IBM DataPower Gateway vs Layer7 API Management comparison

IBM and Broadcom are both solutions in the API Management category. IBM is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.3, while Broadcom is ranked #10 with an average rating of 7.4. IBM holds a 3.7% mindshare in APIM, compared to Broadcom’s 2.6% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

IBM DataPower Gateway

Read 30 IBM DataPower Gateway reviews

5,383 Views
4,037 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Layer7 API Management

Read 112 Layer7 API Management reviews

3,571 Views
3,571 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

IBM DataPower Gateway

Layer7 API Management

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

IBM DataPower Gateway and Layer7 API Management are competitors in the API management space. Layer7 API Management appears to have the upper hand due to its versatile feature set and ease of use.

Features: IBM DataPower Gateway offers extensive encryption and threat protection features, scalability for large IT infrastructures, and seamless integrations. Layer7 API Management provides API customization flexibility, strong analytics tools for better decision-making, and adaptability to enterprise needs.

Room for Improvement: IBM DataPower Gateway could improve in terms of ease of deployment and reducing complexity in integration. Enhanced user interface and simplified configuration options would also be beneficial. Layer7 API Management may benefit from enhanced monitoring capabilities, a more robust management interface, and faster release of new features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM DataPower Gateway's advanced security measures make its deployment more complex, but it offers dedicated customer support. Layer7 API Management allows for quicker setup and integration, offering strong support that caters to agile business operations.

Pricing and ROI: IBM DataPower Gateway has a higher initial setup cost justified by its security and scalability features. Layer7 API Management offers better long-term ROI due to lower initial investment and a comprehensive feature set, providing significant value over time.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Layer7 API Management Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Layer7 API Management

September 2025

Download the complete report

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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:

Categories and Ranking

IBM DataPower Gateway

Ranking in API Management

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) (5th), Application Infrastructure (12th), SOA Application Gateways (1st)

Layer7 API Management

Ranking in API Management

10th

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 October 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of IBM DataPower Gateway is 3.7%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Layer7 API Management is 2.6%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

API Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Layer7 API Management	2.6%
IBM DataPower Gateway	3.7%
Other	93.7%

API Management

Featured Reviews

AkshaySawant

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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NikhilChaudhari

Senior Associate Software at Intelliswift Software

Valued for its drag-and-drop functionalities, the available policy options, and the excellent security features

I work as a PG developer, primarily dealing with Layer7 API Management and MuleSoft API management. My focus is mainly on VM management platforms such as Layer7 and Apigee Layer7 API Management is most valued for its drag-and-drop functionalities, the available policy options, and the excellent…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's most valuable features are AAA policies and security features."

"The most valuable feature is the security appliance, it's very secure."

"I like all of the features in this product and it does what it's supposed to do."

"The solution is very easy to work with."

"You don't have to have a separate DMC proxy because DataPower Gateway is an appliance and will take care of a lot of security features. These include data validations, encryption, as well as XML or any type of scripting or security threats that are present."

"The product is stable...The product is scalable."

"The solution is straightforward and for large organizations, it functions well."

"Its initial setup was straightforward."

More IBM DataPower Gateway pros

"Layer7 API Management is most valued for its drag-and-drop functionalities, the available policy options, and the excellent security features."

"The solution has numerous configuration options to increase security in communication."

"For developers to be able to come, sign up, or find APIs."

"The speed and versatility in the implementation of APIs without writing a line of code in any programming language."

"The administration interface (Policy Manager) is very easy to understand and use."

"The initial setup process is easy and flexible."

"The actual management of APIs is fundamental to us, as we're a heavy API user/provider. So, obviously, a centralised management platform is important."

"Key features include: lightweight mediation, transformation from JSON to XML and XML to JSON, API portal and API key management, the Developer Portal, and Circuit Breaker is a cool feature, too."

More Layer7 API Management pros

Cons

"The two biggest issues of this solution are the complexity and the maintenance procedures."

"I would like the tool to improve its training."

"IBM DataPower Gateway is quite big for smaller organizations, looking at different types of clients who are virtually assisted in this, I would say it's not really a good product for smaller firms."

"In the next release, I would like to see the product price reduced. It should be cheaper."

"The user interface or the application development perspective and customization of the tool could be a little better."

"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."

"Additional documentation needs to be provided for complex automations."

"The initial setup isn't so easy, you need who has experience working with the solution to help."

More IBM DataPower Gateway cons

"One specific feature that we need is the ability to authenticate directly to the server with API data. It's not complex nowadays. This is a feature that we need and CA doesn't have it."

"Provide complete documentation with examples of usage on its build in assertion/function."

"Layer7 API Management’s price could be reduced."

"One of the features that the tool provides is the ability to simply onboard new APIs to an existing security platform. We build all the policies for security upfront, and then we can add those policies pretty simply and straightforwardly to any new API that gets developed in the enterprise."

"The development toolkit used for creating APIs should be more online and user-friendly. Deployment and tracking could also be improved. Tools like Apigee provide a complete online experience along with RESTful APIs, to manage all activities. It is a very nice and user-friendly solution compared to CA."

"The overall cost of Layer7 API Management is high, they can improve it by making it less expensive."

"If they had different levels of support available then it would be easier to justify the costs."

"The implementation of CA API Management was complex. It is a complicated solution. You have to know so much IT knowledge to do the implementation."

More Layer7 API Management cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 tool's initial costing is expensive for small banks and financial institutions."

