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Apigee vs IBM DataPower Gateway comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.8
Apigee improves API management, enhances security, and boosts sales, despite costs, by monetizing digital assets and supporting collaborations.
Sentiment score
5.9
IBM DataPower Gateway consolidates functions, enhancing security and cost-efficiency, with APIs helping generate income despite perceived high costs.
We count the number of hits and can say we earn and actually get the benefit from it.
Deputy director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.3
Apigee's customer support is mixed, valued for responsiveness but criticized for delays and disparities in service attention.
Sentiment score
6.3
IBM DataPower Gateway's support is efficient and knowledgeable, but fees and delays vary; users suggest faster response times.
They are responsive and provide assistance even during production issues.
Integration Solution Architect at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
In the past two years, I have been experiencing less assistance.
consultant at Allstate
The customer service and support are cooperative and effective in providing insights and solutions during challenges.
Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
In terms of OEM support, it is poor.
Middleware Administrator at Pronteff IT Solutions
I would evaluate customer service and technical support as a little bit weak, so I give it a seven out of ten.
Deputy director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Apigee scales efficiently and flexibly, handling high traffic well, though cost challenges may arise with increased use.
Sentiment score
6.6
IBM DataPower Gateway is highly scalable for enterprises but may be costly for smaller firms using on-premises setups.
Adding extra Cassandra databases is complex.
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Once you install the product, we can't scale the resources on the IBM DataPower Gateway.
Manager at CSB Bank Ltd
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Apigee is stable and reliable, with rare downtime and strong performance supported by Google Cloud, ideal for complex enterprise needs.
Sentiment score
8.2
IBM DataPower Gateway is highly stable and reliable, ideal for banks handling heavy transaction volumes in diverse environments.
Apigee is stable, and we have had the system running on Apigee servers for more than four years without any stability issues.
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
IBM DataPower Gateway does not handle all the traffic on a single node.
Manager at CSB Bank Ltd
 

Room For Improvement

Users desire better role-based access, Git integration, automation, pricing, analytics, documentation, and technical support in Apigee.
IBM DataPower Gateway users seek cost reduction, enhanced usability, expanded integration, and improved support and automation features.
Analytics is one of the areas needing enhancement, specifically more visibility and control over traffic to improve capacity management and high availability.
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Apigee only allows validation of transactions up to a four-hour period, which requires manual hovering over the date and time.
Integration Solution Architect at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Apigee should also incorporate these capabilities, especially in the on-premises version.
Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
If we require additional features, we can't configure them on the IBM DataPower Gateway.
Manager at CSB Bank Ltd
Whenever I am writing code, it should give recommendations automatically by incorporating AI so I can write the code in a few minutes or seconds.
Middleware Administrator at Pronteff IT Solutions
My experience with the pricing of this product is that pricing is too high and should be reduced.
Deputy director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Apigee is costly and complex, ideal for medium to large enterprises with comprehensive features justifying its subscription-based pricing.
IBM DataPower Gateway can be costly, with pricing dependent on licensing, features, and specific customer requirements.
Apigee's product cost is quite high compared to other products.
Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Apigee is high-priced, suitable for large enterprises where the benefit aligns with the cost.
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Apigee is perceived as slightly costly compared to other tools in the market.
Integration Solution Architect at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
I think it costs around 5 Crore in Indian Rupees.
Manager at CSB Bank Ltd
 

Valuable Features

Apigee offers robust API management with analytics, security, customization, scalability, and user-friendly features, enhancing enterprise decision-making.
IBM DataPower Gateway provides fast performance, strong security, seamless integration, scalability, and efficient management for comprehensive threat handling.
It provides all the necessary capabilities for current technologies, enabling communication and translation between protocols, along with supporting stringent security features.
Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Apigee's analytics capabilities aid in monitoring and optimizing APIs, which are also beneficial for our operations.
Founder at EAIESB
We rely on Elasticsearch to monitor traffic, which provides high visibility and control and surpasses Apigee in certain features.
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
No other Gateway offers this as part of the integration offering.
Middleware Administrator at Pronteff IT Solutions
As per the development perspective, there are some limitations with IBM DataPower Gateway because it only supports XML and XSLT language, but it does not support the Java language.
Manager at CSB Bank Ltd
IBM DataPower Gateway has positively impacted my organization by allowing me to implement rate limits on the different API usage, which is the benefit.
Deputy director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Apigee
Ranking in API Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
API Testing Tools (9th)
IBM DataPower Gateway
Ranking in API Management
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (5th), Application Infrastructure (7th), SOA Application Gateways (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the API Management category, the mindshare of Apigee is 8.8%, down from 14.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM DataPower Gateway is 3.1%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Apigee8.8%
IBM DataPower Gateway3.1%
Other88.1%
API Management
 

