The Best API Gateway Software in 2026
We researched API gateway software using official websites, including pricing pages, plan tables, and product documentation. Rankings consider each product’s core gateway capabilities, value for money, and verified features for routing, authentication, transformation, rate limiting, and traffic management.
Our top picks
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Top ranked
Azure API Management#1 of 299.4/10A full-lifecycle API platform for enterprises with hybrid deployment needs.
Pricing on request
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Runner-up
Amazon API Gateway#2 of 299.3/10A broad AWS-native gateway for HTTP, REST, WebSocket, and private API workloads.
-
Top-ranked free plan
Apache APISIX#3 of 299.2/10A self-hosted gateway for teams needing broad protocol support and extensible traffic controls.
Free plan
Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.
The full ranking 29 tools, best first
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Best forEnterprises needing full API lifecycle management
A full-lifecycle API platform for enterprises with hybrid deployment needs.
9.4/10★★★★★Visit site -
Best forAWS-native teams needing broad API management
A broad AWS-native gateway for HTTP, REST, WebSocket, and private API workloads.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
9.3/10★★★★★Visit site -
Best forOpen-source teams wanting broad protocol support
A self-hosted gateway for teams needing broad protocol support and extensible traffic controls.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
9.2/10★★★★★Visit Apache APISIX -
Best forFederated enterprises managing many gateways
A hybrid gateway and governance layer for enterprises coordinating multiple gateway products.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
Pricing on request · 30-day trial Our MuleSoft Omni Gateway verdict → Visit MuleSoftFor vendors Sponsor this spot · #4 · $69/mo →9.1/10★★★★★Visit MuleSoft -
Best forSpring-based application teams
A flexible, self-hosted gateway for teams building on Spring.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
9.0/10★★★★☆Visit Spring Cloud -
Best forKubernetes teams needing a focused gateway
A focused, self-hosted Kubernetes gateway for teams that want open-source NGINX routing.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
8.9/10★★★★☆Visit NGINX -
Best forAlibaba Cloud and Kubernetes users
A cloud-managed gateway with strong Kubernetes, protocol, and traffic-control coverage.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
8.8/10★★★★☆Visit Alibaba Cloud -
Best forIBM environments and protocol transformation
A hybrid API gateway for IBM environments, protocol transformation and controlled traffic.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
8.7/10★★★★☆Visit IBM DataPower -
Best forOCI teams needing straightforward managed APIs
A straightforward managed gateway for OCI APIs with core governance and routing controls.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
8.6/10★★★★☆Visit Oracle Cloud -
Best forTencent Cloud customers seeking low usage pricing
A low-cost Tencent Cloud gateway with lifecycle tools, throttling, monitoring, and limited authentication.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
8.5/10★★★★☆Visit Tencent Cloud -
Best forFlexible hybrid deployments and Kubernetes teams
A flexible gateway for Kubernetes, hybrid infrastructure, and multi-cloud API operations.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
8.4/10★★★★☆Visit Kong Gateway -
Best forAPI management with portal and product features
A broad API management platform with gateway, portal, product, and hybrid deployment capabilities.
8.3/10★★★★☆Visit Tyk -
Best forMulti-environment API governance teams
A broad API governance platform for teams managing gateways across environments.
8.2/10★★★★☆Visit API7.ai -
Best forHybrid teams bridging legacy and modern protocols
A broad hybrid gateway for teams connecting legacy services with modern APIs.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
8.1/10★★★★☆Visit Axway -
Best forHybrid enterprises needing protocol-rich API management
A protocol-rich API gateway for hybrid estates, with paid plans starting at $2,500 monthly.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
8.0/10★★★★☆Visit Gravitee -
Best forDevelopers needing API aggregation and mediation
A flexible gateway for composing services, controlling traffic, and connecting mixed protocols.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit KrakenD -
Best forKubernetes teams using Gateway API standards
A capable, self-hosted gateway for Kubernetes teams standardizing on Gateway API.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
7.8/10★★★★☆Visit Envoy Gateway -
Best forTeams already using WSO2 or Envoy
A focused Envoy-based gateway for teams already working with WSO2 or Envoy.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
7.7/10★★★★☆Visit WSO2 -
Best forHybrid Kubernetes and multi-cluster operations
A broad self-hosted gateway for hybrid Kubernetes and multi-cluster teams.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
7.6/10★★★★☆Visit Traefik Hub -
Best forASP.NET Core and service-discovery users
A focused, self-hosted gateway for ASP.NET Core service architectures.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
7.5/10★★★★☆Visit Ocelot -
Best forKubernetes ingress with traffic controls
A self-hosted Kubernetes gateway with strong routing and traffic-control features.
