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APIs · head to head

Apigee vs VMware Carbon Black

Apigee logo

Apigee

APIs

API management platform for designing, securing, and scaling APIs

From
$500/monthly
Rated
-
V

VMware Carbon Black

Cybersecurity

Cloud-delivered endpoint protection and EDR, now owned by Broadcom and positioned alongside Symantec.

From
On request
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Apigee the free evaluation is a sandbox limited to 60 days; VMware Carbon Black broadcom's enterprise model concentrates direct sales and support on its largest accounts and moves everyone else to resellers, so a mid-size customer can lose named support contacts and face a substantially repriced renewal with limited notice.
  • They diverge on capability: Apigee covers API Gateway, VMware Carbon Black covers Endpoint Standard.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Apigee and VMware Carbon Black actually diverge.

Attributes where Apigee and VMware Carbon Black differ
AttributeApigeeVMware Carbon Black
Starting price$500/monthlyOn request
PlatformsCloud, Hybrid, On-premisesDesktop, Api
CategoryAPIsCybersecurity
Founded20062002

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Apigee

  • API Gateway
  • API Analytics
  • Developer Portal
  • Google Cloud services
  • Azure
  • AWS
  • Okta
  • Cloud support

Only in VMware Carbon Black

  • Endpoint Standard
  • Enterprise EDR
  • Audit and Remediation
  • Single sensor
  • Live Response
  • Workload protection
  • Container security
  • Watchlists and feeds

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Apigee

  • Publishing, securing and versioning APIs for an enterprise API programnot VMware Carbon Black
  • Monetizing APIs and running a developer portalnot VMware Carbon Black
  • Analyzing API traffic and defending APIs against bots and abusenot VMware Carbon Black

VMware Carbon Black

  • A SOC that wants unfiltered endpoint telemetry to hunt over rather than only vendor-generated alertsnot Apigee
  • A vSphere estate that wants workload protection deployed through the hypervisor instead of installing an agent in every guestnot Apigee
  • Replacing signature antivirus after an incident where the incumbent product had no record of what the attacker didnot Apigee
  • An organisation already inside a Broadcom or Symantec enterprise agreement that can consolidate endpoint onto an existing contractnot Apigee

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Apigee

  • The free evaluation is a sandbox limited to 60 days
  • Pay-as-you-go has no SLA available at all
  • Pay-as-you-go bills environments separately from API calls, with a Base environment costing $365 per month per region
  • The Base environment is capped at 50 QPS with an SLA of up to 99%
  • Standard API Proxy calls are billed at $20 per 1M calls up to 50M, and Extensible API Proxy calls at $100 per 1M calls up to 50M
  • API Analytics is a paid add-on at $20 per 1M API calls and cannot be bought on a Base environment
  • Advanced API Security is a paid add-on at $350 per 1M API calls and cannot be bought on a Base environment
  • Monetization is unavailable on pay-as-you-go and requires a subscription tier
  • Additional API proxy deployments beyond those included cost $0.04 per hour per region on a Comprehensive environment
  • Subscription tiers Standard, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus are quote only with no published price
  • Google Cloud networking charges for IP addresses, data transfer out and forwarding rules are billed on top of Apigee usage

VMware Carbon Black

  • Broadcom's enterprise model concentrates direct sales and support on its largest accounts and moves everyone else to resellers, so a mid-size customer can lose named support contacts and face a substantially repriced renewal with limited notice.
  • Continuous EDR recording is retained for a defined window and longer retention is a paid tier, so the investigation you most need is often the one whose telemetry has already aged out, and that is discovered during the incident rather than before it.
  • The product assumes an operator: watchlists, policy tuning and alert triage are ongoing work, and organisations without a dedicated analyst or an MDR contract typically leave policies in monitor mode and pay for telemetry that is never reviewed.
  • The sensor operates in the same kernel and file-filter territory as other endpoint agents, so running it alongside an incumbent antivirus, DLP or backup agent commonly produces performance complaints and requires maintained exclusion lists on both sides.
  • Linux sensor support is tied to specific distribution and kernel versions, so a routine operating system upgrade can leave hosts without a supported sensor until a matching build ships, and anything outside the supported list gets no coverage at all.

