What 3scale does

3scale is an API management platform originally founded in 2007 in San Francisco and acquired by Red Hat in 2018, where it now operates as Red Hat 3scale API Management within the Red Hat Integration product portfolio. The platform enables organizations to package, distribute, secure, control, and monetize APIs, providing traffic control, access policy enforcement, multiple encryption and authentication protocols, analytics, access control, developer workflow management, and built-in monetization capabilities. Its technical architecture is cloud-native and supports hybrid deployment, allowing components to run on-premise, in the cloud, or in any combination, with native integration into Red Hat OpenShift for containerized, automated API workloads.

The company's revenue model is subscription-based, with 3scale sold as part of Red Hat subscriptions that bundle support, partner ecosystem access, hardware certifications, and open source community features. Pricing is quote-based rather than publicly disclosed, and billing is annual. The go-to-market mix is enterprise-led, running through Red Hat's direct field sales, the Red Hat Store for online self-service, and Red Hat's partner ecosystem including the Ecosystem Catalog and major hyperscaler marketplaces. Primary customer segments are enterprise API providers needing hybrid-cloud API management and existing Red Hat OpenShift customers needing integrated API management for cloud-native applications.

As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT, subsequently acquired by IBM), 3scale inherits Red Hat's enterprise brand equity, Fortune 500 relationships, and integration with the broader Red Hat hybrid cloud stack, while losing the autonomy and direct disclosure of an independent software vendor.

Name

3scale

Legal name

Red Hat Inc.

Website

https://3scale.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Red Hat 3scale API Management is a hybrid-cloud API management platform that enables enterprise organizations to package, distribute, secure, control, and monetize APIs, sold via Red Hat subscriptions to enterprise API providers and OpenShift customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

API Management

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

API Management & Gateways (BPAMAOAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

API Analytics, Monetization & Developer Experience Tooling (HDAEAIAJ), API Security & Governance (Policy, Threat Protection) (HDAEAIAI)

Keywords

• API management platform
• API monetization
• API traffic control
• Hybrid cloud APIs
• Developer portal

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Licensing: Red Hat 3scale API Management is sold through Red Hat subscriptions that include award-winning support, access to Red Hat's ecosystem of partners, customers and experts, hardware certifications, and open source community features hardened for enterprise use.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Red Hat 3scale API Management is a cloud-native API management platform that enables organizations to package, distribute, secure, control, and monetize APIs. The platform offers traffic control, access policy enforcement, analytics, centralized API program management, and developer workflows, with deployment flexibility across on-premise, cloud, or hybrid environments.

Product overview

Red Hat 3scale API Management is a core product within the Red Hat Integration portfolio. It provides a unified API management platform offering traffic control, security, analytics, access control, monetization, and developer workflow management. The platform supports hybrid cloud deployment, allowing users to place components on-premise, in the cloud, or in any combination. It integrates with Red Hat OpenShift for containerized and automated API workloads. As part of the broader Red Hat Integration suite, it works alongside other integration products to support agile integration and digital transformation initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Red Hat 3scale API Management A comprehensive API management platform that enables organizations to share, secure, distribute, control, and monetize APIs. Built for performance, customer control, and future growth with support for on-premise, cloud, or hybrid deployment models, and tight integration with Red Hat OpenShift. Targeted at enterprise API providers and Red Hat OpenShift customers.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Red Hat OpenShiftcoreTechnology or Integration3scale is designed with native OpenShift integration, allowing customers to build and run high-performance API management applications within contained and automated OpenShift environments. This integration is a key feature marketed on the Red Hat 3scale product page.
• Red Hat IntegrationcoreTechnology or IntegrationRed Hat 3scale API Management is part of the Red Hat Integration group of products. This grouping indicates tight integration with other Red Hat integration technologies including messaging, data integration, and API management tools.
• Major Cloud Providers (AWS, Azure, IBM Cloud)coreTechnology or IntegrationRed Hat products including 3scale have certified integrations with major cloud providers. Red Hat offers specific SKUs for Microsoft Azure Red Hat OpenShift, Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS, and Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• MuleSoft: MuleSoft (now Salesforce) is a leading enterprise API management and iPaaS platform. It directly competes with 3scale on API gateway, traffic management, developer portals, and API monetization for large enterprises, and is the canonical benchmark for the category.
• Apigee (Google Cloud): Apigee, acquired by Google, offers a full-lifecycle API management platform covering traffic control, security, analytics, and monetization. It competes head-to-head with 3scale for enterprise API programs and is tightly bundled with Google Cloud.
• Kong Inc. Kong provides an API gateway and service mesh platform popular with cloud-native teams. It overlaps with 3scale on API traffic management, security, and developer portals, particularly for Kubernetes-native and microservices deployments.
• WSO2: WSO2 offers an open-source-first API management and integration platform with API gateway, analytics, and monetization features. It competes directly with 3scale, particularly in enterprises seeking vendor-neutral or open-source API management.
• Akana (by Perforce): Akana provides an enterprise API management platform emphasizing API security, governance, and microservices. It directly competes with 3scale for large enterprise customers requiring comprehensive API lifecycle management.

Emerging players

• Tyk Technologies: Tyk offers an open-source API gateway and management platform with strong cloud-native and Kubernetes support. It is an emerging competitor to 3scale, particularly attractive to organizations seeking lightweight, developer-first alternatives to larger enterprise platforms.
• Postman: Postman is the leading API development, testing, and collaboration platform. While focused on the developer experience layer rather than full runtime API management, it increasingly overlaps with 3scale on API program workflows, documentation, and developer portals.

Broad incumbents

• Microsoft Azure API Management: Azure API Management is Microsoft's hyperscaler-scale API management service bundled with the Azure cloud platform. It overlaps with 3scale's capabilities and serves as a broad alternative for enterprises standardized on Microsoft Azure.
• Amazon API Gateway: Amazon API Gateway is AWS's managed API gateway service integrated with the broader AWS ecosystem. While narrower than 3scale in enterprise API program features, it competes directly as a hyperscaler-bundled alternative for AWS-native workloads.
• IBM API Connect: IBM API Connect is IBM's enterprise API management platform within the broader IBM / Red Hat integration stack. It is a sibling product to 3scale (now both under IBM) and a direct competitor in the enterprise API management space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/3scale
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/RedHatVideos
• Facebookfacebook.com/3scale
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/3scale
• Instagraminstagram.com/red_hat

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 3scale