# IBM API Connect vs Red Hat 3scale

| Attribute | IBM API Connect | Red Hat 3scale |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 47.8 (40% (low)) | 50 (13% (low)) |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":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. | Red Hat 3scale is an API management solution that helps organizations design, build, and operate APIs at scale. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"both","monetization":true,"observability":true,"developer_portal":true}` | - |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| 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"]}` | - |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | - |
| pricing.model | freemium | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | low | - |
| pricing.transparent | no | - |
| reliability.sla_pct | 99.9 | - |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |

## Capabilities (API Gateways)

| Capability | IBM API Connect | Red Hat 3scale |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | 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 2026-09-01T15:17:03.093Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*