I am an end user of Microsoft Azure API Management. We integrate Azure API Management in our IT infrastructure as we already have an Azure cloud. API is already readily integratable in Azure because Azure is a cloud platform, and API Management comes with it. Our applications are in Azure cloud.
Dev lead at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Has seamless integration with cloud boosts API management but regional expansion is costly
Pros and Cons
- "The simplicity to learn and apply using API Management is valuable."
- "Expansion to global regions is a point for improvement, as licensing is costly."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Azure API Management's service monitoring is not as good as an independent product used for service monitoring. There are dedicated products for service monitoring, so we prefer those dedicated products because the inbuilt capabilities are not exhaustive or comprehensive.
What is most valuable?
The simplicity to learn and apply using API Management is valuable. Another advantage is the ease of integration with Azure.
What needs improvement?
Expansion to global regions is a point for improvement, as licensing is costly. A new installation in a different region requests a new subscription. For test management, preproduction management, and production, all require separate subscriptions, resulting in higher costs.
Additionally, only the premium subscription allows for private IPs. Even for lower environments like test environments, a premium subscription is required, which is limiting.
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June 2026
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For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for close to two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the stability eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate scalability seven out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
I rate their technical support eight out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used Kong. Our organization chose Azure as the cloud platform for its applications, preferring products that come from Microsoft and are already available on Azure, so we switched to Microsoft Azure API Management.
How was the initial setup?
Initial installation would take only a few hours. Setting up the entire environment took about two to three working days.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Initially, it appeared to be a low-cost solution, but the need for separate subscriptions for every environment and sometimes a high-end subscription for lower environments has increased the cost significantly. The solution seemed cheap initially. However, it ended up being more expensive than expected.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend Microsoft Azure API Management to others. It's cost-effective for medium to small-scale organizations that do not need a global presence. However, larger global organizations might find better alternatives.
I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Pre-Sales at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Secures AI projects and robust with API management capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is its role as a linchpin in AI Hub architecture, enhancing data handling."
- "The pricing model needs improvement, as some enterprise features are expensive."
What is our primary use case?
I have been using Microsoft Azure API Management as a consultant, primarily recommending it for enterprises.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution helps in securing AI projects by providing governance and control through API management.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is its role as a linchpin in AI Hub architecture, enhancing data handling.
What needs improvement?
The pricing model needs improvement, as some enterprise features are expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been dealing with Microsoft Azure API Management for a few years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Generally, I am satisfied with the performance, scalability, and technical support.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The performance and scalability of the solution are good.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support quality could be better, although the issue is not significant.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I did not work with anything similar before Microsoft API Management.
How was the initial setup?
I did not face any issues during the initial setup.
What about the implementation team?
I did not face any challenges with the implementation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Some of the enterprise features are quite expensive. A better pricing model is needed.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I recommend considering Kong if Microsoft API Management does not fit the budget.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend Microsoft Azure API Management to those on the Microsoft platform. If not on Azure, consider looking into Kong.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure API Management
June 2026
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure API Management. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2026.
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Azure Technical Architect Consultant at Tata Consultancy
Scales well, easy configuration, and quality support
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Microsoft Azure API Management are the easy configuration and deployment with automation."
- "There is a limitation of 32 kb of data in the APIs. Having the limitation increase would be a benefit."
What is our primary use case?
We are using Microsoft Azure API Management to host APIs.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Microsoft Azure API Management are the easy configuration and deployment with automation.
What needs improvement?
There is a limitation of 32 kb of data in the APIs. Having the limitation increase would be a benefit.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Azure API Management for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is the best service we have used within Azure and it has high availability.
I rate the stability of Microsoft Azure API Management a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Microsoft Azure API Management is great. We only have some issues with the high costs.
We have approximately 100 people using the solution.
I rate the scalability of Microsoft Azure API Management a ten out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
We have a dedicated team that supports us from Microsoft. It is excellent.
I rate the support from Microsoft Azure API Management a ten out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have not used other similar solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Microsoft Azure API Management is straightforward. However, we had an issue with the DSTV upgrade. It has its own logic of what to decide.
The full implementation process of the solution takes time, approximately six hours.
To deploy Microsoft Azure API Management, we utilize TerraForm to incorporate modules that cover all departments. These modules have already been created, so we simply provide the necessary parameters and execute the pipeline. Consequently, we do not rely on the Azure portal for this process and instead rely solely on Azure automation.
I rate the initial setup of Microsoft Azure API Management a nine out of ten.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is highly expensive. Our customers worry about the costs. The price should be a lot less.
