Microsoft Azure API Management vs. 3scale: Find the Right API Solution for You

Today’s businesses often rely on hundreds of digital assets, including legacy systems and new applications that streamline their processes. However, you can’t rely on your SaaS apps, microservices, and systems to integrate themselves. Instead, you need an API solution built for full lifecycle API management. Microsoft Azure API Management and 3scale get a lot of positive reviews from users. Unfortunately, many organizations feel locked into the API solutions they already use, so they don’t know whether they could get better features elsewhere.

The following article will compare Azure API Management and 3scale to help you determine whether one of them might fit your organization’s needs.

Recommended reading: 7 Reasons You Need an API Integration Platform in the Age of API-First Development

Overview of Microsoft Azure API Management

What Is Microsoft Azure API Management?

Azure is the name of Microsoft’s cloud computing company. Despite the connection to cloud computing, Azure API Management users can choose on-premises hosting as well as cloud hosting.

What Features Can You Expect From Azure API Management?

Microsoft built Azure API Management to balance fast, unified management with customization. Standout features include the solution's ability to:

• Improve security by limiting call rates, filtering IP addresses, and setting usage quotas by API keys
• Offer API versioning and API mocking that helps to ensure success
• Turn legacy web services into REST APIs through backend services
• Improve API discoverability

Recommended reading: Azure Security Best Practices

Overview of 3scale

What Is 3scale?

Originally, Red Hat owned 3scale API management software. The company sold the software in 2016 and announced that it would become open source to give advanced users more flexibility. 3scale has grown over the years to become a noteworthy API program with ample features.

What Features Can You Expect From 3scale?

3scale highlights six critical features that come with its API software:

• API traffic control
• API program management
• OpenShift integration
• Hybrid cloud support across all components
• Red Hat Fuse integration
• Comprehensive security

Businesses that choose 3scale enjoy using backend services to customize their APIs, discovering API endpoints so they can reuse them and save time, and having access to a broad range of integration options.

Does Azure API Management or 3scale fall short of your expectations? Visit DreamFactory’s features page to see how it can help your organization create, manage, and discover APIs easily.

Comparing the Pros and Cons of Microsoft Azure API Management and 3scale

Pros of Microsoft Azure API Management

• The developer portal makes customization possible.
• Flexibility that meets users where they are instead of forcing inexperienced people out.
• Strong API access control.

Cons of Microsoft Azure API Management

• Network infrastructure automation doesn’t always work well.
• Pricing can become difficult to track and predict (a common issue with Azure products). It’s also expensive for startups and small businesses.

Pros of 3scale

• Users can choose between on-premises, cloud, or hybrid hosting.
• User-friendly API dashboard that lets you track API documents, set API rate limits, and view real-time analytics.
• High availability and performance that keeps APIs functioning 99.99 percent of the time.

Cons of 3scale

• Inexperienced users may find some of 3scale’s features difficult to operate or understand.
• Steep learning curve, especially for users without DevOps experience.

Alternative API Management Platforms

If you don’t think Microsoft Azure API Management or 3scale offers the API features that your organization needs, take time to learn about the following alternatives:

• Akana
• Amazon API Gateway (AWS)
• Axway
• Dell Boomi
• Google Cloud Apigee
• IBM API Management
• Kong
• MuleSoft Anypoint
• Oracle API Manager
• TIBCO Mashery
• Tyk
• WSO2 API Manager

Recommended reading: 5 Best API Management Solutions

Try DreamFactory for Better API Management

Microsoft Azure API Management and 3scale have prominent features, but they also have gaps that may prevent your organization from taking control of its APIs without adding members to your IT team.

DreamFactory gives you an easier, user-friendly way to create and manage all of your APIs. The no-code platform makes it possible for practically anyone to perform tasks like creating secure APIs, tracking metrics, and transforming SOAP to restful APIs.

Start your free trial with DreamFactory today so you can experience the advantages of relying on a flexible API solution that puts connectors in your control.