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Apache Web Server vs IBM DataPower Gateway comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Apache Web Server
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM DataPower Gateway
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (4th), SOA Application Gateways (1st), API Management (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Apache Web Server is 10.5%, up from 10.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM DataPower Gateway is 4.6%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

Saurav Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers security features that are reliable
When it comes to Apache Web Server, I don't have any suggestions for improvement because we use it in the UAT environment. For production, my company mainly uses NGINX. There is no direct package provided by the product if I want to use WAF. In NGINX, NGINX Plus has the signature update capability, but in Apache, the same feature is not available, making it an area where improvements are required. If WAF can be introduced in Apache Web Server, it would be a good improvement so that its users can implement either the WAF module or ModSecurity, as they choose. For NGINX, I think it has NGINX Management Suite, which is GUI-based and allows you to manage your configuration via the user interface, but Apache fails to offer such capabilities to users. Apache Web Server should provide users with the same capabilities offered under NGINX Management Suite with the help of a simple GUI so that our company doesn't have to do anything on the terminal while directly getting to use the user interface, which can help us with the configuration part.
Mehdi El Filahi - PeerSpot reviewer
Security features meets compliance needs and offers MPGW (Multi-Protocol Gateway) that simplifies integration efforts
While I like IBM products, I'm not an evangelist. I work with Java, Microsoft ASP.NET, and various technologies. I'm not tied to any specific vendor. However, I do find IBM to be a bit greedy. It's a large, profit-driven company. The support team is mostly based in India, and they follow a very structured process and protocol. Sometimes, it feels like playing ping pong with them – lots of back and forth before the problem gets escalated. You might even have to get your sales rep involved to push things along. For me, the support it could be better. Indian support teams aren't inherently bad, but with IBM, it feels impersonal. They respond, sure. But if it's a complex technical issue, they might ask you a lot of questions that just seem designed to waste your time. Sometimes it feels like they hope you'll get frustrated and solve the problem yourself.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Apache Web Server can be used as a proxy server"
"Apache has proven to be incredibly reliable, and everything has operated smoothly without encountering any issues."
"The product is very cheap and stable."
"The solution offers good security."
"The most significant advantage is the ability to swiftly enable HTTPS services when my DNS is configured correctly."
"It is scalable."
"The product's initial setup phase is straightforward."
"Its community is its most valuable feature. Solving problems is easier on Apache because so many people know this product."
"The scalability of the solution is good."
"It is easy to use, easy to install, and it's resilient for high availability."
"The solution is very easy to work with."
"It's high-speed and it can be remotely administered via an API."
"It is a scalable solution."
"I like all of the features in this product and it does what it's supposed to do."
"If you have an API application in your organization that you want to make safe and secure, in addition to your existing WAF or load balancer, this product comes with all those capabilities:"
"I like the tool's security. Also, all functionalities are integrated within on platform."
 

Cons

"Adding a reverse proxy to Apache Web Server would be a significant improvement."
"I want the user interface to be more user-friendly."
"The product's initial setup process could be easier for users."
"A monitoring interface would be great for this product. The monitoring dashboards for Apache's models are not included in the basic installation. You can install the basic monitoring model, then connect this model to another monitoring system."
"There isn't a dedicated customer support available"
"It would be great if technical support for Apache were available in Iran. It is a very important need."
"Things change very fast. We're always on the lookout for better approaches and tools. If the solution falls behind, we may have to switch."
"Its stability could be better."
"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."
"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 solution requires a lot of training manuals in order to get to know it better and to be able to use it effectively."
"Scripting needs improvement. It's hard for our customers."
"The DCDR process should be less complex."
"An area for improvement in IBM DataPower Gateway is its price point because it's a relatively expensive product. Sometimes, when the customer use case is just a very small subset of what's being offered in IBM DataPower Gateway, then the product can be expensive, making my company lose some of the opportunities because of the expensive pricing. A lower price point for IBM DataPower Gateway, even if that results in a less feature-rich version, would be appreciated. In terms of additional features that I'd like to see in the next release of IBM DataPower Gateway, nothing specific comes to mind because IBM constantly improves its standards and provides quarterly updates to the product, so it's quite fine."
"They should add features to manage API integrations."
"I would like the tool to improve its training."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an open-source solution."
"The apache software is free, open-source."
"It is a free-of-cost solution."
"There is no licensing cost for the product."
"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."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The licensing cost is very expensive."
"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."
"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 solution has a return on investment but is a little expensive."
"Most customers' use case budgets are not inlined with the price of IBM DataPower Gateway. It is too expensive."
"The tool's initial costing is expensive for small banks and financial institutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
30%
Insurance Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apache Web Server?
The product's initial setup phase is straightforward.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Web Server?
Apache Web Server is a free product, with no associated setup costs or licensing fees.
What needs improvement with Apache Web Server?
There is no need for substantial improvements as we have a dedicated team managing the server, ensuring everything runs smoothly.
What do you like most about IBM DataPower Gateway?
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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM DataPower Gateway?
I would rate the pricing a two out of ten, with one being high price, and ten being low price. It's high-priced for smaller companies. But it is okay for enterprises. So, the price could be more fl...
What needs improvement with IBM DataPower Gateway?
The DCDR process should be less complex. AI should improve developer efficiency and effort. Whenever I am writing code, it should give recommendations automatically by incorporating AI so I can wri...
 

Also Known As

Apache HTTP Server
WebSphere DataPower, IBM DataPower, IBM WebSphere DataPower
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cisco, Intuit, General Electric, Adobe, VMware, PayPal, HP, EMC, eBay, Apple, SAP, Qualcomm, SanDisk, Allstate, FedEx
RBL Bank, Availity
Find out what your peers are saying about Apache Web Server vs. IBM DataPower Gateway and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.