# IBM API Connect vs Zuplo

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Zuplo

| Attribute | IBM API Connect | Zuplo |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 48.5 (40% (low)) | 67.9 (70% (medium)) |
| 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 API gateway and management platform providing developer authentication, API key management, and consumer access control capabilities through a developer-facing API and portal. It is indexed under API Gateways.","source":"https://zuplo.com","question":"What is Zuplo?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Zuplo offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $25 per month. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://zuplo.com","question":"Is Zuplo free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Zuplo supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://zuplo.com","question":"What platforms does Zuplo support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Zuplo, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://zuplo.com","question":"Can Zuplo be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 7 integrations for Zuplo, including Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Codex, Windsurf, ChatGPT and Stripe. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://zuplo.com","question":"What does Zuplo integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 for Zuplo. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Zuplo not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://zuplo.com/docs/articles/security","question":"What security certifications does Zuplo have?","confidence":0.7}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":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 API gateway and management platform providing developer authentication, API key management, and consumer access control capabilities through a developer-facing API and portal. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"both","monetization":true,"observability":true,"developer_portal":true}` | `{"mtls":true,"hosting":"cloud","oauth_oidc":true,"monetization":true,"observability":true,"rate_limiting":true,"graphql_gateway":true,"developer_portal":true,"plugin_ecosystem":"limited","request_transformation":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 7 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Claude Code"},{"name":"Cursor"},{"name":"GitHub Copilot"},{"name":"Codex"},{"name":"Windsurf"},{"name":"ChatGPT"},{"name":"Stripe"},{"name":"Amberflo","native":false,"category":"billing","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Moesif","native":false,"category":"analytics","direction":"bidirectional"}]` |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | - | `{"cli":true,"web":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","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Starter","summary":"Free forever for ≤100K requests/month, no credit card required","features":["100K requests/month","1 day of analytics, live logs & traces","Up to 2 developer seats","GitOps with GitHub","MCP Gateway","AI Gateway","Developer Portal"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Individuals evaluating Zuplo or shipping a side project","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"requests":"100K/month","analytics_retention":"1 day"}},{"free":false,"name":"Builder","summary":"$25/month + $100 per 100K requests over included amount","features":["Custom domains","10 custom environments","1000 API consumers & keys","7 days analytics retention","1 day log & trace history","2 developer seats included","MCP Gateway","AI Gateway","Developer Portal","GitHub integration"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":100000,"unit":"requests"},"kind":"metered","amount":100,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Solo entrepreneurs & hobbyists going live","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"environments":"10","custom_domains":"2","consumers_and_api_keys":"1000"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"From $1,000/month annual contract with SLA guarantee and full enterprise features","features":["Custom volume discounts available","SSO + RBAC","Audit logs","99.5% SLA baseline (up to 99.999%)","Unlimited custom domains","Unlimited developer seats","GitOps with GitHub, BitBucket, GitLab, Azure DevOps","30 day analytics retention (custom available)","Unlimited log & trace history","MCP Gateway (unlimited MCP users/servers)","AI Gateway (custom teams)","Developer Portal"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":1000,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Teams, scaling APIs & mission-critical workloads","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"environments":"None","custom_domains":"None"}}],"summary":"Free tier for ≤100K requests/month. Builder at $25/month with metered usage. Enterprise from $1,000/month with custom pricing available.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://zuplo.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T12:06:13.330Z","startingPrice":{"amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | low | low |
| pricing.transparent | no | no |
| reliability.sla_pct | 99.9 | 99.99 |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.certifications | - | `[{"name":"SOC 2 Type II","status":"active"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.trust_center | - | https://zuplo.com/docs/articles/security |

## Capabilities (API Gateways)

| Capability | IBM API Connect | Zuplo |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | Cloud only |
| 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 2026-10-16T19:28:18.819Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*