Our clients are using the solution for app-to-app integrations and B2B integrations.
Principal Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The connectors help to connect with a variety of applications, but pricing and support must be improved
Pros and Cons
- "The connectors help to connect with a variety of applications."
- "The initial setup is not easy."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The connectors help to connect with a variety of applications. We have used connectors for Salesforce and Dynamics CRM. The file processing features are useful.
What needs improvement?
The initial setup is not easy.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for ten years.
Buyer's Guide
Mule ESB
August 2025

Learn what your peers think about Mule ESB. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
866,755 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The tool is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The tool is scalable if we use the CloudHub and RTF components. Otherwise, ESB isn't scalable. I work with small, medium, and large businesses.
How are customer service and support?
The support is not great. We've had certain issues in the past. We did not get good support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Negative
How was the initial setup?
I rate the ease of setup a four to five out of ten. We have to do it properly, especially with the hybrid integration.
What was our ROI?
The product produces a return on investment. Our build effort has reduced a lot.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing must be improved. We are not able to use a lot of the features because of the price. The customers are moving to other cloud solutions.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have used TIBCO.
What other advice do I have?
We are integrators. We have very minimal implementations of Mule. The product has good functionalities and capabilities. We recommend the product to our customers. However, we are very careful about our recommendations because of the pricing. Overall, I rate the tool a seven to eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator

Technology Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
It has a user-friendly design with everything all in one place
Pros and Cons
- "Mule ESB has a user-friendly design, and everything is in one place. The API and architecture are popular right now. Also, MuleSoft has a large and supportive online community."
- "MuleSoft isn't as mature as some other integration technologies out there like IBM WebSphere. There's room for growth, and MuleSoft is working toward that."
What is our primary use case?
My current client is using Oracle Fusion Middleware as their integration platform, and they want us to build a new platform enabling the same functionality using MuleSoft.
What is most valuable?
Mule ESB has a user-friendly design, and everything is in one place. The API and architecture are popular right now. Also, MuleSoft has a large and supportive online community.
What needs improvement?
MuleSoft isn't as mature as some other integration technologies out there like IBM WebSphere. There's room for growth, and MuleSoft is working toward that. They're already implementing a graph system, which should help organize the APIs in a branched way. It looks more like a relational database now. They're also working on MuleSoft Composer. These are the features that they're working on.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've used Mule ESB for four years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Mule ESB is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Mule ESB is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
I haven't personally contacted MuleSoft support. Our team has contacted them during some test scenarios, and they were responsive. I would rate MuleSoft support a solid nine out of 10 based on my limited experience with them.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have little experience with Oracle Fusion. It's quite good, but the interface is pretty old-fashioned. I worked with IBM WebSphere as well. That was a big part of another project I worked on, but these are the two technologies I've used.
Currently, I'm working with Oracle Fusion. These solutions require elaborate coding, so you need to be extremely experienced in programming, with the ability to write tons of complex code. It's good to have a solid background in coding, but you shouldn't need to be an expert to work.
How was the initial setup?
Mule ESB isn't difficult to set up, but there are specific procedures you need to follow. Prerequisites need to be in place to set up the whole environment. It's straightforward once you set up the platform.
After deployment, it doesn't require much maintenance. Most things can be automated, so you don't need someone to always monitor the solution. Ultimately, it depends on your use case.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Mule ESB nine out of 10. It works well for me. If you're using Mule ESB for the first time, I recommend taking advantage of the free training. If you go through that training, you'll have a basic understanding of the technology. That's a good starting point.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
Buyer's Guide
Mule ESB
August 2025

Learn what your peers think about Mule ESB. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
866,755 professionals have used our research since 2012.
CTO and Head of Strategy, Technology & Innovation at Cashapona
We utilize data transformation capabilities extensively
Pros and Cons
- "For complex cases, we employ the SSLi engine, whereas for simpler ones like healthcare or response data, such as EDI 270 or 271. We prefer to use an external XRT engine instead of handling it within the ESB for ease of management."
- "It would be beneficial if users could navigate the UI easily without extensive training or learning curves."
What is our primary use case?
Mule ESB excels in orchestrating workflows and seamlessly integrating with business implementations while keeping technical details hidden. It also offers protocol transformation, converting between different protocols, and supports service exposure to customers while maintaining technical invisibility.
What is most valuable?
We utilize data transformation capabilities extensively. For complex cases, we employ the SSLi engine, whereas for simpler ones like healthcare or response data, such as EDI 270 or 271. We prefer to use an external XRT engine instead of handling it within the ESB for ease of management. For smaller data transformations, we rely on DSPS.
What needs improvement?
