IBM API Connect vs Kong Gateway Enterprise comparison

IBM and Kong are both solutions in the API Management category. IBM is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.1, while Kong is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.9. IBM holds a 4.9% mindshare in APIM, compared to Kong’s 5.8% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Kong users who would recommend it.

IBM API Connect

Read 79 IBM API Connect reviews

6,454 Views
6,067 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Kong Gateway Enterprise

Read 26 Kong Gateway Enterprise reviews

5,991 Views
5,991 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

IBM API Connect

Kong Gateway Enterprise

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

IBM API Connect and Kong Gateway Enterprise are key players in the API management market. While IBM API Connect is notable for its robust security integration and advanced features, Kong Gateway Enterprise is valued for its plugin architecture and excellent performance.

Features: IBM API Connect offers robust security features, integration with IBM DataPower, and advanced analytics capabilities. It provides comprehensive environments for API development and a customizable developer portal. Kong Gateway Enterprise includes a plugin-based architecture, excellent plugin support, and strong integration abilities with various tools. It also features role-based access control and effective rate limiting.

Room for Improvement: IBM API Connect needs better integration with other platforms, improved stability, and enhanced support documentation. Users desire more customization options and streamlined administrative processes. Kong Gateway Enterprise could improve its pricing structure, developer portals, customer support, and scaling processes, alongside enhanced traffic analysis features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM API Connect supports varied deployment options, including on-premises, private and public clouds, and hybrid environments. While it offers comprehensive support, users report occasional delays and document deficiencies. Kong Gateway Enterprise offers flexible deployment across multiple environments, with generally positive support experiences although response times and costs are noted concerns.

Pricing and ROI: IBM API Connect is often viewed as costly, particularly for smaller implementations, yet it offers substantial ROI due to its extensive features. It provides on-premises and cloud-based pricing models, typically on a subscription basis. Kong Gateway Enterprise presents competitive pricing through its open-source version, but the enterprise edition has high costs that may not favor startups, although its functionality justifies its value for larger deployments.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM API Connect vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise

February 2026

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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

5.9

IBM API Connect saves time and costs, enhances integration, and improves ROI, though microservices' profitability is still unclear.

Sentiment score

6.2

Kong Gateway Enterprise scales cost-effectively, enabling quick API delivery and efficient problem detection, with free community accessibility.

Reducing development hours from eighty to four for an API was possible due to reusing existing scripts from DataPower.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

I have seen a return on investment from using IBM API Connect, as we created multiple plans based on customer usage.

Sairathish Murugesan

Works at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.2

IBM API Connect's support is responsive and knowledgeable but can be slow, lacking documentation with varied customer service experiences.

Sentiment score

6.9

Kong Gateway Enterprise's support is responsive and capable, with some feedback on response times and communication improvements needed.

Support is excellent when it comes to APIC.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

Support is extremely good, especially with Sev 1 issues.

KANCHANCHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

The technical support from Kong Gateway Enterprise would be rated about eight, as we missed local technical support.

Evgeny Shkard

Enterprise Architect at El Al

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.3

IBM API Connect offers scalable API management, supporting large transactions and customizable deployments, making it ideal for enterprises.

Sentiment score

6.9

Kong Gateway Enterprise offers scalable integration for diverse environments, excelling in deployments but facing some geographical licensing limitations.

It is distributed among IBM MQ, IBM Ace, IBM DataPower, and IBM API Connect.

KANCHANCHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

With container versions, scaling up or down the gateways deployed into pods is a two to three-minute task for the operations team.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

IBM API Connect's scalability is good, as you can handle it easily similar to how you manage cloud providers.

Sairathish Murugesan

Works at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

The scalability of this solution would be rated about eight or nine.

Evgeny Shkard

Enterprise Architect at El Al

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.3

IBM API Connect is highly stable and reliable, with minimal issues, especially improved in recent versions, despite initial concerns.

Sentiment score

7.9

Kong Gateway Enterprise is rated highly for stability, with users praising its reliable performance and improved documentation.

