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IBM API Connect vs. Swagger Open Source, supported by SmartBear

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM API Connect

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AIBM 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…

    $83

    per month

    Swagger Open Source, supported by SmartBear

    Score6.8 out of 10
    N/ASupported by SmartBear, Swagger is a set of tools used by developers to design, document, build, and test APIs in the OpenAPI Specification.N/A
    Pricing
    IBM API ConnectSwagger Open Source, supported by SmartBear
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM API ConnectSwagger Open Source, supported by SmartBear
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM API ConnectSwagger Open Source, supported by SmartBear
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    SmartBear
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    93%
    Would buy again
    50 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    40 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    89%
    Happy with the feature set
    48 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    36 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    89%
    Implementation went as expected
    42 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    IBM API ConnectSwagger Open Source, supported by SmartBear
    API Management
    Comparison of API Management features of IBM API Connect and Swagger Open Source, supported by SmartBear
    Feature
    IBM API Connect
    8.4
    57 Ratings
    0% below category average
    Swagger Open Source, supported by SmartBear
    7.4
    1 Ratings
    13% below category average
    API access control8.957 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Rate limits and usage policies9.152 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    API usage data8.755 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    API user onboarding8.756 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    API versioning8.356 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Usage billing and payments7.645 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    API monitoring and logging7.856 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM API ConnectSwagger Open Source, supported by SmartBear
    Small Businesses
    Amazon API Gateway
    Score7.2 out of 10
    Amazon API Gateway
    Score7.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Azure API Management
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Azure API Management
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    OCI API Management
    Score7.9 out of 10
    OCI API Management
    Score7.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM API ConnectSwagger Open Source, supported by SmartBear
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (50 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.4
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.6
    (43 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM API ConnectSwagger Open Source, supported by SmartBear
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    Based on our experience, IBM API Connect clearly excels in large enterprises navigating complex B2B ecosystems, especially within the Fintech and Banking sectors. Its capabilities are particularly valuable for achieving Open Banking compliance, facilitating the monetization of data and services, and seamlessly operating in hybrid cloud environments. However, it's crucial to understand that IBM API Connect primarily functions as an API management and orchestration tool. This means that backend integrations with providers like databases are best handled by dedicated integration middleware, such as IBM App Connect, allowing API Connect to then securely and efficiently expose those functionalities to external entities.
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    To my opinion Swagger Open Source is a very good tool to quickly produce an api documentation, that how I use it.Swagger can also produce an open api file to generate an api for our application server (Inersystems Iris) but we don't use this functionality for now. We plan to use more Swagger features in the future.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    IBM
    • API discovery feature is very helpful to allow us to scope the work required before diving into things.
    • The ability to set permissions and rulesets at a user level is essential to restrict access to specific datasets.
    • Ability for external users (those from outside our organisation) to leverage the API in more restrictive manner.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    • Produce documentation
    • user interface to create api definition
    • reusability of data description
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    IBM
    • Improvement can come in the interface of the tool, which is sometimes complex and requires a deep understanding of the tool.
    • Improving the different levels of access to the playroom could be helpful because product owners and developers need to see other information.
    • Publishing API and integration of API can be more straightforward.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    • for me the UI can be more simple
    • too many functionnalities when just want to produce doc, can be a separate app
    • A french documentation will be apreciated
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    IBM
    I can honestly say that the availability of the platform has been incredible, with almost no disruptions during the two years of the implementation. Availability is provided through the distributed architecture that may be deployed in multiple zones. We have had almost no cases of unplanned outages, and most maintenance operations were done during planned downtimes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    No answers on this topic
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    We use swagger only to generate the API documentation, for testing the APIs, we use Postman. We don't find an other tools for producing API documentation in web pages and also in pdf files. Postman is a good complement for testing APIs on InterSystems IRIS (a powerful application server and DB manager) which implements these APIs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • Our company benefited from IBM API Connect's assistance in establishing cooperation with our outside providers and efficiently managing the API. As a result, we were able to expand our vendor ecosystem.
    • Additionally, creating APIs and implementing them on the goods was not too difficult. Additionally, we were able to ensure that only appropriate people could publish the APIs following evaluation by using role-based access control.
    • Our teams were able to reuse and share departmental APIs and services with each other thanks to the simple, self-service developer site.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SmartBear
    • Less time to produce our documentation
    • Documentation can be accessed online, this is a plus for our customers and partners
    • Great tools to communicate with other project actors
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    IBM API Connect Screenshots

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