"The total cost of IBM DataPower Gateway would depend on the configuration, but in my experience, it can amount to 60,000 Euros per box, even for the virtual version. Usually, customers need high availability and a non-production environment, so the total price for IBM DataPower Gateway can be quite a lot. It can be 200,000 Euros or a similar figure."

"It is an expensive solution."

"The solution has a return on investment but is a little expensive."

"The product is 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."

"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."

More IBM DataPower Gateway pricing and cost advice

"The price of Layer7 API Management is too high and should be reduced. However, it is a good solution in the market."

"There are some costs for maintenance that we are charged, but that seems fair because we get the support."

"If you do a TCO of more than five years, then you will see a big jump in costs for some vendors."

"CA has great pricing for gateways, so negotiate with your sales team."

"It depends on your use case of course, how much you want to go with that, because it can get pricey and depends on the size of your company."

"Purchase 4.0 now and wait until they flush out the 4.1 problems."

"Be aware of additional licenses for your warm standby. Ensure you get plenty of non-production licenses."

"Keep in mind the non-product licensing, e.g., if you opt not to use the embedded SQL."

More Layer7 API Management pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

29%

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

19%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	23
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	84

Questions from the Community

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM DataPower Gateway?

I have significant experience with the IBM DataPower Gateway. As a security product, it is very good. However, from the development perspective, it has limitations because it only supports the XSLT...

See all answers

What do you like most about Layer7 API Management?

The solution's technical support is good.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Comparisons

IBM API Connect vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 37% of the time

Apigee vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 10% of the time

Kong Gateway Enterprise vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Azure API Management vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 6% of the time

MuleSoft API Manager vs IBM DataPower Gateway

Compared 2% of the time

More IBM DataPower Gateway Competitors

Apigee vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 27% of the time

MuleSoft API Manager vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 15% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 14% of the time

Kong Gateway Enterprise vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 14% of the time

Tyk vs Layer7 API Management

Compared 2% of the time

More Layer7 API Management Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM DataPower Gateway

September 2025

Download IBM DataPower Gateway product report

Buyer's Guide

Layer7 API Management

September 2025

Download Layer7 API Management product report

Also Known As

WebSphere DataPower, IBM DataPower, IBM WebSphere DataPower

CA API Management, CA Live API Creator, Espresso Logic, CA API Gateway

Overview

IBM DataPower Gateway is a robust, secure next-generation enterprise-grade single multichannel API gateway that supplies dynamic access, integration, control, and outstanding security. The solution is available in a broad range of workload capabilities, including application programming interface (API), service oriented architecture (SOA), B2B, cloud, web, and mobile. These dynamic capabilities ensure users are able to quickly increase the reach of an organization's critical IT resources to new channels, which will provide shareholders, team members, and clients with safe, secure access at all times.

DataPower Gateway is very flexible and is widely available in virtual, cloud, traditional, physical, Docker, and Linux form factors.

IBM DataPower Gateway Features

IBM DataPower Gateway has many value-added features. Some of these features are included below:

Control: The solution provides decision point authorization and authentication for all standards, including Lightweight Direct Access Protocol (LDAP) and Open Authorization (OAuth), which allow for better access control across an organization’s entire network.
DataPower dashboard: The dashboard is specifically designed to enhance performance and determine problematic processes. The solution provides intuitive real-time performance transparency to diagnose operational and performance anomalies and offer repair and restoration recommendations.
Enhanced messaging: Users are able to easily mediate messaging and protocols by incorporating the best of today’s traditional and modern application standards.
Integration: IBM DataPower Gateway offers super fast mainframe connectivity, database connectivity, transport protocol bridging, content-based routing, and any-to-any message transformation, ensuring secure and immediate connect service.

IBM DataPower Gateway Benefits

IBM DataPower Gateway provides many benefits. Some of those benefits include:

Flexibility: The solution is easy to use and configure and provides for a pleasant, intuitive overall user experience. The solution can immediately be used out of the box, which makes overall process management simple.
Protection: The solution provides sturdy continuous service protection and application performance using robust powerful routing and traffic control.
Security: The solution’s enterprise-grade De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) ready gateway enables users to enforce the desired runtime application security across all messaging protocols.
Profitability: The solution’s design ensures significant reduction of development costs in addition to the streamlining of overall operations. Users are able to achieve reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) and experience a near-immediate ROI.

Reviews from Real Users

“My company has a good impression of IBM DataPower Gateway. What I like about it is that because it's an appliance, it's a turnkey solution that's very fast and out of the box. Another valuable feature of IBM DataPower Gateway is that it's easy to integrate with other products.”- Bálint T., Solution Manager at Intalion

“You don't have to have a separate DMC proxy because DataPower Gateway is an appliance and will take care of a lot of security features. These include data validations, encryption, as well as XML or any type of scripting or security threats that are present. From a security point of view, being an appliance in the DMC zone, IBM DataPower Gateway will take care of the entire security angle for the infrastructure.” - Sathyan K., Founder/Director at perfTech Solutions Pvt Ltd

IBM

Layer7 API Management is a comprehensive solution that enables organizations to securely expose, manage, and monetize their APIs.

It provides features such as API gateway, developer portal, analytics, and security to ensure seamless integration and control over API traffic.

With Layer7 API Management, businesses can streamline their API operations and drive innovation.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

RBL Bank, Availity

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Layer7 API Management

September 2025

Free Report: IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Layer7 API Management

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM DataPower Gateway vs. Layer7 API Management and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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