# IBM API Connect vs WSO2 API Manager

| Attribute | IBM API Connect | WSO2 API Manager |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 47.8 (40% (low)) | 94.2 (33% (low)) |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":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. | A gateway platform that centralizes management of APIs and AI model traffic across cloud and self-hosted environments, with built-in cost controls, security policies, and monetization capabilities. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"both","monetization":true,"observability":true,"developer_portal":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","k8s_native":true,"grpc_support":true,"monetization":true,"observability":true,"pricing_model":"free_open_source","rate_limiting":true,"graphql_gateway":true,"developer_portal":true,"plugin_ecosystem":"extensive","architecture_model":"open_source_proxy","request_transformation":true,"pii_redaction_and_data_masking_in_flight":true,"custom_rate_limiting_by_user_or_tenant_id":true,"universal_api_key_for_100_plus_llm_providers":true,"auto_fallback_routing_on_rate_limit_or_downtime":true,"organization_wide_cost_tracking_and_chargebacks":true,"semantic_caching_for_repeat_queries_and_cost_savings":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 600 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"OpenAI"},{"name":"Anthropic"},{"name":"Azure OpenAI"},{"name":"AWS Bedrock"},{"name":"Google Gemini"},{"name":"Mistral"},{"name":"AWS Bedrock Guardrails"},{"name":"Azure Content Safety"},{"name":"Moesif"},{"name":"Azure AI"},{"name":"Mistral AI"}]` |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"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":"open_source","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Self-Hosted","summary":"Apache 2.0 licensed open source. No per-gateway fees or usage caps.","features":["Full lifecycle API management","Design and publish REST, GraphQL, WebSocket, Webhook APIs","Developer portal with try-it console","Multi-gateway support","Kubernetes and Docker deployment","Air-gapped environments","Distributed rate limiting and caching","API analytics","LLM gateway with multi-model routing","MCP gateway and tools discovery"],"contactSales":false}],"summary":"Free and open source. No per-gateway fees or usage caps.","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"http://wso2.com/asgardeo/pricing-old/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T16:53:43.456Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.transparent | no | yes |
| reliability.sla_pct | 99.9 | - |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | - | yes |
| security.iso27001 | - | yes |
| security.pci | - | yes |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |

## Capabilities (API Gateways)

| Capability | IBM API Connect | WSO2 API Manager |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **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 | - | Extensive |
| **Insight** |  |  |
| Observability | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T14:44:15.672Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*
