# IBM API Connect vs Tyk

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Tyk

| Attribute | IBM API Connect | Tyk |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 48.5 (40% (low)) | 54.5 (75% (high)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 22 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 35 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 10,860 |
| content.faq | `[{"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}]` | `[{"answer":"An open-source, self-hosted or cloud-managed API gateway and management platform that provides centralized governance, rate limiting, authentication, PII protection, and observability for APIs and AI agent traffic across multiple protocols and deployment modes. It is indexed under API Gateways.","source":"https://tyk.io","question":"What is Tyk?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Tyk offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://tyk.io","question":"Is Tyk free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Tyk supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://tyk.io","question":"What platforms does Tyk support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Tyk can be deployed cloud / SaaS, hybrid and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://tyk.io","question":"Can Tyk be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 7 integrations for Tyk, including OpenAPI, OpenTelemetry, GraphQL, Kubernetes, Docker, Kafka and MQTT. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://tyk.io","question":"What does Tyk integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR for Tyk. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Tyk not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://tyk.io","question":"What security certifications does Tyk have?","confidence":0.48}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | An open-source, self-hosted or cloud-managed API gateway and management platform that provides centralized governance, rate limiting, authentication, PII protection, and observability for APIs and AI agent traffic across multiple protocols and deployment modes. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"both","monetization":true,"observability":true,"developer_portal":true}` | `{"mtls":false,"hosting":"both","k8s_native":true,"oauth_oidc":true,"open_source":true,"grpc_support":true,"monetization":false,"observability":true,"pricing_model":"free_open_source","rate_limiting":true,"graphql_gateway":true,"developer_portal":true,"plugin_ecosystem":"limited","architecture_model":"open_source_proxy","oauth_flow_support":true,"self_service_api_keys":true,"request_transformation":true,"analytics_usage_insights":true,"bring_your_own_keys_byok_routing":true,"pii_redaction_and_data_masking_in_flight":true,"organization_wide_cost_tracking_and_chargebacks":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 5 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"OpenAPI"},{"name":"OpenTelemetry"},{"name":"GraphQL"},{"name":"Kubernetes"},{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"OpenAPI/Swagger"},{"name":"Kafka"},{"name":"MQTT"}]` |
| language.primary | - | Go |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | - | `{"cli":true,"web":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"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"]}` | `{"type":"hybrid","summary":"Open source (MPL v2.0) with commercial licensing available","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://tyk.io","retrievedAt":"2026-09-14T09:27:05.682Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | low | low |
| pricing.transparent | no | no |
| release.cadence_days | - | 11 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.15.1","date":"2026-10-02T21:58:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.15.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.13.3","date":"2026-10-02T21:59:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.13.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.15.0","date":"2026-10-02T21:58:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.14.0","date":"2026-07-07T17:34:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.14.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.15.0-alpha1","date":"2026-06-25T17:50:33Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.15.0-alpha1"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.12.0-alphafips5","date":"2026-02-12T18:45:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.12.0-alphafips5"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.11.1-rc1","date":"2026-02-11T22:36:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.11.1-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.11.1-alpha2","date":"2026-01-29T13:16:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.11.1-alpha2"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.12.0-alphafips4","date":"2026-01-16T13:34:17Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.12.0-alphafips4"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.12.0-alphafips3","date":"2026-01-16T12:20:35Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.12.0-alphafips3"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.12.0-alphafips2","date":"2026-01-16T11:56:50Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.12.0-alphafips2"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.12.0-alphafips1","date":"2026-01-16T11:08:49Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.12.0-alphafips1"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.11.0","date":"2026-01-15T11:43:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.8.8-rc1","date":"2025-11-28T16:32:34Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.8.8-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.8.7-alpha-performance-1","date":"2025-10-24T18:32:20Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.8.7-alpha-performance-1"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.10.0","date":"2026-01-15T11:42:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.9.0","date":"2025-08-07T14:37:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.9.0-alpha2","date":"2025-05-20T16:46:22Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.9.0-alpha2"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.8.1-alpha9","date":"2025-05-09T21:42:12Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.8.1-alpha9"},{"url":"https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk/releases/tag/v5.8.1-alpha4","date":"2025-03-26T15:47:26Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.8.1-alpha4"}]` |
| reliability.sla_pct | 99.9 | - |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.certifications | - | `[{"name":"ISO 9001","status":"active"},{"name":"ISO 27001","status":"active"},{"name":"SOC 2","status":"active"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.iso27001 | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | - | 5 |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.trust_center | - | https://tyk.io/blog/why-compliance-matters-to-tyk/ |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2FTykTechnologies%2Ftyk&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (API Gateways)

| Capability | IBM API Connect | Tyk |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **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 | - | Limited |
| **Insight** |  |  |
| Observability | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:18:07.895Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*