# Gloo Gateway vs IBM API Connect

| Attribute | Gloo Gateway | IBM API Connect |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 51.4 (33% (low)) | 47.8 (40% (low)) |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Enterprise-grade API gateway delivering high performance with flexibility for self-managed deployment. Handles 400k+ requests/sec, 7+ years in production, built on open-source Envoy with CNCF governance. | 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":"self","k8s_native":true,"grpc_support":true,"observability":true,"graphql_gateway":true,"request_transformation":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","monetization":true,"observability":true,"developer_portal":true}` |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | - |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Open Source","summary":"Free, perpetual license","features":["Request routing by path, header, method, query parameter, host","Kubernetes Gateway API support","Traffic splitting and transformation","Multi-protocol support: REST, gRPC, GraphQL, WebSocket","Active community with regular releases"],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Solo Enterprise","summary":"Contact sales for pricing","features":["24x7 Support SLA with guaranteed response times","N-3 Long Term Support with security patches and bug fixes","FIPS Compliant Images","Private Slack Channel with white-glove support"],"contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free open source forever. Enterprise support available.","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.solo.io/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T17:04:52.281Z"}` | `{"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 | no | no |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.9 |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |

## Capabilities (API Gateways)

| Capability | Gloo Gateway | IBM API Connect |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Self-hosted 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 2026-09-01T16:51:12.691Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*