3scale

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.

Company typePrivate
Founded2007
HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
Headcount11–50
GTM typeB2B
OfferingSoftware

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.

3scale firmographics

Firmographics

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

3scale industry classification

Industry

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

Where 3scale is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: San Francisco
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Markets served

3scale business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Software
Cost components: Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

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

Model	Billing	Price
Subscription	Annual	Red Hat subscription-based pricing

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

3scale product offering

Product offering

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.

Companies that use 3scale

Customer profile

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

3scale technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API: Yes
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature5 records

3scale partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

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

3scale competitors and assessment

Company assessment

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

3scale financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

3scale leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

3scale funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors7 records

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

3scale M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about 3scale

What does 3scale do?

Is 3scale a public or private company?

3scale is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.

When was 3scale founded?

3scale was founded in 2007. It employs 11 to 50 people.

Where is 3scale based?

3scale is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.

How does 3scale make money?

One revenue line is on record: subscription Licensing.

Who are 3scale's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are MuleSoft, Apigee (Google Cloud), Kong Inc., WSO2 and Akana (by Perforce). Emerging players are Tyk Technologies and Postman. Broad incumbents are Microsoft Azure API Management, Amazon API Gateway and IBM API Connect.

Does 3scale have an API?

Yes. Red Hat 3scale API Management provides API management capabilities including traffic control, security, access policy enforcement, analytics, access control, monetization, and developer workflows. The product documentation is available at access.redhat.com. A developer site exists at developers.redhat.com/products/3scale/overview. Developer documentation is at access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_3scale_api_management/2.7.

What industry is 3scale in?

3scale's product category is API Management. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAOAA, API Management & Gateways, with a secondary code of HDAEAIAJ, API Analytics, Monetization & Developer Experience Tooling. Its NAICS code is 518210 and its SIC code is 7372.