--- title: "3scale Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra" description: "With the help of Capterra, learn about 3scale Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other API Management products and more." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/169839/3scale/" page_type: "product" language: "en" publication_date: "2026-09-30" --- # 3scale Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on September 30, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[FAQs](#faqs)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) 3scale ## What is 3scale? Cloud-based tool that lets users share, allocate & monetize their APIs via performance analytics, access control & rate limitations. ## What is 3scale used for? [API Management](https://www.capterra.com/api-management-software/) Overall rating Based on 10 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive \- Neutral \- Negative \- Starting price $750 Per Month Free trial available Includes Free Version Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for 3scale?[Manage this product listing](https://www.g2.com/products/red-hat-3scale-api-management/claim_requests/new?auto=true) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### 3scale 3.7 (10) VS. [### Microsoft Azure](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/) [4.6 (1,986)](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/reviews/) Starting Price $750 Per Month Starting Price $31.39 Usage Based, Per Month Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 2.9 (9) Ease Of Use 4.1 (1,971) Value For Money 3.7 (6) Value For Money 4.2 (1,619) Customer Service 3.6 (5) Customer Service 4.2 (1,590) ## 3scale alternatives Highest Rated [Albato](https://www.capterra.com/p/228273/Albato/) [4.8 (406)](https://www.capterra.com/p/228273/Albato/reviews/) Starting price $15.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 100% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/228273/Albato/) [Postman](https://www.capterra.com/p/188497/Postman/) [4.7 (513)](https://www.capterra.com/p/188497/Postman/reviews/) Starting price $15.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 98% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/188497/Postman/) [APPSeCONNECT](https://www.capterra.com/p/106290/APPSeCONNECT/) [4.7 (180)](https://www.capterra.com/p/106290/APPSeCONNECT/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 97% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/106290/APPSeCONNECT/) [Veryfi](https://www.capterra.com/p/180429/Veryfi/) [4.8 (191)](https://www.capterra.com/p/180429/Veryfi/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 98% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/180429/Veryfi/) ## FAQs about 3scale Overview ### What company size and specific industries is 3scale built for? 3scale is designed for small businesses through large enterprises that need to manage and secure API access with rate limits. The description does not name specific industries, so its audience is defined primarily by company size and by organizations that work with APIs. Features and Usability ### What are the key features of 3scale? 3scale offers API design and API lifecycle management, along with traffic control, threat protection, and access controls/permissions for governing API access. It also includes a developer portal, dashboard, reporting/analytics, version control, and scalability features for managing and monitoring APIs across environments. Getting Started and Support ### What training and onboarding options does 3scale offer? 3scale provides documentation to help teams get started. This written material serves as a self-paced reference for setup steps, feature explanations, and ongoing use of the platform. Getting Started and Support ### What customer support options does 3scale offer? 3scale provides email/help desk, FAQ/forum, knowledge base, phone support, and chat. No reviewer feedback on support is available here, so the customer experience around response time, helpfulness, or common support issues cannot be described from the provided data. ## Features AI summary Based on 887 API Management reviews Capterra reviewers highlight these as the API Management features buyers focus on most: - **Workflow Management** (**50%** of reviewers rated this feature as critical) - **Third-Party Integrations** (**53%**) - **Data Import/Export** (**42%**) 3scale includes other capabilities that Capterra reviewers also consider important, such as **API Lifecycle Management** (**58%**) and **Access Controls/Permissions** (**45%**). Together, these features help businesses manage APIs from creation through retirement while controlling who can view or modify resources, providing teams with better oversight, stronger security, and more consistent API operations. API Lifecycle Management 3.0 (2) 50.00% of 2 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Oversee an API throughout its lifespan, from creation and deployment to retirement Access Controls/Permissions 2.5 (2) 100.00% of 2 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Define levels of authorization for access to specific files or systems API Design 3.0 (1) 0.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Creation of a plan for an API to expose data and functionality to its users Dashboard 2.0 (1) 0.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Assembly of graphs and charts for visualizing and tracking statistics/metrics Reporting/Analytics 2.0 (1) 100.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important View and track pertinent metrics to find patterns and gain insights from data Version Control 4.0 (1) 0.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Track revisions and updates made to files and navigate between different versions 3scale 9 features ### All Features - Access Controls/Permissions: Define levels of authorization for access to specific files or systems - API Design: Creation of a plan for an API to expose data and functionality to its users - API Lifecycle Management: Oversee an API throughout its lifespan, from creation and deployment to retirement - Dashboard: Assembly of graphs and charts for visualizing and tracking statistics/metrics - Developer Portal: Central hub for developers to access documentation, tools and resources - Reporting/Analytics: View and track pertinent metrics to find patterns and gain insights from data - Scalability: Manage a growing amount of work to meet increased demand without compromising performance - Traffic Control: Distributing traffic by sending client requests across servers capable of completing the request - Version Control: Track revisions and updates made to files and navigate between different versions --- Features 3.3 (8) 3.3 Based on 8 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 3.7 (6) Free Trial Free Version Basic $750.00 Per Month Value for money 3.7 (6) 3.7 Based on 6 reviews ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 