The best integration platforms (iPaaS) for European businesses in 2025 and how to compare them

European enterprises are under growing pressure: digitization, AI adoption and stricter compliance rules are transforming how IT teams operate. The glue holding all of this together? Integration platforms (iPaaS).

But choosing the right iPaaS is no longer just about connecting systems. It’s about ensuring compliance with GDPR, supporting hybrid IT environments, enabling business agility, and preparing for AI-native workflows.

So, what are the best iPaaS platforms for European businesses in 2025?

Here’s a breakdown of the modern integration landscape — and how the leading options compare.

The world of iPaaS & where it's headed

Digital transformation in Europe is entering a new era. With AI adoption accelerating, compliance tightening (GDPR, NIS2, DORA) and legacy IT systems still deeply embedded into the business, the pressure on CIOs and IT leaders has never been greater.

At the heart of this transformation lies a simple but critical challenge: how to integrate everything seamlessly: cloud apps, ERP systems, on-prem databases, APIs, IoT and now AI agents.

This is where integration platforms as a service (iPaaS) step in. Once considered “middleware,” they have now become the nervous system of modern enterprises, making sure data flows securely, processes stay connected, and businesses remain agile.

But not all iPaaS platforms are built with the same DNA. For European businesses, the requirements go far beyond just connecting apps. They demand:

• Hybrid deployment flexibility – most organizations still run critical systems on-premises
• Compliance and sovereignty by design – GDPR, data residency, ISO, SOC2, and beyond
• Scalability for complexity – handling both simple workflows and mission-critical ERP integrations
• AI readiness – preparing for the rise of agentic AI, automation, and self-healing systems
• Cost efficiency – avoiding runaway pricing models tied to “tasks” or usage

With these needs in mind, let’s explore the best integration platforms for European enterprises in 2025, with a deep dive into how Frends compares to major competitors like Boomi, MuleSoft, Workato, Microsoft, SAP, SnapLogic, Jitterbit, and Zapier.

The evolution of integration platforms

To understand the strengths and weaknesses of today’s iPaaS vendors, it helps to zoom out and look at the journey of integration technology over the last two decades.

1st Generation: Point-to-Point Integrations (2000s)
The early 2000s were defined by custom-coded, point-to-point connections. Every time two systems needed to talk, developers wrote brittle, one-off scripts. This worked for a handful of integrations, but as the number of systems exploded, maintenance became a nightmare. Costs ballooned, and IT was stuck firefighting breakages instead of driving strategy.

2nd Generation: Enterprise Service Bus (2010s)
The ESB era brought centralization. Instead of dozens of spaghetti connections, everything flowed through a central hub. This improved governance and monitoring, but came at the expense of agility. ESBs were heavy, slow to implement, and often locked into on-premise infrastructure, which left them struggling as cloud adoption surged.

3rd Generation: Cloud-Native iPaaS (2020s)
The rise of SaaS applications created demand for lighter, faster integration platforms. iPaaS solutions like Boomi, MuleSoft, and Workato offered pre-built connectors, visual designers and cloud scalability. Suddenly, integration was no longer only an IT function — business users could drag and drop their way to connecting apps. But this came with trade-offs: many platforms were cloud-only (unsuited for Europe’s hybrid IT reality), lacked deep compliance features, and often introduced “black box” automation with limited transparency.

4th Generation: AI-Powered iPaaS (2025 and beyond)
We are now entering the fourth wave: AI-native integration. This goes beyond adding copilots or AI mapping assistants. Instead, agentic AI systems are emerging with integrations that can learn, adapt, self-heal, and even be designed in natural language. For example, Frends’ Agentic AI enables CIOs to safely embed AI agents into BPMN workflows with full audit trails and reasoning logs. This matters especially in regulated industries, where explainability and compliance aren’t optional.

Why this matters to European businesses

Most European organizations today are caught between generations 3 and 4. They still rely heavily on hybrid environments (mixing legacy ERP, on-prem databases, and SaaS apps), but they also want to explore AI-powered automation. This means:

• They need today’s platforms to solve for complexity and compliance — not just connect cloud apps but also modernize 20-year-old systems without rewrites.

• They need tomorrow’s platforms to be AI-ready — providing explainable, agentic automation that CIOs trust enough to move pilots into production.

In other words, Europe doesn’t just need more automation. It needs smarter, safer and future-proof integration. That’s where the next wave of iPaaS is being defined.

Frends - The European hybrid leader

Frends is built in the Nordics with a European-first mindset. Unlike US competitors, it was designed from the ground up around GDPR, data residency and hybrid deployment.

Best for: European enterprises balancing hybrid IT, compliance, and ERP complexity

Key capabilities:

• Hybrid deployment: on-premises, cloud, or hybrid

• Visual process designer with developer-level flexibility

• Built-in GDPR compliance and European data residency

• Strong ERP and legacy system integration (SAP, Dynamics, Salesforce, Oracle, etc.)

