IBM DataPower Gateway vs MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager comparison

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7,205 views|5,258 comparisons
96% willing to recommend
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16,151 views|12,848 comparisons
96% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM DataPower Gateway and MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager 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.
To learn more, read our detailed IBM DataPower Gateway vs. MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager Report (Updated: March 2024).
772,679 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
"I like the tool's security. Also, all functionalities are integrated within on platform.""The product's most valuable features are AAA policies and security features.""The most valuable features for our business include the ability to monitor and log data transactions and handle multiple request at an enterprise level.""Its initial setup was straightforward.""The solution is scalable, our customers are mostly South African banks and they handle mostly transactions with this solution.""I like that it is very stable, and we never experience any downtime.""It is very easy to set up and configure, even for users with no prior experience.""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."

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"MuleSoft has given the API solution a 3-tiered architecture. This means that there are multiple channels available in one application. The usability is very high.""The most valuable feature of Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager is the gateway that is provided.""We use it heavily because Azure offers better pricing than its competitors.""The most valuable features of Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager are the API gateway, rate limiting, and orchestration.""Overall, the platform is pretty good, I cannot say which one specific feature is good. The idea of an API manager is really interesting.""Its best feature is that its plugins are somewhat unique in the market. We have budgets, Prime membership, and pre-plugins available in the marketplace that we can use immediately.""The most valuable feature is the ability to investigate APIs.""The security features are good. It's easy to configure the end-to-end integration with existing applications."

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Cons
"For the workloads that are not too high, appliance is a little bit expensive.""We are always looking for more features wherein it could be easily integrated with cloud applications. We are looking for either a cloud solution or a cloud integration option.""The product's cost for data appliances or hardware is quite high. It needs improvement.""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.""Additional documentation needs to be provided for complex automations.""Some pre-packaged connectors for integration with various applications, such as SaaS offerings, would be a useful addition.""Traceability could be improved, especially for business operations. The traceability of the transactions could be an improvement point for DataPower to work on. It would be better if they provided JSON support. JSON protocol data has changed format. It started performing internal transformation to JSONx. This might be an additional complexity.""The user interface or the application development perspective and customization of the tool could be a little better."

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"The API gateway and API runtime are too heavy, which means that it is not suitable for microservices.""When discussing potential enhancements overall, it primarily involves making it more user-friendly and lowering the pricing. There are several aspects that could benefit from improvement, or perhaps a few other areas to consider.""Migrating any existing middleware platform to Mulesoft is difficult because of the transformation, conversion and integration involved. Better tools are needed to achieve quicker time to market.""The initial setup is very complex.""The cost model could be improved.""The setup process could be simpler.""They should provide training and development programs to enable the skills and capabilities of users.""Their analytics needs a lot of improvement. It's really lacking right now."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "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."
  • "It's expensive when you compare it with others."
  • "The licensing cost is very expensive."
  • "As far as I know, they have a perpetual license for this product. They are paying perpetual fees rather than an annual subscription or annual pricing."
  • "IBM DataPower Gateway is quite expensive to get resources to work on this product. If the price could be cheaper, I think that will make it a little bit better and easily accessible to smaller clients. Then it could compete with other solutions that are available in the market. There's a whole lot of other solutions available that work well and are cheaper than IBM's products."
  • "The appliance is a bit on the expensive side for the workloads that are not too high."
  • "Most customers' use case budgets are not inlined with the price of IBM DataPower Gateway. It is too expensive."
  • "This product is a bit expensive as IBM products are costly assets. However, for enterprise customers it is a worthwhile investment."
  • More IBM DataPower Gateway 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: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.
    Top Answer:The pricing was not cheap, it was quite expensive. However, the pricing landscape might be different now. The market is more competitive, with players like F5, Cisco, and Siemens entering the space… more »
    Top Answer: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. Also, the SSL key management is a bit convoluted… more »
    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
    7th
    out of 67 in API Management
    Views
    7,205
    Comparisons
    5,258
    Reviews
    12
    Average Words per Review
    395
    Rating
    8.6
    4th
    out of 67 in API Management
    Views
    16,151
    Comparisons
    12,848
    Reviews
    27
    Average Words per Review
    450
    Rating
    8.3
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    WebSphere DataPower, IBM DataPower, IBM WebSphere DataPower
    Anypoint API Manager
    Learn More
    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

    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
    RBL Bank, Availity
    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
    Financial Services Firm38%
    Computer Software Company19%
    Pharma/Biotech Company6%
    Security Firm6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm30%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Insurance Company10%
    Government7%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company34%
    Financial Services Firm20%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Computer Retailer9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Computer Software Company15%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Insurance Company7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business35%
    Midsize Enterprise8%
    Large Enterprise58%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business14%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise75%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise7%
    Large Enterprise67%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business16%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise72%
    Buyer's Guide
    IBM DataPower Gateway vs. MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about IBM DataPower Gateway vs. MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    IBM DataPower Gateway is ranked 7th in API Management with 27 reviews while MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager is ranked 4th in API Management with 49 reviews. IBM DataPower Gateway is rated 8.4, while MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of IBM DataPower Gateway writes "Security features meets compliance needs and offers MPGW (Multi-Protocol Gateway) that simplifies integration efforts ". 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". IBM DataPower Gateway is most compared with IBM API Connect, Apigee, Microsoft Azure API Management, Mule ESB and IBM Integration Bus, whereas MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager is most compared with Microsoft Azure API Management, Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, IBM API Connect and Kong Gateway Enterprise. See our IBM DataPower Gateway 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.