We are using the premium license.
I rate the price of Microsoft Azure API Management a seven out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
The solution has provided us with a great overall solution in many areas, such as security, deployment, and integrations.
I rate Microsoft Azure API Management a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Technical Manager at Amadeus
Stable solution with good scalability
Pros and Cons
- "The product gives API gateway-related features, like throttling, which are easy to use and low-code/no-code."
- "There is room for improvement in the user interface and workflow for hosting APIs, especially third-party APIs."
What is our primary use case?
Since we built our product around APM, our clients use it directly. They find APM to be a simple and straightforward solution that fulfills all their API management needs.
Our clients use APM because it's a SaaS-based solution that comes with Azure Stack-managed services, making it easy for us to use and fulfill all their use cases.
How has it helped my organization?
We are actually partners. We built our product on top of APM and provide it to our customers.
What is most valuable?
API gateway-related features were fulfilled by APIM. So those features, we are completely leveraging for our solution, like throttling. It is fair and easy. It's a low-code, no-code model of API hosting.
What needs improvement?
There is room for improvement in the user interface and workflow for hosting APIs, especially third-party APIs.
Another area of improvement is the pricing model. The solution has an add-on cost, and if we want to leverage some of the features, we are forced to buy it. So, cost-wise, it's not ideal.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with this solution for one and a half years. There isn't really a specific version since it's a managed service in the cloud. However, with Apigee, there are different versions available, as it can be hosted on-premises. But for APM, it's only available in Azure as a managed service.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate stability a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten. It can host it in different regions, and we can point to the same set of backups and try to expose the APIs. Our current customers are in the medium category that's why I rated scalability a nine.
How are customer service and support?
We have a strategic partner for technical support, and they are very responsive.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
I would rate the initial setup an eight out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy. Previously, we were using Apigee, so comparing it to that, it's cloud-specific and opens the gateway. So there were some challenges.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment was quick. The deployment of this product was managed by a manager, so once you set it up, it has a quick turnaround time.
We used the Azure deployment model and followed the recommended steps for posting the APIs, and also followed the Azure recommended layer for deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Compared to Apigee, which is a one-time cost for on-prem, this solution is cloud-specific and a managed service. So cost-wise, it's comparatively expensive. I would rate it eight out of ten, where one is low and ten is high.
Moreover, there are additional costs to the standard licensing fees. We have to purchase four to five managed services around API to use it. For example, we use the express route and key vault, and we have to purchase those features along with API.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We explored different options and found that APM was the most suitable for our scenarios.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate it eight out of ten. The reason is, as I mentioned earlier, it is best suited for our use case. One reason is that the product is only available in Azure. So, we are leveraging multiple managed services and building the product around that. Additionally, we select it according to the customer's needs. The hosting API workflow needs to be improved.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
Project Director at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Good platform components with helpful API management and the ability to expand
Pros and Cons
- "The API management is very good."
- "Maybe the customization could be a bit better."
What is our primary use case?
We have a couple of use cases for this product. It's fully cloud-native and can handle telco distribution for end-to-end distribution management. Five or six years ago, we made a fantastic product with microservices. I was responsible for rolling it out for a large telco in Qatar. They had no distribution or end-to-end visibility or platform. So we helped them to move to a cloud platform for their entire distribution and operation. The beauty of that product is when you look at the telco distribution standpoint your maybe five or ten thousand merchant ecosystem will be connected to that platform. It helps with generating several transactions in a minute or second. And it gives that kind of scalability in the back end.
The other use case was for banking transactions. If you have your core banking platform that is legacy, if a user wants to bring in a lot of additional alternatives, they need to have some kind of a platform for enhancements. We made a cloud to bring some kind of their operations to the cloud. We made a transaction platform for them so that their merchants could access transactions.
What is most valuable?
The API management is very good. You have sophisticated dashboards that help you to understand what's really going on - in addition to whatever security layer that you can bring on top of that. It is easy to manage front and backend APIs.
You can put on your own security layer so that you know only the authorized people are accessing your back-end systems through the gateway. In addition to that, you have sophisticated dashboards and reporting for storage logs or logging. That is quite useful, specifically in the banking sector.
You can limit items by parameters such as geography or private VPMs.
You have different pricing tiers and pricing is based depending on the traffic. You can go to basic pricing if you like. Depending on your traffic, you have licensing options.
Microsoft manages everything so you can focus on building applications and deploying them.
The platform components are quite interesting.
What needs improvement?
