IBM API Connect vs IBM DataPower Gateway comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Sep 20, 2022

We performed a comparison between IBM API Connect and IBM Datapower Gateway based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of both solutions share mixed reviews on their ease of deployment.
  • Features: Users of both products are happy with their stability and scalability.

    IBM API Connect users like the solution’s intuitive runtime capabilities, simple product creation, excellent hit rate, and easy-to-control monetization. However, they feel that documentation needs to be improved and there needs to be more cloud functionality.

    IBM Datapower Gateway users like the solution’s performance and security features. Reviewers mention that it should be more user friendly and that its traceability needs to be improved.
  • Pricing: Users of both solutions say they are expensive.
  • Service and Support: IBM API Connect users share mixed reviews on technical support. The majority of IBM Datapower Gateway users are satisfied with the support they receive.

Comparison Results: All other things being equal, IBM Datapower Gateway has a slight edge in this comparison because it received higher marks than IBM API Connect in the service and support category.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM API Connect vs. IBM DataPower Gateway Report (Updated: March 2024).
763,955 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 centralized management: this provides a management module that can deploy and apply security policies to all APIs, including all the gateways that are deployed on-premises and on any cloud because the gateway component can run at a VMware or in a Kubernetes cluster.""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.""The solution is very stable.""The capabilities are very good.""The most valuable feature of IBM API Connect is the security of the protocol.""Policy configurations are pretty easy.""API Connect is a good product, and everything works fine. All the analytics are good, and it is easy to follow up. I like it in that sense. I'm more focused on following up on analytics by seeing how many API calls we are getting and where we see a lot of problems. I was working on that API level.""It allows enterprises to expose some of their tech to outside stakeholders."

More IBM API Connect Pros →

"The most valuable feature is the security appliance, it's very secure.""The product's most valuable features are AAA policies and security features.""It is very easy to set up and configure, even for users with no prior experience.""Support for PCA and non-PCA services is valuable.""It is easy to use, easy to install, and it's resilient for high availability.""What I like most is the stability.""It is a scalable solution.""Since it is a gateway, it provides a lot of security features."

More IBM DataPower Gateway Pros →

Cons
"There is room for improvement regarding the connectivity of the DevOps.""We ran it on top of the Kubernetes cluster, so it wasn't a standalone service. In the worst-case scenario, API Connect couldn't stay online if all the containers went down. We had to restart all the services. We shut down all the containers automatically one by one.""It should be cheaper.""It is expensive within this class of products.""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.""The integration of cloud-based services is where we're looking for improvement in this platform.""The automation and the simplicity could be improved.""The integration of an API gateway that implements the sidecar pattern, which can be deployed in cloud applications, and expose the microservices directly in each pod, this can be more decentralized components."

More IBM API Connect Cons →

"The initial setup isn't so easy, you need who has experience working with the solution to help.""IBM DataPower Gateway is quite big for smaller organizations, looking at different types of clients who are virtually assisted in this, I would say it's not really a good product for smaller firms.""The two biggest issues of this solution are the complexity and the maintenance procedures.""For the workloads that are not too high, appliance is a little bit expensive.""The product should be more adapted to the DevOps process.""Scripting needs improvement. It's hard for our customers.""The user interface or the application development perspective and customization of the tool could be a little better.""In the next release, I would like to see the product price reduced. It should be cheaper."