- Rate limiting
7.4/10★★★★☆Visit Gravitee -
Best forTeams wanting open-source gateway flexibility
Flexible API gateway coverage with open-source deployment options and a short trial.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
7.3/10★★★★☆Visit Tyk -
Best forOpen-source Kubernetes and AI gateway teams
A broad open-source gateway for Kubernetes routing, security, service traffic, and AI APIs.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
7.2/10★★★★☆Visit Higress -
Best forGoogle Cloud teams with high API volumes
A Google Cloud-focused gateway with strong core controls and usage-based pricing.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
7.1/10★★★★☆Visit Google Cloud -
Best forKubernetes-native Envoy ingress
A focused, self-hosted Envoy gateway for teams routing and securing Kubernetes services.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
7.0/10★★★★☆Try Emissary-ingress -
Best forTeams seeking a lightweight Google API proxy
A lightweight Google Cloud API proxy with usage-based pricing and core management tools.
6.9/10★★★☆☆Visit Google Cloud -
Best forLegacy Netflix-stack self-hosted deployments
A focused self-hosted gateway for legacy Netflix-stack deployments.
- Rate limiting
- Request transformation
6.8/10★★★☆☆Visit Netflix Zuul -
Best forTeams focused on backend aggregation and response shaping
A self-hosted Go framework for combining backend calls and shaping API responses.
- Request transformation
6.5/10★★★☆☆Visit Lura -
Best forEnterprises prioritizing deployment automation
A broad deployment automation suite whose core strengths extend beyond API gateway functions.
5.2/10★★★☆☆Visit Broadcom
No tools match those filters.
Compare at a glance
| # | Tool | Free plan | Paid from | Deployment model | Supported protocols | Authentication methods | Rate limiting | Request transformation | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Azure API Management | No | Hybrid | 9.4 | |||||
| 2 | Amazon API Gateway | No | Cloud | HTTP, REST, WebSocket | IAM/SigV4, Amazon Cognito user pools, JWT/OIDC/OAuth 2.0, Lambda authorizers, API keys, mutual TLS | Yes | Yes | 9.3 | |
| 3 | Apache APISIX | Yes | Free | Self-hosted | HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, UDP, WebSocket, gRPC, MQTT, HTTP/3, Dubbo | API key, JWT, Basic Authentication, OAuth 2.0/OpenID Connect, HMAC, LDAP, CAS, Keycloak, Casdoor, forward authentication, multi-auth | Yes | Yes | 9.2 |
| 4 | MuleSoft Omni Gateway | No | Hybrid | HTTP, WebSocket, SOAP, gRPC, GraphQL, OAS3 REST, MCP, A2A | Client ID enforcement, HTTP Basic Authentication, JWT validation, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect | Yes | Yes | 9.1 | |
| 5 | Spring Cloud Gateway | Yes | Free | Self-hosted | HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, gRPC | Spring Security, OAuth 2.0, JWT, opaque tokens | Yes | Yes | 9.0 |
| 6 | NGINX Gateway Fabric | Yes | Free | Self-hosted | HTTP, HTTPS, HTTP/2, gRPC, TCP, TLS, UDP | Basic authentication, JWT, OpenID Connect, external authentication | Yes | Yes | 8.9 |
| 7 | Alibaba Cloud API Gateway | No | Cloud | HTTP, HTTPS, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, WebSocket, gRPC | AppCode, digest authentication, JWT, mutual TLS, custom authentication | Yes | Yes | 8.8 | |
| 8 | IBM DataPower Gateway | Hybrid | REST, SOAP, HTTP, POX, JSON, XML, IBM MQ, Apache Kafka | OAuth, OpenID Connect, JWT, LDAP, client credentials | Yes | Yes | 8.7 | ||
| 9 | Oracle Cloud Infrastructure API Gateway | $3.93/unit usage-based | Cloud | HTTP, HTTPS | OCI IAM, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, Remote JWKS, static keys, authorizer functions, mTLS | Yes | Yes | 8.6 | |
| 10 | Tencent Cloud API Gateway | No | $0.0089/unit usage-based | Cloud | HTTP, HTTPS | HMAC key-pair authentication | Yes | Yes | 8.5 |
| 11 | Kong Gateway | Yes | Hybrid | REST, HTTP, Kafka, WebSockets, gRPC, GraphQL, UDP, TCP, TLS | Basic Auth, HMAC, JWT, Key Auth, LDAP, mutual TLS, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SAML, Vault | Yes | Yes | 8.4 | |
| 12 | Tyk API Management | No | Hybrid | 8.3 | |||||