If it is functioning well, you won't have a bad experience and your application becomes more reliable.

Sairathish Murugesan

Works at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

The runtime engine for the APIC Gateway is still a DataPower component, which has been stable in the industry for about fifteen years.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Room For Improvement

IBM API Connect requires improvements in integration, usability, scalability, support, monetization, documentation, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness across environments.

Kong Gateway Enterprise needs improvements in pricing, connectivity, usability, documentation, API features, integration, and intuitive scaling options.

Following this approach, you should be able to optimize costs and satisfy customer experience.

Sairathish Murugesan

Works at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Connectivity to MQ is not available in IBM API Connect.

KANCHANCHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Examples include the lack of connectivity to MQ.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

Security is a major concern, especially with new security architecture coming into place.

KuntalSaha

Business Consultant at Ernst & Young

Evgeny Shkard

Enterprise Architect at El Al

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Setup Cost

IBM API Connect is pricey, favoring larger enterprises, but negotiating with IBM can reduce costs for smaller businesses.

Kong Gateway Enterprise pricing is competitive, with varying costs, and a cost-benefit analysis is recommended for specific needs.

Pricing depends on how many instances run across environments.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Valuable Features

IBM API Connect provides secure, efficient API management with advanced analytics, multi-cloud support, and intuitive functionality for enterprises.

Kong Gateway Enterprise offers scalability, security, seamless Kubernetes integration, and customization, enhancing API management with a user-friendly dashboard.

It offers significant development efficiency, reducing man-hours from eighty to four when creating APIs.

KANCHAN CHALASANI

Software Engineer IV at Royal Cyber Inc.

It simplifies processes by using AI to help automate tasks and work.

reviewer2784489

operations Manager at a university with 10,001+ employees

We can add some policies to provide extra security, protect your backend, validate the consumers, and analyze based on the traffic limit to throw things out.

Sairathish Murugesan

Works at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM API Connect report

The most valuable features of Kong Gateway Enterprise are its seamless integration with Kubernetes and cloud, many plugins that can be incorporated in a solution, and its incorporation with low-code function systems.

Evgeny Shkard

Enterprise Architect at El Al

Price is not a concern for us, but based on our experience working with financial institutions, maintainability and security are the primary concerns and areas they focus on.

KuntalSaha

Business Consultant at Ernst & Young

For more quotes and insights, download the Kong Gateway Enterprise report

Categories and Ranking

IBM API Connect

Ranking in API Management

8th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) (14th)

Kong Gateway Enterprise

Ranking in API Management

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the API Management category, the mindshare of IBM API Connect is 4.9%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kong Gateway Enterprise is 5.8%, down from 6.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

API Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Kong Gateway Enterprise	5.8%
IBM API Connect	4.9%
Other	89.3%

API Management

Featured Reviews

Sairathish Murugesan

Works at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Have addressed performance challenges while benefiting from flexible subscription models and reliable user access

To improve IBM API Connect, based on customer experience, you could work on latency. You can increase scalability and availability. If you're connecting with any other cloud, it connects to the infrastructure which needs to be managed with the customers and cloud providers, so if you have a setup, we can handle it easily. I have faced latency issues on the server, related to our management. If you need to stabilize your server based on peak traffic, you need to configure the scalability model. You need to know when traffic peaks, so use auto-scaling when traffic comes. If the application is not in use, the value should be zero, and it starts from zero. Based on customer experience, the value will increase, and when there is no customer servicing, the peak would be reduced, making the value remain zero. Following this approach, you should be able to optimize costs and satisfy customer experience.

Read full review

Evgeny Shkard

Enterprise Architect at El Al

Seamless integration and efficient security boost API management capabilities

More plugins for additional integrations would be helpful and openness for traditional development languages, such as .NET, because many enterprises are looking for .NET solutions or incorporating with .NET solutions. I mostly missed local resellers or partners that we could use within our enterprise, because it was difficult for some tech personnel to work with remote tech support.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Insurance Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	61

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Large Enterprise	20

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM API Connect?