Pricing, plan by plan

Apigee

$500/monthly
  • Starter$500/monthly
    • API gateway
    • Analytics
    • Developer portal
  • Professional$2500/monthly
    • Advanced security
    • Traffic management
    • Monetization
  • Enterprise$undefined/monthly
    • Custom deployment
    • SLA
    • Dedicated support

VMware Carbon Black

On request
  • CB Endpoint StandardFree
    • NGAV
    • Behavioral EDR
    • Device control
  • CB Endpoint AdvancedFree
    • All Standard features
    • Threat hunting
    • Audit and remediation
  • CB Endpoint EnterpriseFree
    • All Advanced features
    • Advanced threat hunting
    • Live response

Which should you pick?

Choose Apigee if

  • You need api gateway.
  • You work on Cloud, Hybrid, On-premises.
  • You also want api analytics.

Choose VMware Carbon Black if

  • You need endpoint standard.
  • You work on Desktop, Api.
  • You also want enterprise edr.

Questions people ask

Is Apigee or VMware Carbon Black better?
Neither clearly leads. Apigee starts at $500/monthly and VMware Carbon Black at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Apigee or VMware Carbon Black?
Apigee starts at $500/monthly and VMware Carbon Black at On request.
Does Apigee or VMware Carbon Black run on more platforms?
Apigee runs on Cloud, Hybrid, On-premises. VMware Carbon Black runs on Desktop, Api.
What is Apigee best used for?
Apigee is most often used for publishing, securing and versioning apis for an enterprise api program, monetizing apis and running a developer portal, analyzing api traffic and defending apis against bots and abuse. Of those, publishing, securing and versioning apis for an enterprise api program and monetizing apis and running a developer portal are not what VMware Carbon Black is typically brought in for.
What can Apigee do that VMware Carbon Black cannot?
Apigee covers API Gateway, API Analytics, Developer Portal, Google Cloud services. VMware Carbon Black covers Endpoint Standard, Enterprise EDR, Audit and Remediation, Single sensor.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Apigee: Does Apigee offer a free tier?

Yes, Apigee offers an always-free tier with access to 20+ products for common API management use cases, and a separate free trial providing $300 in credit for proof-of-concept projects.

Source
VMware Carbon Black: Who owns Carbon Black now?

Broadcom. It acquired VMware in November 2023, and Carbon Black now sits in Broadcom's enterprise security business alongside Symantec. VMware branding is being phased out.

Apigee: What is Apigee's pricing model?

Apigee uses a pay-as-you-go pricing model where customers pay based on API calls and usage, with a new pay-as-you-go model designed to optimize costs.

Source
VMware Carbon Black: Why do the docs use names I do not recognise?

The product has been renamed repeatedly. CB Defense is now Endpoint Standard, CB ThreatHunter is Enterprise EDR and CB LiveOps is Audit and Remediation. Older community answers and runbooks still use the previous names.

Apigee: Is there a commitment required to start with Apigee?

No. The free trial provides $300 in credit with no automatic charges or commitment required, allowing customers to evaluate the platform risk-free.

Source
VMware Carbon Black: Does it replace my existing antivirus?

Yes on supported Windows, macOS and Linux versions, and running it alongside another antivirus is not recommended because the two agents contend for the same hooks. Check your compliance requirements, as some auditors still ask for a named antivirus product.

Apigee: Are there usage limits I should know about?

Apigee documentation includes a limits page covering usage constraints, though specific limits are not detailed in the pricing section.

Source
VMware Carbon Black: Do I need a full-time analyst to run it?

To get value from Enterprise EDR, effectively yes. The prevention tier can run with part-time attention, but the hunting and recording capability is only worth its cost if somebody is querying it, which is why many customers buy it through an MDR provider.

VMware Carbon Black: How is it licensed?

Per endpoint, per year, with the capability tier determining the rate and workload and container protection priced separately. Extended EDR data retention is an additional line item.

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