Q&A Highlights

Rav Bangalore - PeerSpot reviewer
GenAI Strategist at Wipro Limited
Sep 24, 2019
 

Featured Reviews

IM
consultant at Allstate
Apigee empowers effective API management while needing improvements in technical support
There is room for improvement with Apigee as OPDK private cloud enhancements have stopped, focusing only on Apigee hybrid and Apigee X, with Google no longer adding new features to OPDK private cloud. I am not currently utilizing AI in the private cloud with Apigee, but I'm unsure about hybrid and Apigee X.
AkshaySawant - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at CSB Bank Ltd
Security features excel but development limitations emerge
We are using the IBM DataPower Gateway for security purposes. As per the development perspective, there are some limitations with IBM DataPower Gateway because it only supports XML and XSLT language, but it does not support the Java language. This is the only limitation of the IBM DataPower Gateway. For the authentication and authorization purpose, we can use the IBM DataPower Gateway. It's a very good product. We are mostly using the IBM DataPower Gateway for security purposes and load balancing purposes. If we are handling the load for a particular server, then we can use the IBM DataPower Gateway. The IBM DataPower Gateway is mostly used for security purposes. If we have some APIs and we are using some security for those APIs, then we can use it. It can also be used as a load balancer. It's also used for certificate management, user management purposes, authentication, and authorization. For routing, the IBM DataPower Gateway has multiple URL-based routing and content-based routing capabilities. If we have multiple URLs, then we can use an XML script. Using the XSLT language, we can configure multiple URLs and implement URL-based routing. Content-based routing means if we have multiple requests, we can route the request to a particular URL. For this, we need to use the XSLT language only. We can't use XML, Java, or other scripting languages. With IBM DataPower Gateway, we are using all the APIs. All APIs have been configured on the gateway. We have configured the particular TLS profile and some TLS client profiles as well. Using that TLS profile, we have configured the APIs and authentication. We have configured some tokens also, including JWT tokens and different types of auth tokens. There is also a rate limiting feature which we use for handling API loads.
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Answers from the Community

Rav Bangalore - PeerSpot reviewer
GenAI Strategist at Wipro Limited
Sep 24, 2019
Sep 24, 2019
First, we should not compare data power and Apigee. Both meant for different purpose. Generally, DataPower used for authentication most of uses cases, where Apigee enable digital technologies. In addition, it is establish the connectivity from both external/internal/Omini connectivity. DataPower support internal connectivity with limited support in terms of Digital enablement. Apigee is lates...
See 2 answers
DM
Project coordinator with 10,001+ employees
Sep 23, 2019
1) Let us start from the base that Google APIGEE is an API Management platform, so it offers more capabilities than a Gateway, therefore we must compare it against IBM API Connect which is the IBM API Management and whose gateways are Datapower machines. 2) An API Management platform consists mainly of three key components: • Portal: where the catalog of available APIs is discovered. • Management: where the life cycle of the APIs is managed. • Gateway: Where the APIs are exposed. At Management level: Google APIGEE and IBM API Connect • Manage the life cycle of the API. • Manage users roles and permissions. • Manage security in APIs. • Manage the consumption of APIs. • Allows traffic policies to be applied. • Allows you to configure, create and attach custom policies. At Portal level: Google APIGEE and IBM API Connect • Display the API documentation • Test the exposed APIs. • Register application developers. • Customize corporate brand. • Manage community. • Self-management. At Gateway level: Google APIGEE and IBM API Connect • API deployment and execution • Execution of security policies • Integration with data sources • Apply traffic policies. • Different types of gateways: • Google APIGEE o Edge Enterprise Gateway. o Microgateway (Limited features)  Does not support all OAuth2.0 flows  No Caching  No threat protecction  Basic monitoring. • IBM API Connect o Microgateway (Discontinued). o Gateways:  Datapower Gateway (Compatible with API Connect version 5)  API Gateway (Focused on the 2018 version of API Connect) At the Deployment level: • Distributed: o Google APIGEE:  Edge Enterprise Gateway: • The complete instance must be taken to each cloud. • The deployment of each instance requires a license.  Microgateway: • They connect to the same instance, however, the limited policies of this component must be kept in mind. • Can only be used by purchasing the full license of the API Management. o IBM API Connect:  Datapower Gateway (7.6 or <): • Compatible with version 5.0.8.x  API Gateway (7.7 or> = 2018.4.x): • Compatible with version 5.0.8.x and 2018 of IBM API Connect.  Both Gateway: • It is only necessary to deploy the Gateway in each cloud, not the full instance of the product. • Manages licenses that charge for API Calls generated in the Gateway and includes the deployment of nodes of its components in any cloud. Both APIGEE and API Connect offer good capabilities to accelerate the deployment of business capabilities such as services or APIs. The decision of which one is better will depend on the conditions of our business and purpose.
SA
Associate Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Sep 24, 2019
First, we should not compare data power and Apigee. Both meant for different purpose. Generally, DataPower used for authentication most of uses cases, where Apigee enable digital technologies. In addition, it is establish the connectivity from both external/internal/Omini connectivity. DataPower support internal connectivity with limited support in terms of Digital enablement. Apigee is latest integration deployment software in the form of integration software, SaaS and Cloud.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
29%
Insurance Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise65
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

How does Apigee differ from Azure API Management?
Apigee offers both cloud-based and on-prem options while Microsoft Azure API Management currently only offers a cloud-based solution. Both solutions are easy to use. Apigee allows for the ability...
Which is better - Apigee or Amazon API Gateway?
Amazon API Gateway is a platform that supports the creation and publication of API for web applications. The platform can support thousands of simultaneous API calls, and it provides monitoring, ma...
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?
This product is definitely expensive because if any issue occurs in the live environment or production environment, and our organization faces some issue with the IBM DataPower Gateway, then the IB...
What needs improvement with IBM DataPower Gateway?
The developer portal should be an integrated part of IBM DataPower Gateway to improve it. I think it is fine as is, and maybe no other additional features should be included in the next release. My...
 

Also Known As

No data available
WebSphere DataPower, IBM DataPower, IBM WebSphere DataPower
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Adobe, advance.net, Amadeus, AT&T, Bechtel, Belly, Burberry, Chegg, Citrix, Dell, eBay, Equifax, GameStop, First Data, Globe, HCSC, Intralinks, Kao, Meredith, Mitchell, Orange, Pearson
RBL Bank, Availity
Find out what your peers are saying about Apigee vs. IBM DataPower Gateway and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.