# Apache APISIX vs IBM API Connect

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Apache APISIX

| Attribute | Apache APISIX | IBM API Connect |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 54.2 (53% (medium)) | 48.5 (40% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 67 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 1 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 17,220 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A dynamic, high-performance gateway that routes and secures API traffic with built-in plugins for authentication, rate limiting, and observability. Runs anywhere from bare metal to Kubernetes with no vendor lock-in. It is indexed under API Gateways.","source":"https://apisix.apache.org","question":"What is Apache APISIX?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Apache APISIX is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://apisix.apache.org","question":"Is Apache APISIX free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Apache APISIX supports Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://apisix.apache.org","question":"What platforms does Apache APISIX support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Apache APISIX can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://apisix.apache.org","question":"Can Apache APISIX be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 20 integrations for Apache APISIX, including OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, DeepSeek, Ollama, gRPC, Open Policy Agent and Spring Boot, plus 12 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://apisix.apache.org","question":"What does Apache APISIX integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Apache APISIX is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/apache/apisix","question":"Is Apache APISIX open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"An agentic AI-powered API management solution that empowers developers to build and manage APIs more efficiently, with AI-agents assisting in securely scaling API infrastructure across hybrid environments. It is indexed under API Gateways.","source":"https://www.ibm.com/products/api-connect","question":"What is IBM API Connect?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"IBM API Connect offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans are also available: Pay-as-You-Go, Standard Tier (SaaS), Premium Tier (SaaS) and Reserved Instance (SaaS). Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.ibm.com/products/api-connect/pricing","question":"Is IBM API Connect free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. IBM API Connect can be deployed cloud / SaaS, hybrid, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.ibm.com/products/api-connect/pricing","question":"Can IBM API Connect be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Open-source software that manages and routes traffic to APIs and AI services. Designed for flexible deployment on your own infrastructure with extensive customization through plugins. | An agentic AI-powered API management solution that empowers developers to build and manage APIs more efficiently, with AI-agents assisting in securely scaling API infrastructure across hybrid environments. |
| features.capabilities | `{"mtls":true,"hosting":"both","k8s_native":true,"oauth_oidc":true,"open_source":true,"grpc_support":true,"monetization":true,"observability":true,"pricing_model":"open-source-self-host","rate_limiting":true,"graphql_gateway":false,"deployment_model":"self-hosted","developer_portal":true,"plugin_ecosystem":"extensive","routing_strategy":"custom","streaming_support":true,"automatic_failover":true,"budget_spend_controls":true,"guardrails_moderation":"built-in","openai_compatible_api":true,"request_transformation":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","monetization":true,"observability":true,"developer_portal":true}` |
| integrations.count | 11 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"OpenAI"},{"name":"Anthropic"},{"name":"AWS Bedrock"},{"name":"DeepSeek"},{"name":"Ollama"},{"name":"gRPC"},{"name":"gRPC-Web"},{"name":"Open Policy Agent"},{"name":"Spring Boot"},{"name":"OAuth2"},{"name":"OpenID Connect"},{"name":"Keycloak"},{"name":"Istio"},{"name":"Kuma"},{"name":"AWS Lambda"},{"name":"Azure Serverless Function"},{"name":"Apache OpenWhisk"},{"name":"Vault"},{"name":"Dubbo"},{"name":"MQTT"},{"name":"etcd"},{"name":"OpenTelemetry","category":"observability"},{"name":"ClickHouse","category":"analytics"},{"name":"Google Cloud","category":"cloud"},{"name":"Kubernetes","category":"infrastructure"},{"name":"Azure Functions","native":true,"category":"cloud","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Prometheus","native":true,"category":"monitoring","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"HashiCorp Vault","native":true,"category":"security","direction":"outbound"}]` | - |