More IBM DataPower Gateway Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "API Connect is quite pricey."
  • "I haven't seen anyone go from on-premise to the cloud. In fact, I am seeing people go from the cloud to on-premise because the costs can quickly grow on the cloud."
  • "It would be a good idea to bring down the pricing by at least 20 to 30 percent."
  • "The pricing is too expensive with IBM. Sometimes, we prefer to go with an open source or something more lightweight."
  • "It is expensive when compared to other products in this class. There were no extra fees for add-ons or technical support."
  • "It's an expensive product."
  • "IBM API Connect could be cheaper."
  • "It is quite an expensive product."
  • More IBM API Connect 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 →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which API Management solutions are best for your needs.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price.
    Top Answer:The administration of the user interface and the technical documentation are areas of concern in the solution where improvements are required. The solution's technical documentation should be a little… more »
    Top Answer:It is very easy to set up and configure, even for users with no prior experience.
    Top Answer:I would say the pricing is normal. It is not the cheapest, but it is not the most expensive either.
    Top Answer:One area that could be improved is the integration with Postgres and SQL databases. Currently, IBM DataPower Gateway only integrates with Oracle databases. So it doesn't integrate with Postgres.
    Ranking
    5th
    out of 64 in API Management
    Views
    12,746
    Comparisons
    9,726
    Reviews
    21
    Average Words per Review
    536
    Rating
    7.9
    8th
    out of 64 in API Management
    Views
    7,473
    Comparisons
    5,439
    Reviews
    12
    Average Words per Review
    354
    Rating
    8.8
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    WebSphere DataPower, IBM DataPower, IBM WebSphere DataPower
    Learn More
    Overview

    IBM API Connect is an enterprise-grade platform that provides a comprehensive solution for creating, securing, managing, sharing, monetizing, and analyzing APIs. Designed for cloud and on-premises deployment, it integrates seamlessly with various systems, ensuring robust security and enabling efficient API lifecycle management. The user feedback underscores its efficiency, user-friendly aspects, and practical customer support, making it a reliable choice for enterprises seeking to optimize their API strategies.

    IBM API Connect provides end-to-end management of APIs, facilitating the creation, security, management, sharing, monetization, and analysis​​. It allows the creation of custom APIs, exposing the full capabilities of applications and ensuring thorough testing before deployment.​ The platform offers robust security features, applying out-of-the-box and custom gateway policies to protect back-end data and services. Users can manage the entire lifecycle of their APIs, including publishing, replacing, migrating, deprecating, and retiring.

    API Connect includes a customizable portal for sharing APIs with developers, complete with built-in communication tools like blogs and forums​​. The solution offers comprehensive analytics for managing service levels, setting quotas, establishing controls, and analyzing trends.

    IBM API Connect stands out as a versatile and robust API management solution. It is well-suited for organizations looking for a comprehensive tool to handle the entire lifecycle of their APIs with a focus on integration, security, and analytics.

    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

    Sample Customers
    Heineken, Tine, Finologee, Axis Bank
    RBL Bank, Availity
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm41%
    Computer Software Company16%
    Retailer9%
    Insurance Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm20%
    Educational Organization17%
    Insurance Company10%
    Computer Software Company10%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm33%
    Computer Software Company20%
    Pharma/Biotech Company7%
    Security Firm7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm29%
    Insurance Company11%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise67%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business13%
    Midsize Enterprise24%
    Large Enterprise63%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise8%
    Large Enterprise56%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business14%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise75%
    Buyer's Guide
    IBM API Connect vs. IBM DataPower Gateway
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about IBM API Connect vs. IBM DataPower Gateway and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    IBM API Connect is ranked 5th in API Management with 22 reviews while IBM DataPower Gateway is ranked 8th in API Management with 12 reviews. IBM API Connect is rated 7.8, while IBM DataPower Gateway is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of IBM API Connect writes "Simple, user-friendly, secure, and easy to integrate with other tools and the administration is excellent and doesn't take much time". On the other hand, the top reviewer of IBM DataPower Gateway writes "An out-of-the-box solution that's feature-rich, fast, and easy to integrate with other products". IBM API Connect is most compared with Apigee, Microsoft Azure API Management, MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager, Amazon API Gateway and Kong Enterprise, whereas IBM DataPower Gateway is most compared with Apigee, Microsoft Azure API Management, Mule ESB, IBM Integration Bus and Amazon API Gateway. See our IBM API Connect vs. IBM DataPower Gateway 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.