Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Azure API Management VS IBM API Connect

Compare Azure API Management VS IBM API Connect and see what are their differences

Azure API Management logo Azure API Management

Microsoft Azure API Management enables user to create consistent and modern API gateways for existing back-end services hosted anywhere, secure and protect them from abuse and overuse, and get insights into usage and health.

IBM API Connect logo IBM API Connect

Secure and manage your API ecosystem across multiple clouds with industry-leading IBM API Connect
  • Azure API Management Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-19
  • IBM API Connect Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-24

Azure API Management features and specs

  • Comprehensive API Gateway
    Azure API Management offers a robust API gateway that helps in managing, securing, and analyzing APIs effectively. It supports complex policies, rate limiting, IP restrictions, and transformation of requests and responses.
  • Seamless Integration
    It seamlessly integrates with other Azure services like Azure Functions, App Services, and Logic Apps, streamlining workflows and enhancing functionality.
  • Developer Portal
    Comes with a customizable developer portal that enables easy onboarding and interactive documentation, improving developer experience and speeding up API adoption.
  • Multi-Region Deployment
    Supports multi-region deployments, ensuring high availability and low latency by replicating APIs across different geographic regions.
  • Scalability
    Azure API Management scales easily to meet the demand, allowing businesses to start small and grow with their customer base without worrying about infrastructure management.
  • Security Features
    Offers advanced security features such as OAuth2, OpenID Connect, and JWT token validation to ensure secure API access.
  • Analytics and Monitoring
    Provides comprehensive analytics and monitoring capabilities that help in tracking performance, usage patterns, and diagnosing issues quickly.

Possible disadvantages of Azure API Management

  • Cost
    Azure API Management can be expensive, especially for small businesses or startups. The cost can quickly ramp up with increased usage and advanced features.
  • Complexity
    The service can be complex to configure and manage, particularly for users who are not familiar with Azure services or API management concepts.
  • Learning Curve
    There is a steep learning curve associated with Azure API Management. It requires significant time and effort to become proficient in using and optimizing its features.
  • Dependency on Azure
    Heavily depends on the Azure ecosystem, which can be a limitation for organizations using a multi-cloud strategy or preferring other cloud providers.
  • Performance Overhead
    Introducing an API gateway can add some performance overhead, potentially affecting latency and response times if not properly optimized.
  • Limited Customization
    While it offers a range of features, some businesses may find the customization options limited compared to building an in-house solution tailored to specific requirements.

IBM API Connect features and specs

  • Comprehensive API Lifecycle Management
    IBM API Connect provides tools for every stage of the API lifecycle, from creation and testing to deployment and monitoring. This all-in-one solution simplifies managing APIs and streamlines workflows.
  • Robust Security Features
    The platform includes advanced security features such as OAuth, LDAP integration, and API rate limiting to ensure APIs are protected against common vulnerabilities and unauthorized access.
  • Scalability
    IBM API Connect is designed to handle large-scale API deployments, making it suitable for enterprises with high demands for performance and reliability. It can seamlessly scale to accommodate growing API usage.
  • Developer Portal
    A built-in developer portal comes with the product, which helps in engaging with external developers, providing comprehensive documentation, and enabling easy onboarding.
  • Analytics and Monitoring
    The platform offers extensive analytics and monitoring tools to track API usage, performance, and error rates. This helps organizations make data-driven decisions and optimize their API strategies.

Possible disadvantages of IBM API Connect

  • Complexity
    Due to its comprehensive feature set, IBM API Connect can be complex to set up and configure, requiring significant expertise in API management.
  • Cost
    Being an enterprise-grade solution, IBM API Connect can be relatively expensive, which might not be suitable for small businesses or startups with limited budgets.
  • Learning Curve
    New users might find the platform challenging to learn due to its extensive capabilities and advanced configuration options. Adequate training and documentation are required to utilize it effectively.
  • Integration Challenges
    Integrating IBM API Connect with other systems and tools can sometimes be challenging and might require additional effort and customization.
  • Performance Overhead
    The extensive features and enterprise-level functionalities might introduce some performance overhead, which could affect API response times under certain conditions.