I'm not sure if there are certain areas needed for improvement. I haven't explored its shortcomings. So far, the requirements have been met.
Maybe the customization could be a bit better.
My team found difficulty in migrating APIs from one platform to this platform. We could export and import properly. We made a complete API for a UAT environment, and when we moved the APIs, we ran into issues.
They don't have a standard local IP. They only have a public IP.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for six to eight years or so.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I'd rate the stability eight out of ten. It is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution scales well. I'd rate it ten out of ten. It's easy to expand as needed.
We have both medium-sized and enterprise-level customers.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support has been fine. We are happy with their level of support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have worked with other competing products, such as Apigee and AWS.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very straightforward and simple. I'd rate the ease of deployment eight out of ten.
The provisioning takes a couple of minutes. Then you need to do some programming.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is reasonable. I'd rate the cost in terms of affordability seven out of ten.
The premium tier is too expensive for medium-sized organizations. However, the local IP only is offered at the premium tier.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I did not compare this solution to others since I was promoting Microsoft at the time.
What other advice do I have?
I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using.
People should explore API management. You do get full control of your API, and from a security standpoint, you have a good understanding of the touchpoints and far more control of your traffic. You know who is accessing your services. Even if a company has legacy systems, it should have an API gateway in front of its legacy systems.
We went with Microsoft since we were Microsoft partners.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Sr Software Engineer at a engineering company with 10,001+ employees
Its most valuable feature is the ability to create policies and you can develop anything with them
Pros and Cons
- "It's easier to use and has more features than Google."
- "Azure is our most expensive resource; it's costly."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution to manage the APIs of the legacy app in on-premises systems at our organization. We use the solution for security purposes. It lets us put restrictions on who can consume the APIs. Also, we can keep a check on the dashboard for requests and the health of the APIs.
How has it helped my organization?
We are using Azure API Management as a platform. We have a ServiceNow instance. We connect it to the internet to have an internal connection network through on-premises systems. Here, we need to expose our APIs to security. So we take the help of Azure API Management for security purposes. Also, we can use dashboards to get information about API requests.
What is most valuable?
The solution's most valuable feature is the ability to create policies. You can customize the business and security rules directly with it instead of creating new systems for managing the same. With this policy, you can develop anything with them.
What needs improvement?
It is a good solution. The latest versions of Azure API Management have included many new features. At the moment, our APIs don't follow the RESTful concepts. So, we face a challenge at the initial stage of the project. We need to get cache policy requests. We have to develop rules internally for cache requests with the policy methods. So many other companies must be needing this feature. They should work on it in Azure API Management's following versions.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for four years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution, but updates don't work.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have more than 400 developers and more than 1,000,000 consumers using this tool.
How are customer service and support?
We have a technical consultant. Microsoft support is excellent. They offer a good support solution.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I didn't know about any other API Management solution before, but I had read about the Apigee from Google. Azure is better as it's easier to use and has more features than Google.
How was the initial setup?
It takes work. One needs to learn about this tool, the policies, and how to work with them.
What about the implementation team?
We have consulting companies that help us. The API Management is simple to deploy. We have instances for the production, developer, and staging environments. We have three instances, and the APIs also come with ARM templates. We have a central repository of Azure. Creating a new instance takes a long time, but implementing a new API is faster.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution comes with a standard license. Its price is one of its drawbacks. Some costs need to be more affordable for us. Frankly, Azure is our most expensive resource; it's costly.
What other advice do I have?
The solution is very easy to maintain. With it, we can integrate all other products and easily manage them. We have all the interactions in the same cloud.
In API Management, we have segmented consumers' APIs and secrets' APIs. We have global secrets and patents. It is easy to use after you learn and research about the tool. So, one must learn about this tool before implementing it or have a consultant to help with the initial feedback and organizing API products.
I would like to rate the solution as an eight as the price is not low, and it becomes difficult to afford it. It's easy to use, but it could have been easier.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Technical Project Manager at MindTree
A hybrid, multicloud management platform for Epics and Functions with a useful DevOps integration
Pros and Cons
- "Microsoft Azure API Management is better because it has a DevOps integration by default."
- "We get all enterprise flavor with very optimum cost, when compared to multivendor environment."
- "It would be better if it were easier to transition to Azure from JIRA. For example, different nomenclature must be performed when you shift to Azure from JIRA. JIRA's storage, tasks, and ethics are treated differently from Azure. Here they might become functions, which is not an option in JIRA because that nomenclature difference is there. If someone has to get into the nomenclature, then there can be different tasks from clients, and here, they may be treated as functions. JIRA has sub-tasks, but sub-tasks don't exist in Azure. The nomenclature and the linking between ethics and a function and a story are different, and people may have to learn to adapt to the new nomenclature."
