API gateways & management, in detail
Rate limiting, auth, routing and analytics in front of your APIs. The recurring pattern: open-source cores with widening gaps to the paid platforms, and per-request cloud pricing that's cheap until it isn't. Two developer-first challengers join the four incumbents from the overview.
| Tool | Free tier | Entry price | Billing unit | Watch out for | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kong | OSS gateway; Konnect ~1M req/mo | Usage-based above | Per request (cloud) | OSS-vs-Enterprise feature gap widened through 2024 | Battle-tested gateway + plugin ecosystem |
| AWS API Gateway | Credit-based for new accounts | HTTP APIs $1.00/M requests | Per million requests | REST APIs cost 3.5× HTTP APIs — pick the right flavor | Serverless-native APIs for Lambda/IAM shops |
| Apollo GraphOS | ~10M operations/mo | Usage-based above | Per million operations | Router is ELv2, not OSS; 2023 free-tier migration stung | The de-facto GraphQL federation platform |
| Tyk | OSS gateway (MPL) | Cloud quote-based | Per gateway/env | Dashboard/portal are proprietary; pricing went sales-led | Open-source-core management avoiding Kong's gap |
| Zuplo | Free tier | Usage-based plans | Per request | Younger platform; edge-first architecture | Developer-first, git-ops programmable gateway |
| Gravitee | OSS core | Paid platform plans | Per gateway (platform) | Open core with enterprise gating, like the others | Event-native APIM (Kafka/WebSocket alongside REST) |
Pricing models and free tiers change often — check each vendor for current terms. Compiled July 2026; the most volatile figures verified on official pricing pages.
Official pages: Kong · AWS API Gateway · Apollo GraphOS · Tyk · Zuplo · Gravitee
Entry price at a glance
USD per million requests where published — most of this category is usage-based or quote-only.
Notes & recent changes
- AWS HTTP APIs ($1.00/M) versus REST APIs ($3.50/M) is a 3.5× difference for mostly-overlapping features — most new builds want HTTP APIs.
- Apollo retired its legacy free Team tier in mid-2023 and moved to operation-based GraphOS billing; the Router is Elastic-licensed, not open source.
- Every open-core vendor here (Kong, Tyk, Gravitee) gates the management UI or portal — price the platform, not the gateway.
Which one should you pick?
- Standard REST gateway with plugins → Kong.
- All-in on Lambda → AWS HTTP APIs.
- Federated GraphQL → Apollo GraphOS.
- Git-ops DX on the edge → Zuplo.