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Apiary vs Layer7 API Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

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

Apiary
Ranking in API Management
36th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Layer7 API Management
Ranking in API Management
15th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
112
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the API Management category, the mindshare of Apiary is 0.7%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Layer7 API Management is 2.1%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Layer7 API Management2.1%
Apiary0.7%
Other97.2%
API Management
 

Featured Reviews

PW
Enterprise Integration Architect at Capgemini
The ability to configure rules to check for consistency has helped
Apiary provides a free tier of the platform which allows a small group of developers to collaborate easily on the design of open source APIs. In addition to this, it provides mock endpoints allowing people to experiment with the API without depending or having to stand up a real backend. With our clients, using Apiary allows us to very quickly pull together an API definition (particularly when using API Blueprint). The whole API design process for the simpler use cases can be done in a relatively short workshop which makes it a lot easier to agree, publish, version-manage an API definition with suitable documentation. This can then be evolved and enhanced (particularly in the documentation aspects). With the ability to support Swagger (Open API v2 and introducing/ed support for v3) and API Blueprint makes it a very versatile tool.
Integration capabilities excel and support for varied platforms enhances communication across backend systems
We mainly use REST APIs, and the solution's integration capabilities are excellent. It allows communication with a number of back-end providers and data consolidation. The flexibility to develop APIs for various platforms, from front-end applications to ATM machines, is valuable. Code changes and migration are straightforward, and it supports identity and access management integration.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find the generation of mock services very useful, especially when demonstrating for new consumers."
"Quick and easy way to share a new API design with teams."
"Git integration"
"In two years, there was one time the service was down for an hour or so."
"I do like the overall performance of the solution."
"The most valuable feature is that it enables me to present data in the format that the client wants to consume it. That client might be a visualization tool, that client might be a report, that client might be a customer's API requirements."
"This product, at first blush, looks something like it's one of those weekend warrior tools, but it's not. It's an enterprise-class tool with the kind of usability that you wouldn't expect. And with that usability - how do you have your cake and eat it too? Well, it's because of the product's extensibility. It's very well-integrated with your existing Java library of processes and procedures, as well as your ability to write new extensions to it. You get so much of the base functionality but you don't give up the ability customize."
"The most valuable feature of Layer7 API Management is that their policy is really easy to develop and it is flexible."
"Containerization and the monetization module are quite unique for an API tool... In addition, the development time and rollout time are pretty quick."
"The solution helped us to quickly publish and monetize APIs. I have used versioning responses to publish or send APIs to different customers with different versions."
"We are able to go to market very quickly and deploy our functionalities very quickly."
"It's pretty easy to use, and once we have templating set up we can add new APIs, at least through the gateway, and apply the security to them; it takes a minute."
"It has improved API governance and gives analytics to API performance."
 

Cons

"The Oracle release cycle is very bad because the patches only update once a year."
"I would like an integrated option to download a Swagger version of the definition."
"Swagger (OpenAPI Specification) and Blueprint Support"
"They should incorporate deeper monitoring features into the solution to make the offering more complete. Doing so would help to showcase traffic patterns and usage to better engage customers and partners proactively. It would also help with API management and capacity planning."
"It needs better mobile features and HA configuration."
"​There is still room for improvement for the CA API Developer Portal. It is still not on par with what the competencies are."
"If they had different levels of support available then it would be easier to justify the costs."
"The overall cost of Layer7 API Management is high, they can improve it by making it less expensive."
"We have experienced technical difficulties with the product in the past."
"Layer7 API Management could have a live API creator feature, so my team can easily create APIs. Right now, the product doesn't have that feature."
"It would be nice if we could create APIs directly from Swagger files. We're doing that ourselves with a middle layer. But if you could integrate with open API Swagger specs, and then just create a Swagger and upload it to the gateway and it would create all my API template policy, and would apply the OAuth restrictions, the types of security restrictions I have on there, that would be pretty cool."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a free subscription option to start and try the service."
"It is easy to get started with personal (free) accounts, but a subscription is required for additional features."
"Layer7 API Management is cheaper than Apigee."
"Licenses are required to operate the product, but I don't know much about the validity periods attached to it."
"This solution is a bit more expensive than competitors."
"Pricing for Layer7 API Management is excellent, so it's an eight out of ten. The product is less expensive than other solutions. Layer7 API Management charges you based on the number of transactions, so the enterprise-level pricing my company got was excellent."
"There are some costs for maintenance that we are charged, but that seems fair because we get the support."
"The price of Layer7 API Management is too high and should be reduced. However, it is a good solution in the market."
"CA API Management has a licensing path. If you want more features, it requires more licenses and more installation time."
"APIs can be developed to provide security. We can show them in one single pane of glass, such as the CA API Management API Developer Portal. It is there that we can provide the monetization for their APIs and what is happening on third-party applications, like Paytm or BookMyShow."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
15%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise84
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Layer7 API Management?
Pricing is more than average. While I am used to Layer7 API Management ( /products/layer7-api-management-reviews ), seeing other products makes the tool's pricing seem high.
What needs improvement with Layer7 API Management?
Broadcom's push for upgrades from version nine to ten, ten to 10.3, and onwards to twelve needs improvement in migration processes, especially with service dependencies. The migration path sometime...
 

Also Known As

No data available
CA API Management, CA Live API Creator, Espresso Logic, CA API Gateway
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft, salesforce.com, Bloomberg, GoodData, Viacom, Akamai Technologies, DigitalGlobe
1. IBM  2. Microsoft  3. Oracle  4. Salesforce  5. SAP  6. Cisco  7. Dell  8. HP  9. Adobe  10. VMware  11. Accenture  12. Capgemini  13. Deloitte  14. PwC  15. Ernst & Young  16. Infosys  17. TCS (Tata Consultancy Services)  18. Wipro  19. Cognizant  20. HCL Technologies  21. Tech Mahindra  22. Fujitsu  23. Hitachi  24. NEC  25. NTT Data  26. Ericsson  27. Nokia  28. Siemens  29. AT&T  30. Verizon  31. Vodafone  32. Orange
Find out what your peers are saying about Apiary vs. Layer7 API Management and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.