- "It would be better if it were easier to transition to Azure from JIRA."
What is our primary use case?
We use this product for Epics, Story and Function Management for Products and Accelerator Development, Deployment and Operations Management.
How has it helped my organization?
This is a One Place solution for the majority of needs in an IT and Software development environment.
What is most valuable?
Microsoft Azure API Management is better because it has a DevOps integration by default.
What needs improvement?
It would be better if it were easier to transition to Azure from JIRA. For example, there are different nomenclature that must be addressed when you shift to Azure from JIRA. JIRA's storage, tasks, and epics are treated differently from Azure.
Here they might become functions, which is not an option in JIRA because that nomenclature difference is there.
JIRA has sub-tasks, but sub-tasks don't exist in Azure. The nomenclature and the linking between Epics and a function and a story are different, and people may have to learn to adapt to the new nomenclature.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Azure Project Management for about Two and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft Azure API Management is pretty stable. We are Microsoft gold partners, so we have not faced any issues until now.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft Azure API Management is scalable. The Microsoft platform supports my organization, which is 35,000 employees strong.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is pretty good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using JIRA which can be enhanced by using third-party tools, this is a costly business so we shifted to the Microsoft platform, which was integrated for development as well as management. So that's a better way of doing things.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. It was an organization-wide integration, so we have never faced any issues.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's free for less than ten users. If you want to go beyond that, its paid. But when you use all features of Azure its a very cost effective solution.
Costs depend on the size, complexity, usage, and what facility you want to integrate. So, we use Microsoft Azure and have the entire DevOps and Visual Studio on the cloud. We get all enterprise flavor with very optimum cost, when compared to multivendor environment.
What other advice do I have?
I would tell potential users to go for it. It's a good platform. Even though the ecosystem may not be that strong, it's a better option for a software development company. You can explore other options to save some bucks if you are not into software development. However, for an IT company, Microsoft Azure is the better option.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give Microsoft Azure API Management an eight.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
A hybrid, multicloud management platform for APIs across all environments
Pros and Cons
- "It is easy to use."
- "They need to work on the third party integrations."
What is most valuable?
It is easy to use.
What needs improvement?
They need to work on the third party integrations.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have experience with Microsoft Azure API Management.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support team is good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Microsoft is competitively priced.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Technical Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Helps developers to securely expose their APIs to external and internal customers
Pros and Cons
- "It's a very robust tool. So you see that there is a developer portal which can be used by developer or the vendors as well. And other external partners to create keys and manage their own APIs. The other thing is that they have a lot of policies there are too many options within API. So I do the difficult to tell one, but probably I would say, like, proxy sorry. The policies is one of the thing wherein you can just configure the policies and modify the behavior of the APIs."
What is most valuable?
It's a very robust tool. There is a developer portal that can be used by developers, vendors and other external partners to create keys and manage their APIs.
Enables you to configure the policies and modify the behavior of the APIs.
What needs improvement?
VNet integration facility is only available in the premium version so that is a drawback.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Azure API Management for six to seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution. The size of the clients depends mostly on the type of solution they are using. I rate the scalability an eight out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support team is easily approachable
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. It takes a lot of time to deploy it. They are coming out with a feature that is supposed to shorten how long it takes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Microsoft Azure is an expensive solution not for the large enterprises but for medium and small.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the overall solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Principal Architect at Fracral
Can be used for integration across multiple services and API marketplace solutions
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of the solution are its importing and publishing."
- "The solution’s security and performance could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
Microsoft Azure API Management is used for integration across multiple services, API marketplace solutions, and information exchange solutions.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of the solution are its importing and publishing.
What needs improvement?
The solution’s security and performance could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Azure API Management for four to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate Microsoft Azure API Management an eight out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Our clients for the solution are small, medium and enterprise businesses.
I rate Microsoft Azure API Management an eight out of ten for scalability.
How are customer service and support?
Microsoft provides good premier support, but its general customer support is not that great.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
I rate Microsoft Azure API Management a seven out of ten for the ease of its initial setup.
What about the implementation team?
The solution can be deployed in five to ten minutes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
Microsoft Azure API Management is a cloud-based solution. Microsoft Azure API Management is a flexible, scalable, and easy-to-use solution.
Overall, I rate Microsoft Azure API Management an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
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