We performed a comparison between IBM API Connect and Kong Gateway Enterprise 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."It's quite flexible and easy to deploy, especially for beginners. It has almost all the features that an API gateway should have."
"The most valuable feature is the security we get from this solution. I know of a bank that uses it to ensure that everything is secure. The second feature I like is the retail environment, where we actually want to be able to provide as many suppliers and consumers with APIs as possible. If you are well-trained in the writing of RESTful API's, you can actually publish an API in a matter of minutes, test it, and publish it."
"Its speed and performance are valuable."
"The interface is very nice. It makes the solution easy to use and navigate."
"It offers enhanced security features to protect APIs, enforce access control, and secure sensitive data."
"DataPower Gateway holds significant value for us as it serves as the cornerstone of our enterprise security controls."
"The solution is very scalable because it's on the cloud."
"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."
"It boasts remarkable speed and stability, and these qualities, particularly the gateway's resilience, are standout features for me."
"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it seamlessly supports a vast number of tools."
"We use the solution for load-balancing, caching, and rate-limiting APIs."
"The most valuable feature of Kong Enterprise is its capability to integrate with various security tools."
"The route limiting feature is very valuable."
"This is a solid intrusion prevention system that combines a firewall and antivirus in a single solution."
"Kong Enterprise comes with some ready plug-ins, which is very good for the customers."
"The tool's feature that I find most beneficial is rate limiting. In our usage, especially in the financial sector, we prioritize limiting API usage. This is crucial because we provide APIs to other companies and must ensure they adhere to their allocated usage limits. Without rate limiting, there's a risk of excessive usage, which could result in significant costs."
"Automation for our Domino applications could be improved."
"Support for this platform could still be improved. It also needs to have more levels of versatility. Its compatibility and integration with different platforms also need improvement."
"The developer portal could be easier to customize."
"The solution is overly complex."
"They seem to have left out a feature for microservices and also a certification module for OIDC."
"We've had some issues upgrading to the latest version of the solution."
"It is expensive within this class of products."
"In terms of what needs improvement, some of the product documentation could be better."
"The developer portal needs to be improved."
"Kong Enterprise needs to improve its pricing, which starts at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Pricing should be based on API usage rather than monthly. It should improve its documentation as well."
"We would like to see an automatic data API when we have a table in the database."
"The ease of billing is lost when Kong is not available directly on the Azure marketplace. This is one area where they can improve."
"There should be an easier way to integrate with other solutions, even though it's the same API solution layer. Comparability will be a good improvement."
"The OS upgrades are not as frequent as they should be and they are bulky."
"The tool needs improvement in UX."
"They could focus more on pricing."
IBM API Connect is ranked 5th in API Management with 73 reviews while Kong Gateway Enterprise is ranked 6th in API Management with 20 reviews. IBM API Connect is rated 8.0, while Kong Gateway Enterprise is rated 7.8. 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 Kong Gateway Enterprise writes "Provides role-based access control and can be easily customized with Lua script". IBM API Connect is most compared with IBM DataPower Gateway, Apigee, Microsoft Azure API Management, MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager and 3scale API Management, whereas Kong Gateway Enterprise is most compared with Microsoft Azure API Management, WSO2 API Manager, Apigee, Apache APISIX and IBM DataPower Gateway. See our IBM API Connect vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise report.
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