| language.primary | Lua | - |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true,"linux":true}` | - |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://apisix.apache.org","retrievedAt":"2026-10-14T22:32:08.030Z"}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Pay-as-You-Go","summary":"Usage-based SaaS pricing on AWS","features":["Multi-tenant","1 instance","Unlimited API calls","30 days analytics retention","24x7x365 support","99.9% SLA"],"commitment":"monthly","description":"Usage-based pricing, no upfront costs, cancel at any time, hosted on AWS","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"api_calls":"Unlimited","analytics_retention":"30 days"}},{"free":false,"name":"Standard Tier (SaaS)","summary":"Annual SaaS commitment for standard multi-tenant deployment","features":["Multi-tenant","1 instance","100,000+ API calls/year","90 days analytics retention","24x7x365 support","Up to 99.95% SLA"],"commitment":"annual","description":"Annual SaaS subscription, multi-tenant, hosted on AWS","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"api_calls_annual":"100,000+","analytics_retention":"90 days"}},{"free":false,"name":"Premium Tier (SaaS)","summary":"Annual SaaS commitment for premium single-tenant deployment","features":["Single-tenant","1-3 instances","100M+ API calls/year","Custom analytics retention","24x7x365 support","Up to 99.95% SLA"],"commitment":"annual","description":"Annual SaaS subscription, single-tenant gateway with advanced capabilities, hosted on AWS","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"api_calls_annual":"100M+","analytics_retention":"Custom"}},{"free":false,"name":"Reserved Instance (SaaS)","summary":"Annual SaaS commitment for reserved instance","features":["Single-tenant","Customer-determined instances","120M+ API calls/year","Custom analytics retention","Customer-determined support","Customer-determined SLA"],"commitment":"annual","description":"Annual SaaS subscription, single-tenant with greater isolation and availability, hosted on IBM Cloud","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"api_calls_annual":"120M+","analytics_retention":"Custom"}},{"free":false,"name":"Software (Self-Managed)","summary":"Annual self-managed software subscription","features":["On-premises/hybrid/multi-cloud deployment","Customer-determined instances","Customer-determined API call volume","Customer-determined analytics retention","Installation and deployment assistance","Customer-determined SLA"],"commitment":"annual","description":"Self-managed deployment on premises, hybrid cloud, or multi-cloud with IBM Software Subscription & Support, renewed annually","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Pay-as-you-go usage-based, SaaS subscriptions (Standard, Premium, Reserved), or self-managed software. 30-day free trial.","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.ibm.com/products/api-connect/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T16:52:09.835Z","freeTrialDays":30,"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | no |
| release.cadence_days | 61 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.19.0","date":"2026-09-28T05:13:59Z","type":"stable","version":"3.19.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.18.0","date":"2026-08-20T07:57:26Z","type":"stable","version":"3.18.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.17.0","date":"2026-06-16T07:22:13Z","type":"stable","version":"3.17.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.16.0","date":"2026-04-08T01:36:55Z","type":"stable","version":"3.16.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.15.0","date":"2026-02-05T13:55:04Z","type":"stable","version":"3.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.14.1","date":"2025-10-16T07:54:57Z","type":"stable","version":"3.14.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.14.0","date":"2025-10-10T05:53:01Z","type":"stable","version":"3.14.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.13.0","date":"2025-06-27T07:28:29Z","type":"stable","version":"3.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.12.0","date":"2025-04-01T07:27:27Z","type":"stable","version":"3.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.11.0","date":"2024-10-17T03:20:22Z","type":"stable","version":"3.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.10.0","date":"2024-08-14T06:16:05Z","type":"stable","version":"3.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.9.1","date":"2024-04-24T07:56:23Z","type":"stable","version":"3.9.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.8.1","date":"2024-04-29T03:06:26Z","type":"stable","version":"3.8.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.9.0","date":"2024-03-25T10:09:53Z","type":"stable","version":"3.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.8.0","date":"2024-01-15T03:35:34Z","type":"stable","version":"3.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.7.0","date":"2023-11-21T00:57:26Z","type":"stable","version":"3.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.6.0","date":"2023-10-04T06:40:49Z","type":"stable","version":"3.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.5.0","date":"2023-09-01T15:55:01Z","type":"stable","version":"3.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.2.2","date":"2023-07-22T16:32:15Z","type":"stable","version":"3.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/apache/apisix/releases/tag/3.4.1","date":"2023-07-20T09:42:19Z","type":"stable","version":"3.4.1"}]` | - |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.9 |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.scorecard | 7.2 | - |
| security.trust_center | https://apisix.apache.org/blog/2023/03/02/security-policy-auditable/ | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fapache%2Fapisix&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | - |

## Capabilities (API Gateways)

| Capability | Apache APISIX | IBM API Connect |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | Cloud + self-hosted |
| Kubernetes-native | ✓ | - |
| **Traffic** |  |  |
| Rate limiting | ✓ | - |
| Request/response transformation | ✓ | - |
| **Security** |  |  |
| OAuth2 / OIDC / JWT | ✓ | - |
| Mutual TLS | ✓ | - |
| **Protocols** |  |  |
| GraphQL gateway | ✗ | - |
| gRPC support | ✓ | - |
| **Delivery** |  |  |
| Developer portal | ✓ | ✓ |
| Monetization | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| Plugin ecosystem | Extensive | - |
| **Insight** |  |  |
| Observability | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:51:12.424Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*