• Enterprise-grade security, governance, and monitoring

• Comprehensive API management and monitoring 

• Transparent pricing (often 30–50% lower than established iPaaS)

Strengths:

• Hybrid flexibility — supports both legacy systems and modern APIs

• Compliance-first — critical for regulated industries (finance, healthcare, public sector)

• Real-time + batch processing

• Deep B2B/EDI capabilities — especially relevant in manufacturing and supply chains

Limitations:

• Smaller global ecosystem vs. US leaders

• Fewer pre-built connectors than some competitors

• Smaller partner ecosystem outside Europe

Boomi - The cloud integration veteran

Boomi (formerly Dell Boomi) is one of the oldest names in the iPaaS market. Its AtomSphere platform offers broad coverage of integration needs, from API management to B2B/EDI.

Best for: Enterprises with strong cloud-first strategies and budget for managed services

Strengths:

• Well-balanced platform covering multiple integration needs

• Large partner ecosystem and marketplace

• Covers integration, API management and master data management

• Strong cloud-native architecture and performance

Limitations:

• Can be overly complex for simple integration needs

• Pricing can escalate quickly with increased usage

• Limited hybrid and on-premises deployment flexibility

• Steeper learning curve for advanced features

MuleSoft - The API-led heavyweight

MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform is built around API-led connectivity, making it a leader in governance and lifecycle management.

Best for: Large enterprises with dedicated integration teams and deep Salesforce investment

Strengths:

• Industry-leading API management and governance

• Strong Salesforce integration

• Flexible deployment options (cloud, on-prem, hybrid)

• Deep monitoring and analytics

Limitations:

• Very high cost and complexity for most organizations

• Steep learning curve requiring specialized expertise

• Overkill for simple integration requirements

• Requires significant technical resources for implementation

Workato - The recipe-driven integration platform

Workato markets itself as both integration and automation — with AI-powered “recipes” and thousands of connectors.

Best for: Fortune 500 companies with large budgets seeking AI-powered automation and extensive third-party integrations

Strengths:

• 1000+ pre-built connectors and integrations

• Recipe-based visual development approach

• AI-powered automation (Workbot) and intelligent document processing

• Enterprise security and compliance features

Limitations:

• Very high cost (>$100k typical enterprise spend)

• Primarily cloud-focused with limited on-premises options

• Complex setup and configuration for advanced features

• Steep learning curve despite “recipes”

SnapLogic - The data pipeline expert

Best for: Analytics-heavy organizations

Strengths:

• Excellent data integration and pipeline capabilities

• Strong self-service capabilities for business users

• Good performance for data-intensive workloads

• Focus on analytics and data science use cases

Limitations:

• Less focus on business process automation

• Limited workflow and orchestration capabilities

• Can be complex for non-data integration use cases

SAP Integration Suite - The ERP specialist

Best for: Enterprises fully invested in SAP ERP

Strengths:

• Deep SAP-to-SAP and SAP-to-third-party integrations

• Event-driven integration

• Strong compliance

Limitations:

• High complexity and cost

• Primarily SAP-focused

• Less usable for non-SAP systems

Jitterbit - The mid-market challenger

Best for: Companies needing powerful integration at a competitive price

Strengths:

• Strong data transformation and mapping capabilities

• Flexible deployment options, including hybrid

• User-friendly for technical users

Limitations:

• Less extensive connector library than market leaders
• Limited advanced AI and machine learning capabilities
• Smaller market presence and partner ecosystem
• Less comprehensive enterprise governance features

Zapier - The simplicity champion

Best for: Small businesses and non-technical users

Strengths:

• 7,000+ app integrations

• Easy “if-this-then-that” logic

• Great for marketing and ops teams

Limitations:

• Not enterprise-ready — lacks compliance and governance

• Expensive at scale

• Poor fit for hybrid/ERP

Summary

How to Choose the Right iPaaS

European CIOs should weigh:

• Compliance & sovereignty – Does it respect GDPR and local residency?

• Hybrid flexibility – Can it bridge legacy and modern systems?

• Cost model – Transparent vs. “per task” pricing traps

• AI readiness – Can it scale into agentic AI?

• Ecosystem fit – Does it align with your ERP/CRM stack?

The future of iPaaS in Europe: Agentic AI

The next leap is Agentic AI — integration systems that learn, adapt, and fix themselves.

Frends is taking a security-first, enterprise-focused approach to AI with:

• Self-healing integrations that resolve errors automatically

• Natural language design for workflows

• Explainable AI actions with audit trails

• Human-in-the-loop governance

• GDPR-compliant AI deployment

This ensures AI in integration isn’t just hype, but solves real business pain points, removes siloes, and delivers measurable ROI.

Conclusion

• Choose Frends if you’re a European enterprise needing a cost-effective hybrid, compliant iPaaS with strong ERP/legacy integration and safe, AI-powered workflows.

• Choose Boomi if you want a balanced, cloud-first platform with strong partner ecosystem.

• Choose MuleSoft if you’re a large Salesforce-heavy enterprise with deep API requirements (and budget).

• Choose Workato if you want AI-heavy automation and have the scale to justify premium pricing.

• Choose SAP Integration Suite if SAP is your digital core.

• Choose SnapLogic or Jitterbit for specific mid-market or data-heavy needs.

• Choose Zapier if you’re a small business needing simple SaaS automation.

The integration platform you pick today will shape your digital transformation, compliance readiness and AI adoption for the next decade.