Publishers can easily identify, create, and publish APIs on the developer portal, defining plans, packages, and potentially billing rules.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM API Connect?

I do not handle the pricing, setup cost, and licensing details.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM API Connect?

We are relatively new to IBM API Connect, so I do not have significant improvements to suggest at this time.

See all answers

How does Kong Enterprise compare with Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager?

The Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager was designed with its users in mind. Though it is a reasonably complex piece of software, it is easy to install and upgrade. While there are different things that ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Kong Enterprise?

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...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Kong Enterprise?

See all answers

Comparisons

IBM DataPower Gateway vs IBM API Connect

Compared 32% of the time

Apigee vs IBM API Connect

Compared 16% of the time

Microsoft Azure API Management vs IBM API Connect

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs IBM API Connect

Compared 5% of the time

webMethods.io vs IBM API Connect

Compared 4% of the time

More IBM API Connect Competitors

Apache APISIX vs Kong Gateway Enterprise

Compared 14% of the time

WSO2 API Manager vs Kong Gateway Enterprise

Compared 13% of the time

Apigee vs Kong Gateway Enterprise

Compared 10% of the time

Kong Konnect vs Kong Gateway Enterprise

Compared 8% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs Kong Gateway Enterprise

Compared 4% of the time

More Kong Gateway Enterprise Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect

January 2026

Download IBM API Connect product report

Buyer's Guide

Kong Gateway Enterprise

January 2026

Download Kong Gateway Enterprise product report

Overview

IBM API Connect is an API management tool providing robust security, seamless REST and SOAP conversion, and flexible deployment options for diverse cloud environments. It aids organizations in securing and monetizing their APIs while streamlining the development process.

IBM API Connect offers features like a security gateway, API lifecycle management, and integration with DataPower. Its intuitive interface enhances ease of use, supporting extensive analytics and traffic management. However, there are areas for improvement in automation, system integration, and user configuration. Organizations can deploy API Connect on-premises or in the cloud, delivering secure access control and analytics for banking, financial services, and government sectors. Compliance with standards like PSD2 ensures secure external API exposure and integration with multiple systems.

What are the most important features of IBM API Connect?

Security Gateway: Provides robust protection and data security for APIs.
Seamless Conversion: Facilitates easy conversion between REST and SOAP protocols.
API Management: Supports full API lifecycle management for efficient development.
DataPower Integration: Integrates seamlessly with DataPower for enhanced functionality.
Developer Portal: Offers a user-friendly interface for managing APIs and developers.
Analytics: Delivers powerful insights through comprehensive API analytics.
Flexible Deployment: Supports deployment on different cloud platforms for versatility.

What benefits and ROI can users expect from IBM API Connect?

Traffic Management: Efficiently manages high volumes of API traffic without compromising performance.
Data Protection: Ensures data is protected during API communication.
API Monetization: Facilitates API monetization strategies to drive revenue.
Scalability: Provides scalable solutions to handle growing demands seamlessly.

In specific industries like banking, financial services, and government sectors, IBM API Connect plays a crucial role in API management, orchestration, and regulation tasks. It provides secure access, control, and compliance with industry standards, serving as an essential gateway for data exchange and integration across multiple systems.

IBM

Kong delivers a next generation API platform built for modern architectures. With a lightnight-fast, lightweight, and flexible core, Kong delivers sub-millisecond latency across all your services. Kong's is deployment-, vendor-, and pattern-agnostic, allowing you to run your services how you want, where you want, and with who you want - from baremetal to cloud, monolith to microservices, service mesh, and beyond.

Kong

Sample Customers

Heineken, Tine, Finologee, Axis Bank

Cargill, Zillow, Ferrari, WeWork, Healthcare.gov, Yahoo! Japan, Giphy, SkyScanner

Buyer's Guide

IBM API Connect vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise

February 2026

Free Report: IBM API Connect vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise

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