3.6 (5) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 3.6 (5) 3.6 Based on 5 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 3.7 Based on 10 reviews Filter by rating Counts reflect reviews available in this feed. 5(0) 4(7) 3(3) 2(0) 1(0) Mentioned topic Recent reviews first, then most helpful Henry P. NAS SME, ESE Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Cool 3scale" 4.0 March 18, 2016 Supports Improved Swagger 2.0 with ActiveDocs Offering is a killer . I can manage API traffic, routing all API traffic to me and allowing me to deploy to open source gateways, cloud services or via a Content Delivery Network (CDN). I like the options exist for users of NGINX and Varnish gateways as well as through an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) in the AWS Marketplace. Pros Supports Improved Swagger 2.0 Cons Not able to intergrate with EPIC yet Aleksandra M. Customer Success Manager Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "I get nervous when I have to use 3scale" 4.0 May 2, 2022 Pros \- Searching via APP-ID, email or any other information about the user is pretty handy - You can set your own pricing rules and overages rules - There is an option to differentiate billable hits from non-billable hits, and this can be set up at the level of a custom plan Cons \- The tool does not allow to limit the trial option for the API users by both time and number of calls, it can be either one or the other - The usage statistics rarely work, and if they do, they are very slow (the ones on the level of an app) - Altering any available plan is too easy, meaning that if somebody is not careful, they can change the free plan to paid one for everybody - Using custom plans is not easy to comprehend and get used to - Working on payments via 3scale feels risky, as every time I change something I am afraid it will charge the end-user CS Customer success lead Customer success lead Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "It’s ok. Very good support" 3.0 Overall Rating 3.0 3.0 Ease of Use 2.0 2.0 Features 2.0 2.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 5/10 May 20, 2022 Pros Very good support, the personal approach definitely is a great plus Cons Ease of use. It’s too easy to change things since there is no pop up if you are sure you want to make a change. Also, there is no way of going back/reverting the change IM Implementation Manager Implementation Manager Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Good, but first you need to get a gist of it" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 3.0 3.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 6/10 December 1, 2022 The tool is well prepared to handle API soft, in theory its quite easy to learn and has a lot of functionalities Pros The interface is user-friendly and after the initial setup, which sometimes might be confusing, the tool is easy to navigate and its easy to personalize it. Cons Settings are too easy changeable, sometimes by mistake and its hard to return to your desired ones NR NLP Researcher NLP Researcher Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "3scale - powerful, yet confusing tool" 4.0 May 31, 2022 Overall, as someone who use it sometimes to check the developers account activity, it's good. It was easy to learn as well as to navigate. Also, it doesn't push me to check out unnecessary features that I don't need to use (so no pop-ups, no chats, no marketing emails). Pros 3scale offers pretty easy interface which makes using it pretty simple especially for time-to-time user - you see right away where to click to manage accounts on developer portal, how to change plans, how to check analytics. Cons That sometimes you can simply miss click something and change settings in the whole app - it doesn't double-check with you any significant (or not) changes. Katarzyna W. Technical Support Specialist Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "3scale review - love-hate relationship " 3.0 May 22, 2022 Pros Overall 3scale is a good software to manage an API and developer's account - it's design is easy to read and use and that's what I value most about it. Cons The fact that frustratse me the most is that 3scale is simply not user friendly, it doesn't ask for confirmation when clicking on important buttons (like setting a billing) and it also have some great functionalities that are hidden in weird places. CS Customer Success Manager Customer Success Manager Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Using 3scale as a CSM" 3.0 Overall Rating 3.0 3.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 2.0 2.0 Likelihood to Recommend 6/10 May 25, 2022 In general, I think that 3scale is quite easy to use once you get the idea of it. However, the crashing of the software can be a nightmare. Pros What I like the most about 3scale is that it's customizable. We were able to set it up according to our needs and connect with our platform. Cons I use 3scale daily and sometimes the software is crashing. Especially, when you try to use the analytics section for each application. GI Global IT Director, Flow IT & Global Stds Team Lead, Robotic Process Automation Global IT Director, Flow IT & Global Stds Team Lead, Robotic Process Automation Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Powerful API manager but expect some investment time to get things up and running" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 2.0 2.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 7/10 April 10, 2018 Powerful tool to manage API rules and engagement. Pros Found this to be a powerful API management software, being able to guide, direct and establish rules of engagement for API services. Cons Not the easiest platform to initial set up and mature. Expect to spend some time learning it and you'll want to reach out and work with their customer service team to get things done right. SA Senior Account Manager Senior Account Manager Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Ok experience" 4.0 December 12, 2022 Pros Overall experience was ok. It is easy to manage and interpret. Cons User interface and privacy issues might be improved. RE Reviewer ### "Taking APIs to the next step" 4.0 November 8, 2010 Anyone serious with its API strategy would consider an outsourced API management solution. We have used this cloud-based solution and have been satisfied with the initial results. We had to properly manage or web-services to understand the ROI a solution like this can help you just do that. We have not yet moved to the paid version but we are seriously considering it. Pros real plug&play approach scalability support quality Cons Although they have a self-service sign-up option, I would recommend reaching out to the team. They are responsive and can provide great advice on where/how to get started. [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/169839/3scale/reviews/) ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.