We performed a comparison between IBM API Connect and Layer7 API Management based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two API Management solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
"API Connect is a very good platform for the development of APIs."
"The most valuable feature for me is the ability to distribute work among our API developers, so we don't have to do all the work as IBM API Connect administrators and IBM DataPower administrators."
"The solution is very scalable because it's on the cloud."
"The most valuable features of IBM API Connect are its performance and user-friendliness."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is that it protects our backend system. We are exposing services to external parties and using this solution to protect the backend system, and to have a navigation in between."
"The interface is very nice. It makes the solution easy to use and navigate."
"One of the most valuable features is the easy-to-use web interface."
"This product is well integrated with other products. Its ability to interact with IBM Secure Gateway and other integration products is the core feature. Also, the lead time to put it into production is relatively short ."
"The solution fills our two most important concerns in seeking an API solution by providing a reliable gateway and security options."
"We loved the portal part the most, which had monetization and showed how people were using the stuff. It is a good product as a whole and has a lot of microservices and granular features."
"It impresses me as a product because it never goes down. It always does what it is supposed to do."
"A big win for CA was the expertise of the local country support plus having support staff on site in a matter of hours, if required."
"API Enhanced Portal 4.1 looks very promising. API Gateway policy manager for writing policies is excellent. It is the best in the industry for policy writing."
"The initial setup process is easy and flexible."
"You can create little, custom Java assertions that you can insert to do your business logic, which might not be covered by the commercial product out-of-the-box."
"When I have used technical support they helped me a lot. Sometimes they took a long time to respond because we had very complex issues that we asked them for help with, but I think it is a very good service."
"Extracting the data could be improved."
"I would like to see automation of the installation. If there could be a single-click function where you could automate everything, that would be helpful."
"Improving the documentation would be beneficial as it currently presents navigation challenges. Incorporating a step-by-step guide could facilitate the integration or migration of various systems, including databases. The existing documentation only comprises plain text, hence incorporating more interactive instructions could enhance its usefulness."
"We've had some issues upgrading to the latest version of the solution."
"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."
"Installation is weak."
"Due to bugs in integration, we have to look for workaround on fixing and using DataPower as gateway."
"The solution is overly complex."
"They need a multifactor authentication solution for the API layer and the other layers, as well."
"The Policy Manager tool that is used to manage the solution is very heavy to use because it is based in Java. Sometimes it takes a long time to load. There could be some improvements to it. If they could make Policy Manager on a web page that would be a good alternative."
"The Portal lacks maturity. Since the move from Portal 3.x to 4.x, a lot of features were removed. It is slowly coming back. I can see a lot of changes are done in the "background" to decouple components and make it more flexible. Those changes are just not getting to the UI side quick enough."
"Layer7 API Management could improve by assing more portal-based capabilities."
"CA double up portal is a pain. It is something that we are struggling with right now."
"Layer7 API Management should improve the quota policy for the number of API calls."
"There is room for improvement in terms of innovation and investment, especially when compared to other leading products in the market."
"There is a need for the migration of policies, better reporting, and monitoring integration."
IBM API Connect is ranked 5th in API Management with 73 reviews while Layer7 API Management is ranked 10th in API Management with 109 reviews. IBM API Connect is rated 8.0, while Layer7 API Management is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of IBM API Connect writes "Good speed and performance, but it's based on a bit dated architecture". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Layer7 API Management writes "Has great drag-and-drop features and it requires minimal coding ". IBM API Connect is most compared with Apigee, IBM DataPower Gateway, Microsoft Azure API Management, MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager and IBM Cloud Pak for Integration, whereas Layer7 API Management is most compared with Apigee, Kong Gateway Enterprise, Amazon API Gateway, MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager and IBM DataPower Gateway. See our IBM API Connect vs. Layer7 API Management 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.