One notable drawback is the user experience aspect, particularly in terms of self-service functionality within Mule ESB. It would be beneficial if users could navigate the UI easily without extensive training or learning curves.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Mule ESB for the last five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is generally stable. We ensure proper sizing and memory management, which helps avoid glitches and slowdowns.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Mule ESB is scalable because it can be easily scaled in a cloud deployment and is containerized, making scaling up or down straightforward. This shouldn't be a major concern nowadays.
How are customer service and support?
MuleSoft's customer support is excellent.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
Setting up Mule ESB is relatively easy, although it depends on factors like account categorization and whether you're using Docker or Kubernetes.
What about the implementation team?
Typically, installation and configuration take around three to four days initially, but subsequent deployments or updates are quicker. One engineer or developer is usually sufficient for deployment, but implementation complexity may vary based on the use case.
What was our ROI?
The ROI of Mule ESB is greatly influenced by the design and governance of the solution, particularly focusing on reusability and adherence to microservices architecture. Properly designing and implementing these aspects can significantly enhance ROI.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Regarding licensing and pricing, I find it somewhat flexible. They are more flexible with larger customers compared to small and medium ones, as their licensing model depends on ports and other factors. Large customers benefit from more flexibility in implementation and renewal compared to smaller ones.
What other advice do I have?
Working with Mule ESB has taught us the value of experience with different ESBs, making it easier to adapt to new solutions.
Overall, I would rate the solution a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
Technology Advisory, Integration Practice Leader at Slalom Consulting
A great solution to get data with a straightforward setup and good scalability
Pros and Cons
- "The setup is straightforward."
- "The stability could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution to get data.
What needs improvement?
The stability could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for about two years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is good, and I rate it a nine out of ten. We have about 20 users using this solution. We do not have plans to increase the number of users, as it depends on the number of use cases we deploy. We have developers, managers and business users using this solution.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support comes with the subscription plan.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used Oracle ten years ago.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is straightforward. It was a fast deployment and took one week.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The subscription is annual.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Manager at Deloitte
Plenty of documentation, flexible, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Mule ESB are its ease of use, documentation, ease to adapt to newer security and vulnerabilities, and a lot of help available. Additionally, there is a lot of flexibility, many patches available, and they provide APIs. They are a market standard."
- "The price of Mule ESB could improve."
What is our primary use case?
We use Mule ESB for integrating with third-party vendors. Mule ESB bridge between internal systems and third-party systems. Additionally, we use it for enterprise, web, and APIs services.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Mule ESB are its ease of use, documentation, ease to adapt to newer security and vulnerabilities, and a lot of help available. Additionally, there is a lot of flexibility, many patches available, and they provide APIs. They are a market standard.
What needs improvement?
The price of Mule ESB could improve.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Mule ESB for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Mule ESB is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Mule ESB is very good.
Mule ESB has been in use since 2008. It has been a long-running tool and application and has supported multiple phases.
How was the initial setup?
Mule ESB is easy to set up, configure, and change the configuration. It only takes a couple of days to make any changes the client asks for. The longest project we had using Mule ESB was one week.
What about the implementation team?
We do the implementation and support of Mule ESB. The solution is easily maintained and manageable.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Mule ESB is a costly solution. We pay approximately $80,000 annually for the system. The cost of the number of instances, annual subscription, and cloud hosting services are expensive.
What other advice do I have?
We are thinking about moving away from Mule ESB and using Red Hat because of the high costs of Mule ESB. However, Mule ESB is a good solution.
We propose Mule ESB in terms of solutions for any kind of enterprise service bus application.
I rate Mule ESB a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Solutions Architect at Persistence System
Easy and intuitive tool for developers but should have more customization capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "This tool has exceptional API management and integration connectors in addition to multiple out of the box connectors."
- "We would like the ability to use our own code. This would allow us to develop customizations with ease. Additionally, it would be nice to have more analytics or insights on the exchanged information between databases."
What is our primary use case?
I am a solution architect where I design solutions by leveraging integration tools, low-code platforms, and BPM platforms. We are using Mule EBS for transformation purposes.
How has it helped my organization?
Mule allows us to transform our data into our desired outcome and then translate it. This allows it to be moved forward for further processing.
What is most valuable?
This tool has exceptional API management and integration connectors in addition to multiple out of the box connectors.
The UI is good. From a development perspective, it's pretty easy and pretty intuitive for the developers to work with. We have fresh graduates who have started picking up MuleSoft. Its user interface is pretty intuitive.
What needs improvement?
We would like the ability to use our own code. This would allow us to develop customizations with ease. Additionally, it would be nice to have more analytics or insights on the exchanged information between databases.
For how long have I used the solution?
