latency issues on the server, related to our management.

Read full review

Show 10 more reviews (out of 64)

Product Categories

Product Categories

Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS)

Popular Comparisons

Popular Comparisons

Microsoft Azure API Management vs IBM API Connect

Apigee vs IBM API Connect

Amazon API Gateway vs IBM API Connect

MuleSoft Anypoint Platform vs IBM API Connect

webMethods.io vs IBM API Connect

Kong Gateway Enterprise vs IBM API Connect

SAP Cloud Platform vs IBM API Connect

IBM DataPower Gateway vs IBM API Connect

MuleSoft API Manager vs IBM API Connect

WSO2 API Manager vs IBM API Connect

Oracle Integration Cloud Service vs IBM API Connect

SnapLogic vs IBM API Connect

Layer7 API Management vs IBM API Connect

SEEBURGER Business Integration Suite vs IBM API Connect

3scale API Management vs IBM API Connect

See all alternatives

Product Categories

Product Categories

Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS)

Popular Comparisons

Popular Comparisons

Microsoft Azure API Management vs IBM API Connect

Apigee vs IBM API Connect

Amazon API Gateway vs IBM API Connect

MuleSoft Anypoint Platform vs IBM API Connect

webMethods.io vs IBM API Connect

Kong Gateway Enterprise vs IBM API Connect

SAP Cloud Platform vs IBM API Connect

IBM DataPower Gateway vs IBM API Connect

MuleSoft API Manager vs IBM API Connect

WSO2 API Manager vs IBM API Connect

Oracle Integration Cloud Service vs IBM API Connect

SnapLogic vs IBM API Connect

Layer7 API Management vs IBM API Connect

SEEBURGER Business Integration Suite vs IBM API Connect

3scale API Management vs IBM API Connect

See all alternatives

Related questions

24

Which would you choose for a microgateway: IBM API Connect or Apigee?

43

Which solution do you prefer: Apigee or API Connect?

58

Which product do you prefer: Apigee, MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager or IBM API Connect?

52

When evaluating API Management, what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?

258

What is the difference between an API Gateway and ESB?

181

In a Digital Banking Environment how do we see the role of ESB/ API Managers?

52

What is an API Gateway?

51

How do you protect your API from security threats?

37

What should one take into consideration when choosing an API management solution to manage Microservices?

31

Which API Management tools have the best developer portal?