# AWS API Gateway vs IBM API Connect

**Leader by Vioscale score:** AWS API Gateway

| Attribute | AWS API Gateway | IBM API Connect |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 54.5 (41% (low)) | 47.8 (40% (low)) |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A managed cloud service that handles the complete lifecycle of APIs—from creation and deployment to monitoring and security—including traffic management, authorization, throttling, and version control. | 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 | `{"hosting":"cloud","k8s_native":false,"grpc_support":false,"observability":true,"rate_limiting":true,"graphql_gateway":false,"developer_portal":true,"request_transformation":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","monetization":true,"observability":true,"developer_portal":true}` |
| integrations.count | 10 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"AWS Lambda"},{"name":"Amazon CloudFront"},{"name":"Amazon CloudWatch"},{"name":"Amazon DynamoDB"},{"name":"Amazon S3"},{"name":"Amazon EC2"},{"name":"Amazon VPC"},{"name":"AWS PrivateLink"},{"name":"AWS Serverless Application Model"},{"name":"AWS IoT"}]` | - |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | - |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"HTTP APIs","summary":"1M free calls/month for 12 months; then $1.00/million (first 300M), $0.90/million above 300M","features":["1M free API calls per month for 12 months","Tiered pricing after free tier","Data transfer out charges apply"],"components":[{"per":{"qty":1000000,"unit":"requests"},"kind":"metered","amount":1,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Pay per API call and data transfer out","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"free_tier_http_api_calls_per_month":"1M for 12 months (new AWS customers)"}},{"free":false,"name":"REST APIs","summary":"1M free calls/month for 12 months; then $3.50/million API calls (Edge Optimized/Regional)","features":["1M free API calls per month for 12 months","$3.50 per million for Edge Optimized/Regional APIs","No data transfer charges for Private APIs (PrivateLink charges apply)","Optional data caching at hourly rate"],"components":[{"per":{"qty":1000000,"unit":"requests"},"kind":"metered","amount":3.5,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Pay per API call, data transfer, and optional caching","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"free_tier_rest_api_calls_per_month":"1M for 12 months (new AWS customers)"}},{"free":false,"name":"WebSocket APIs","summary":"1M free messages + 750k connection minutes/month for 12 months","features":["1M free messages per month for 12 months","750k free connection minutes per month for 12 months","Messages up to 128KB, metered in 32KB increments","Control frames (ping/pong) not metered"],"description":"Pay for messages sent/received and connection minutes","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"free_tier_messages_per_month":"1M for 12 months (new AWS customers)","free_tier_connection_minutes_per_month":"750000 for 12 months (new AWS customers)"}},{"free":false,"name":"API Gateway Portals","summary":"Monthly charge includes 10 PortalProducts with 40 REST endpoints each; additional PortalProducts billed separately","features":["Developer portal hosting","10 PortalProducts with 40 REST endpoints each included monthly","Additional PortalProducts billed separately","API discovery and documentation","Centralized governance","Prorated monthly charges"],"description":"Managed developer portals for API discovery and governance","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"portal_products":"10 per month","product_rest_endpoints":"40 per product"}}],"summary":"Usage-based pricing with no minimum fees or upfront commitments. HTTP APIs: $1.00/million calls; REST APIs: $3.50/million calls; data transfer charges apply. Free tier: 1M API calls per month for 12 months (new AWS customers). $200 free tier credit for new customers as of July 15, 2025.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://aws.amazon.com/api-gateway/pricing/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-16T20:53:52.220Z","startingPrice":{"amount":1,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"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 | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | low | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | no |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.9 |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |

## Capabilities (API Gateways)

| Capability | AWS API Gateway | IBM API Connect |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud only | 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 | - | - |
| **Insight** |  |  |
| Observability | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:20:56.094Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*