Azure API Management videos

Getting Started with Microsoft Azure API Management REST API

More videos:

  • Review - Using Products in Microsoft Azure API Management

IBM API Connect videos

Using the Swagger REST APIs for IBM API Management Developer Portal (Part 1 of 3)

More videos:

  • Review - User defined policies in IBM API Management V4 0 2 part 1 of 9

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Azure API Management and IBM API Connect)
API Tools
43 43%
57% 57
APIs
57 57%
43% 43
Web Service Automation
48 48%
52% 52
Data Integration
48 48%
52% 52

User comments

Share your experience with using Azure API Management and IBM API Connect. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Azure API Management and IBM API Connect

Azure API Management Reviews

Top 10 Best API Management Tools with Feature Comparison
Using Microsoft Azure API management platform, you will be able to manage all your APIs at one place. It will provide you a token, key, and IP filtering functionalities to secure your APIs. You will get insights through API analytics.

IBM API Connect Reviews

Postman Alternatives for API Testing and Monitoring
IBM API Connect enables companies to create, secure, and manage APIs. Users can test both REST and SOAP APIs, by simulating API behavior in various scenarios, ensuring that they function correctly under different conditions. For monitoring, IBM API Connect provides real-time analytics and operational monitoring tools, extending to security capabilities as well.
Top 15 MuleSoft Competitors and Alternatives
IBM API Connect uses an intuitive experience to help enterprises create, manage, secure, and monetize APIs. It offers infrastructure, tools, and facilities to power digital transformation on premises and across clouds.
15 Best Postman Alternatives for Automated API Testing [2022 Updated]
IBM API is a handy API tool for creating, managing and publishing APIs across cloud environments. Using IBM API Connect via APIs, you may securely expose record systems, services, and databases. This API platform simplifies corporate operations by providing simple functionality for powering digital apps.
Source: testsigma.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Azure API Management seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 8 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Azure API Management mentions (8)

  • 10 Lightweight API Gateways for Your Next Project
    Azure API Management is Microsoft's managed API gateway, offering request routing, policy enforcement, and telemetry collection. It supports both fully managed and self-hosted gateway deployments for hybrid or on-prem environments. - Source: dev.to / 9 days ago
  • Serverless Security Best Practices
    Moreover, integrating rate limiting can thwart DDoS attacks, and schema validation can prevent malformed requests, ensuring only legitimate and well-formed traffic reaches your serverless functions. Tools like Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, and Google Cloud Endpoints offer these capabilities, allowing you to set up custom authorization workflows and request validation rules that align with your security... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • No Token in the Browser Pattern using Azure API Management
    This pattern uses Azure API Management in a Backend for Frontend pattern where it handles the OAuth2 access token acquisition from Azure Active Directory; AES encryption and decryption of the access token into an HttpOnly cookie; and to proxy all API calls requiring authorization. This is performed by the use of Azure API Management Policies. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • How to choose the right API Gateway
    Because the configuration is a highly critical feature, we need to authenticate via an API key or by means of other auth methods. For example, most API Gateway providers such as Apache APISIX enabled token-based access to Admin API and they highly advise generating your own token and regularly changing it. Or Azure API Management relies on Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), which includes optional features such as... - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Is auth WAY too hard in .NET?
    Check out https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/api-management/. Source: almost 3 years ago
View more

IBM API Connect mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of IBM API Connect yet. Tracking of IBM API Connect recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Azure API Management and IBM API Connect, you can also consider the following products

MuleSoft Anypoint Platform - Anypoint Platform is a unified, highly productive, hybrid integration platform that creates an application network of apps, data and devices with API-led connectivity.

Postman - The Collaboration Platform for API Development

Apigee - Intelligent and complete API platform

tray.io - Enterprise-scale integration platform

Integrator.io iPaaS by Celigo - Next-Generation iPaaS integration platform

Amazon API Gateway - Create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale