IBM API Connect vs. Postman

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
IBM API Connect
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
IBM API Connect is a scalable API solution that helps organizations implement a robust API strategy by creating, exposing, managing and monetizing an entire API ecosystem across multiple clouds. As businesses embrace their digital transformation journey, APIs become critical to unlock the value of business data and assets. With increasing adoption of APIs, consistency and governance are needed across the enterprise. API Connect aims to help businesses…N/A
Postman
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Postman, headquartered in San Francisco, offers their flagship API development and management free to small teams and independent developers. Higher tiers (Postman Pro and Postman Enterprise) support API management, as well as team collaboration, extended support and other advanced features.
$0
Pricing
IBM API ConnectPostman
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Postman Free Plan
$0.00 US Dollars
Postman Basic Plan
$12 US Dollars
per month per user
Postman Professional Plan
$29 US Dollars
per month per user
Postman Enterprise Plan
$99 US Dollars
per month per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
IBM API ConnectPostman
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details1. Postman Free plan: Start designing, developing, and testing APIs at no cost for teams of up to three people. 2. Postman Basic plan: Collaborate with your team to design, develop, and test APIs faster; $12/month per user, billed annually 3. Postman Professional plan: Centrally manage the entire API workflow; $29/month per user, billed annually 4. Postman Enterprise plan: Securely manage, organize, and accelerate API-first development at scale; $99/month per user, billed annually
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
IBM API ConnectPostman
Considered Both Products
IBM API Connect
Chose IBM API Connect
API Connect provides the most complete feature set out of all the above mentioned
Chose IBM API Connect
It works well with API Connect
Postman

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
IBM API ConnectPostman
API Management
Comparison of API Management features of Product A and Product B
IBM API Connect
8.9
32 Ratings
6% above category average
Postman
8.4
35 Ratings
0% above category average
API access control9.232 Ratings9.632 Ratings
Rate limits and usage policies9.127 Ratings7.118 Ratings
API usage data8.932 Ratings8.117 Ratings
API user onboarding9.032 Ratings8.321 Ratings
API versioning8.732 Ratings8.824 Ratings
Usage billing and payments8.324 Ratings8.312 Ratings
API monitoring and logging9.132 Ratings8.932 Ratings
Best Alternatives
IBM API ConnectPostman
Small Businesses
NGINX
NGINX
Score 9.1 out of 10
NGINX
NGINX
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
NGINX
NGINX
Score 9.1 out of 10
NGINX
NGINX
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
NGINX
NGINX
Score 9.1 out of 10
NGINX
NGINX
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
IBM API ConnectPostman
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(32 ratings)
9.9
(39 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.6
(24 ratings)
8.5
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.1
(11 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
IBM API ConnectPostman
Likelihood to Recommend
IBM
IBM API Connect is a great tool for interface analysis and for tracking API usage and activity. I can use the IBM API with different products and apps, which further proves its versatility.
Even if IBM API is excellent and helpful, there are situations when its sophisticated features are difficult to comprehend. Additionally, IBM API Connect subscription and licensing can be prohibitively expensive at times.
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Postman
Postman is very good for easy entry into testing. Thanks to snippets it is easy to use, but also provides a lot [of] possibilities for testing thanks to the in-line editor. Easy to use on multiple environments (versioning) thanks to sets of environment variables. The Collections view can get very full with time and it is not possible to reuse or link requests so that they have always been copied and maintained manually for each copy if changes have to be applied.
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Pros
IBM
  • Security. I would say creating and applying scopes to each operation is intuitive and clear.
  • Managing multiple path at the same time. Creating new path and operation is straightforward.
  • The analytics tab is good to see what APIs have trouble with errors
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Postman
  • It has opened a door for me to explore more out of it, as it is associated with so many APIs that I never felt any difficulty in finding the right API template, which are well organized and easily available.
  • It is very secure to use and provides great services which are user-friendly.
  • Due to this software I have got rid of the excessive emails and the slack channels, Now I am using my own private API and even it give me an option to produce my personal Postman’s API Builder from its Private API Network and this features has shared my excessive workload.
Read full review
Cons
IBM
  • One thing that could be improved is that it requires heavy hardware support. So making it less dependent on the hardware could free up the resources.
  • The hardware comes at a high cost which easily cross your budget if you try to scale the business through it.
  • It is quite time consuming and complex to setup and requires a technical person to set it up which again can increase the overall cost.
Read full review
Postman
  • Wherever you need to automate tests that involve database verification or rely on data from databases, Postman is less suitable.
  • Postman's disc usage is extremely high, and it occasionally causes the computer to fade.
  • It doesn't have the ability to generate random data. To achieve randomness in my tests, I've been working around scripts.
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Usability
IBM
It is an extremely easy platform to manipulate and productively develop. The IBM API Connect features and dashboard are very easy to access, and the navigation strategy is also cost-effective. IBM API Connect offers some capabilities that simplify the entire development operations while providing the most accurate and profitable data results, and the development project management is amazing.
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Postman
I think from a non-technical perspective there are a few things that could be more clearly labeled to better understand what is being asked for or where to add certain parts of the request.
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Support Rating
IBM
No answers on this topic
Postman
There is a lot of in-depth documentation for Postman available online, including detailed guides with screenshots and videos. They provide example APIs for new users to explore while learning how to use the tool. Generally, bugs in the client are quickly addressed through frequent free updates. Community and professional support options are available - most of the time, the free/community level support is adequate
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Alternatives Considered
IBM
IBM API Connect and Apigee are both robust API management platforms. IBM API Connect was selected for its strong integration capabilities, hybrid cloud deployment options, and comprehensive analytics. It aligns well with organizations seeking flexibility and control over their API ecosystems, especially when dealing with complex integration scenarios across diverse environments.
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Postman
Previous to using Postman, I would either use browser tools directly, or write an in-house tool to send requests. Postman eliminates that need while providing a much better experience and more features. At the base level, Postman is as simple as typing in the address as you would in a browser. Authentication can be provided simply as well.
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Return on Investment
IBM
  • I consider IBM API Connect as a business capability enabler - the ROI level is practically secondary.
  • With this platform at the core, associated architectural framework and guardrails ensure that we can progress with distributed development and automation in autonomous teams - a key factor to deliver required time to market performance.
  • At this time, security and trust is key. A flexible yet secure API manager layer is necessary to ensure our relationships with partners and customers.
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Postman
  • Postman is free (although there's a paid tier that offers more features) so using it for testing APIs comes with little to no risk (besides learning curve).
  • The learning curve is a little steep for non-developer users, but developers should find it easy to pick up and use right out of the box, so to speak.
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ScreenShots

IBM API Connect Screenshots

Screenshot of API tests and insightsScreenshot of API Manager customization interfaceScreenshot of the API designer

Postman Screenshots

Screenshot of API design - You can design your API specifications in Postman using OpenAPI, RAML, GraphQL, or SOAP formats. Postman’s schema editor makes it easy to work with specification files of any size, & it validates specifications with a built-in linting engine.Screenshot of API documentation - Postman automatically generates documentation & supports markdown-enabled and machine-readable documentation. Docs automatically include request details & sample code. Share the docs with your team, in a public workspace, or in a dedicated portal.Screenshot of API testing - Build and run functional, integration, & regression tests directly in Postman or as part of your CI/CD pipeline with Newman (Postman’s a command-line Collection Runner that enables you to run & test a collection from the command line).Screenshot of Public workspaces - Public workspaces allow you to share your APIs publicly with anyone. You can use public workspaces to gather feedback on your APIs, onboard developers quickly, or just showcase your work.Screenshot of Reporting - Postman generates reports that enable you to visualize data for team metrics and usage, & for API activities such as creation, collection execution, and test runs. Use reports to get insights on performance, troubleshooting, & SLA adherence.