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Frends vs Layer7 API Management comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

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

Frends
Ranking in API Management
29th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Layer7 API Management
Ranking in API Management
18th
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 September 2026, in the API Management category, the mindshare of Frends is 0.7%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Layer7 API Management is 1.8%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Layer7 API Management1.8%
Frends0.7%
Other97.5%
API Management
 

Featured Reviews

Lauri Vanhanen - PeerSpot reviewer
Development Manager at ELO
Integration platform has simplified logistics workflows and has streamlined complex order handling
The best aspect is that it is very easy to use. The UI is very intuitive, and you can learn it very quickly because the basic principles are straightforward and easy to search. Frends has a great UI, but the UI is missing role-based permissions. You can filter your integrations by roles and add several users to roles, but in the UI, the functionality for this kind of management feature is not optimal. User management or user role management could be improved.
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

"The user-friendly interface for constructing integration solutions is also a notable benefit."
"The product has valuable features for version control."
"One of the benefits is the speed of creating something new. Second, it's replacing the old integration quite fast. Then it is like the visibility of the integration and the possibility to see what is happening in the integration."
"The best aspect is that it is very easy to use."
"The most valuable features of Layer7 API Management are integration, ease of use, building APIs easily, and portal straightforward."
"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 is able to withstand the number of API calls and handle different API requirements to secure, transform, log, and track API usage patterns."
"The product is feature rich and can solve a myriad of use cases."
"I love the API Gateway, especially the architecture, in terms of the composability of the policies. We approach it from a very software-engineering approach.We build on the policies, like legal blocks, and we deploy them throughout different environments. It's been working out great for us."
"CA API Management has been the driver for our digital transformation."
"In terms of priority: the scalability, uptime and the way that it's versatile, you can load up multiple different kinds of services at the same time and have multiple different services going live on a particular platform concurrently, and CA's API solution also works with multiple solutions which are provided by CA, like LISA tools, making it altogether a very cohesive unit."
"Compared to other vendors, this product is much faster in coming up with new features, which is good."
 

Cons

"Logging should be better."
"One of the primary areas for improvement is a more mobile-friendly interface for the control center."
"Another enhancement includes the monitoring part. It would be nice to have some sort of maybe mobile app on which we can see how integrations are running if there are some problems, and getting those alerts on the mobile would be really nice."
"It is a new application and lacks some essential features compared to competitors."
"I think it was lacking some documentation around performance tuning and getting the product operationalized so that it could maintain itself."
"Increase tools for manipulation of JSON messages."
"The current version of it is not at the level of the functionality of the previous 3.5 version. That's quite a problem for us because we expected some functions in the Portal which are currently not available."
"The Policy Manager UI is very busy."
"The security protocols in CA's product, for financial services, weren't as good as those in API Connect."
"Layer7 API Management’s price could be reduced."
"The support that is available is only for technical issues, they are not able to help you with your use case."
"The UI is very dated."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Recent changes in their pricing have removed this benefit, moving towards process-specific pricing."
"The pricing is quite fair."
"I do not have experience with the pricing or licensing of the product."
"It's my manager who takes care of the pricing. But I keep on hearing that it's a little pricey, it's on the higher side. That is what he says."
"Layer7 API Management is cheaper than Apigee."
"CA has great pricing for gateways, so negotiate with your sales team."
"Pricing is competitive. CA is ready to offer attractive discounts."
"There is an annual license for the use of this solution. I think we are paying for some support maintenance fees, included in that license. I don't know how it works. They should provide more information."
"Do not buy piecemeal."
"If you do a TCO of more than five years, then you will see a big jump in costs for some vendors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
35%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Educational Organization
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
14%
Construction Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Marketing Services Firm
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

What needs improvement with Frends?
Logging should be better. Third-party software logging should be integrated into the monitors of the front-end integrations, but it does not monitor the third-party connectors through that. Those l...
What is your primary use case for Frends?
We had many different applications for Frends. For file transferring of different types, we modified the files and then used it for logistical processes including warehousing, inventory checkups, a...
What advice do you have for others considering Frends?
If you need an integration platform, I would recommend Frends. I give this product a rating of 8 out of 10.
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...
What is your primary use case for Layer7 API Management?
I am not the client. I implement Layer7 API Management ( /products/layer7-api-management-reviews ) for the clients. I have worked on multiple projects as a developer, implementing for Hydro Tasmani...
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
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 Frends vs. Layer7 API Management and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.