I am working on my third project that utilizes Mule.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is quite stable. We have not experienced any stability related issues as of now.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have not had any issues regarding up-scaling and other things. We are in the process of increasing the usage of Mule so that it can take up to two thousand requests per unit minute.
How are customer service and support?
The last time I raised a ticket with them where we needed additional guidance, they were pretty good and responsive. On one of my previous projects that I worked with where we needed some information or we needed some additional guidance from them, we were able to collaborate with them and solve the issue pretty quickly.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward as we chose to go with the Mule cloud where the infrastructure was taken care of by them. We only needed to ensure connectivity between on-premise databases/systems and Mule cloud.
Because it's their cloud, the setup is much easier. It would be interesting to see what the setup is like for an on-premise or hybrid environment. It might be a completely different setup. It would probably be more complex because you have to go through certain process to ensure the compliance and the security standards of the organization are met, and that the connectivity is established.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We looked in to using Apache Camel and TIBCO.
What other advice do I have?
It’s a pretty good tool to have it when you try to go with a microservices type of an architecture where you want to decouple your systems and where you want all the systems to talk to each other, share that knowledge, and create those experiences that you want as part of your digital transformation journey. This tool perfectly fits that. It's a good tool to have as part of your digital transformation journey.
I would rate it a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Software Engineer at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Best for microservices-based architecture and easy to deploy and manage
Pros and Cons
- "It is easily deployable and manageable. It has microservices-based architecture, which means that you can deploy the solution based on your needs, and you can manage the solution very easily."
- "It should have some amount of logging."
What is our primary use case?
This is an enterprise service bus, and it is mainly used for transferring data. For example, it is used when System A has the data that needs to be sent to System B.
Our use case is transferring the enterprise data from one enterprise to a different enterprise. We use different types of connectors or connections to get the data, transform the data, and send it to a system. Almost all the integrations work in the same manner.
It can be deployed on-premise, but nowadays, most of us prefer cloud-based solutions.
What is most valuable?
It is easy to use and easy to understand.
It is easily deployable and manageable. It has microservices-based architecture, which means that you can deploy the solution based on your needs, and you can manage the solution very easily.
What needs improvement?
It should have some amount of logging.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for almost two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It can scale based on your needs. It is scalable vertically and horizontally.
We have used it in many projects. Its usage might increase. It depends on the high-level management. If new products are coming, they're going to use it for sure.
How are customer service and support?
Their response is based on the subscription. If you are experiencing any production-related issues, they're immediately available.
There are various levels of tech support, and the service depends upon the level of support to which you have subscribed. Titanium support is at the highest level.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have used webMethods, which is an on-prem solution.
How was the initial setup?
For a cloud-based deployment, there is no need for us to manage anything. It is directly deployable. We build and deploy it. That's all.
For an on-prem deployment, a lot more installation is required, but it is a very easy process.
What about the implementation team?
We can do an on-prem deployment ourselves. Developers mainly focus on the development aspect of the solutions, and admins manage all deployments.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We didn't evaluate other options.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others. It is the best integration platform for those who are looking to implement or are going for API-based architecture and microservices-based architecture.
I would rate it a nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
System Analyst / Senior Software Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Provides good features like drag-and-drop interface and data viewer, but it should include business process management
Pros and Cons
- "The solution's drag-and-drop interface and data viewer helped us quite a lot."
- "It would be much more beneficial if the solution included AI and business process management."
What is our primary use case?
We used Mule ESB for the integration between two or three organizations.
What is most valuable?
The solution's drag-and-drop interface and data viewer helped us quite a lot.
What needs improvement?
It would be much more beneficial if the solution included AI and business process management.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been implementing the solution for three years now in our company.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sometimes, we had to restart the servers from time to time because of some environmental issues.
I rate the solution a six out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Mule ESB is a scalable solution. Our clients for Mule ESB are small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup is easy.
On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup an eight out of ten.
What about the implementation team?
The solution can be deployed in a few minutes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Mule ESB is an expensive solution.
On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
We were using the solution for the transformation of requests. So, it was good for us to exchange data and establish communication between different legacy and modern systems.
Mainly, we were using the transformers. Other than that, the process flows were very helpful for us to implement them. Earlier, the integration was done into the development and through the languages itself, like custom implementation. With Mule ESB, we could do many transformations and implement the process flows within the services itself.
We were having the same service which we had to distribute among the different clients. The proxy and role assignment was done through Mule ESB. This helped us with the distribution of services among different vendors and then validating them based on their roles.
Although we faced some challenges initially, we got the expertise by learning from Mule ESB itself. Eventually, everything got smooth, and we never had any issues with the deployment. Depending on the requirements and the size of the projects, I would recommend Mule ESB to other users.
Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Implementer

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Updated: August 2025
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