| 13 | API7 Enterprise | No | Hybrid | 8.2 | |||||
| 14 | Axway API Gateway | Hybrid | HTTP, HTTPS, REST, SOAP, XML, WebSockets, JMS, AMQP, MQTT, gRPC, FTP | OAuth, JWT tokens, API key, HTTP Basic/Digest, SAML, credentials in headers or payloads | Yes | Yes | 8.1 | ||
| 15 | Gravitee API Gateway | Yes | $2,500/mo | Hybrid | REST, GraphQL, gRPC, SOAP, WebSocket, Server-sent Events, Webhook | Keyless, API Key, Basic Authentication, OAuth2, JWT, Push, mutual TLS (mTLS), OIDC, SAML | Yes | Yes | 8.0 |
| 16 | KrakenD API Gateway | Yes | Hybrid | REST, HTTP, WebSockets, SOAP, gRPC, GraphQL, AMQP, Kafka, NATS | JWT, client credentials, OAuth2, OpenID Connect, API keys, Basic Authentication, mTLS | Yes | Yes | 7.9 | |
| 17 | Envoy Gateway | Yes | Free | Self-hosted | HTTP, HTTPS, gRPC, TLS, TCP, UDP | mTLS, JWT, API key, Basic Auth, OIDC, external authorization | Yes | Yes | 7.8 |
| 18 | WSO2 Choreo Connect | Free | Hybrid | HTTP/1.1; WebSocket | OAuth 2.0; Publisher Internal Key; API Key; Enforcer Test Key | Yes | Yes | 7.7 | |
| 19 | Traefik Hub API Gateway | No | Hybrid | HTTP, HTTP/2, TCP, UDP, WebSockets, gRPC | OIDC, LDAP, JWT, API key, HMAC, OAuth2, Open Policy Agent | Yes | Yes | 7.6 | |
| 20 | Ocelot | Free | Self-hosted | HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, WebSocket Secure (WSS) | JWT bearer tokens, IdentityServer bearer tokens, ASP.NET Core authentication schemes | Yes | Yes | 7.5 | |
| 21 | Ambassador Edge Stack | Self-hosted | HTTP, HTTPS, gRPC, gRPC-Web, HTTP/3 | Yes | 7.4 | ||||
| 22 | Tyk Gateway | Yes | Hybrid | REST, SOAP, GraphQL, gRPC, TCP, HTTP/HTTPS, WebSockets, Server-Sent Events (SSE) | API keys, bearer tokens, JWT, OIDC, Basic Auth, client certificates, mTLS, custom plugins | Yes | Yes | 7.3 | |
| 23 | Higress | Yes | Free | Hybrid | HTTP, HTTP2, HTTPS, GRPC, GRPCS, TCP, Dubbo | Key Auth, HMAC Auth, JWT Auth, Basic Auth, OAuth2, OIDC, External Auth, OPA | Yes | Yes | 7.2 |
| 24 | Google Cloud API Gateway | Yes | $1.50/unit/mo | Cloud | HTTP/REST, HTTP/JSON, gRPC | API keys, service accounts/JWT, Google authentication, Google ID tokens | Yes | Yes | 7.1 |
| 25 | Emissary-ingress | Yes | Free | Self-hosted | HTTP, HTTPS, HTTPPROXY, HTTPSPROXY, TCP, TLS, gRPC, HTTP/3 | Basic authentication, external HTTP or gRPC authentication service, client certificate validation, mutual TLS | Yes | Yes | 7.0 |
| 26 | Google Cloud Endpoints | Yes | $1.50/unit usage-based | Hybrid | 6.9 | ||||
| 27 | Zuul | Free | Self-hosted | HTTP, HTTP/2, WebSocket, Server-Sent Events (SSE) | Filter-based authentication, mutual TLS, custom authentication handlers | Yes | Yes | 6.8 | |
| 28 | Lura | Yes | Free | Self-hosted | HTTP(S); other transport adapters can be added, including Thrift, gRPC, AMQP and NATS | Yes | 6.5 | ||
| 29 | Automic Continuous Delivery Automation | 5.2 |
Head-to-head All 28 comparisons →
- Azure API Management vs Amazon API Gateway
- Azure API Management vs Apache APISIX
- Azure API Management vs MuleSoft Omni Gateway
- Azure API Management vs Spring Cloud Gateway
- Azure API Management vs NGINX Gateway Fabric
- Azure API Management vs Alibaba Cloud API Gateway
- Azure API Management vs IBM DataPower Gateway
- Amazon API Gateway vs Apache APISIX
- Amazon API Gateway vs MuleSoft Omni Gateway
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How we rank API gateway software
Every tool on this page was researched by iTechGuides Editors from its official website — pricing pages, plan tables and product documentation. We rank on how well each one does this category's core job, what the free or entry plan includes, and where it falls short. Where we have enough verified facts, the score out of 10 is a rubric — job fit, value and how much we could verify — shown with its breakdown on every tool's page; a tool we have not verified enough to score yet shows its rank without a number. Scores are re-checked when a product changes its plans. Read the full editorial policy, or submit a tool we missed.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Last updated · How we research and update