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API Gateways Comparison

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In this post, we will discuss the comprehensive comparison of essential tools within the API Gateway.

API Gateway : Is a server or service that manage communication between an external clients/application and set of microservices .

What are the popular API Gateways commonly utilized in our community?

The popular API Gateways are :

( TYK - Kong - Gravitee - ApiGee - Azure - AWS - 3Scale - Ocelot )

Based on my search

Management
Features Tyk Kong Gravitee ApiGee Azure AWS 3Scale Ocelot - RP
Full Functional UI Does not include a fully-functional management Does not include a fully-functional management Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Owns Technology stack Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No/It's Library
Supports CI/CD  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No/Depend on .Net Core App
Support REST API Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Support SOAP  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Support GraphQL Yes Limited Limited Limited Yes Yes Yes Limited
Support Kafka  No Limited Yes No No No Limit/Red Hat AMQ streams or publishing images to OS No
Support gRPC  Yes Limited Yes Limited No No Yes No
No-code, no-XML policy configuration Only in Enterprise version No Yes No No No

No

(YAML + 
UI )

 No
Security
Rate limiting policies  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Limited

(lambda)

 Yes Limited/Configuration
Data logging Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Limited/ working on camel and convert request and response to custom object Limited/Configuration
Custom authentication policies  Yes Yes Yes No Yes Limited Yes Limited/Configuration
Flexible IdP integration  Yes Yes Yes Support only OAuth/SAML Yes Yes Yes Limited/Configuration
Native multi-factor authentication  No No Yes No Yes Limited Limited/Possible if using RHSSO Limited/Call Service
Adaptive MFA  No No Yes No Yes Limited No Limited/Configuration
Biometric authentication  No No Yes No Yes Limited No Limited/Configuration
Design
Create new APIs via a management API  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited Yes Limited/Configuration
Import existing APIs via a management API  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes/Swagger Limited/Configuration
Auto-documentation from API Design  No Yes Yes No No No No Limited/Configuration
Create mock responses for quick testing  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited

Limited /

By third party.

 Limited/Configuration
Developer Portal
Dedicated Developer Portal solution  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited Yes Limited/Configuration
Expose synchronous APIs Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited No Limited/Configuration
Expose asynchronous APIs  No No Yes No Limited No Yes Limited/Configuration
API Productization capabilities  Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited/Configuration
API Monetization  Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited/Configuration
Monitoring
dashboard  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited/Configuration
Audit logs  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited/Configuration
Health checks  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited/OpenShift Limited/Configuration
Native integration between IAM and API Monitoring solutions No No Yes No No No No Limited/Configuration
Adaptive alerting  No No Yes No No No Limited/Custom alert Limited/Configuration
Push API Monitoring metrics to third party platforms Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Limited/Configuration

 

What's the pros and cons for ( TYK - Kong - Gravitee - ApiGee - Azure - AWS - 3Scale - Ocelot ) ?

TYK :

Pros: 

  1. Open Source 
    1. Open-source version of its API Gateway
    2. Flexibility for customization and integration with other tools
  2. Scalability
    1. Designed to scale horizontally by adding more nodes to your infrastructure
  3. API Analytics
    1. Provides strong analytics and reporting tools that monitor and analyze API traffic
  4. Developer-Friendly
    1. The platform includes features such as key management, rate limiting, and authentication, making it easier for developers to work with APIs
  5. Security
    1. Including OAuth support, JWT (JSON Web Token) validation, IP whitelisting, and encryption
  6. Plugin System
    1. Enabling customization based on your specific needs
  7. Multi-Protocol Support
    1. Supports multiple protocols, including REST, GraphQL, and WebSocket, providing flexibility in building and managing APIs
  8. User-Friendly Dashboard
    1. Provides dashboard that allows administrators to configure and manage APIs easily

Cons:

  1. Learning Curve
    1. Users may need some time to become familiar with all the features and configurations
  2. Community Support
    1. While Tyk has an open-source version, community support may not be as extensive as with some other API management solutions
  3. Documentation Quality
    1. Some users have reported that the documentation could be more comprehensive, leading to potential challenges in features

Kong :

Pros: 

  1. Open Source 
    1. Open-source version of its API Gateway
    2. Flexibility for customization and integration with other tools
  2. Scalability
    1. Designed to scale horizontally by adding more nodes to your infrastructure
  3. API Analytics
    1. Provides strong analytics and reporting tools that monitor and analyze API traffic
  4. Developer-Friendly
    1. The platform includes features such as key management, rate limiting, and authentication, making it easier for developers to work with APIs
  5. Plugin System
    1. ​​​​​​​Enabling customization based on your specific needs
  6. Multi-Protocol Support
    1. ​​​​​​​Supports multiple protocols, including REST, WebSocket, providing flexibility in building and managing APIs
  7. User-Friendly Dashboard
    1. ​​​​​​​Provides dashboard that allows administrators to configure and manage APIs easily
  8. Centralized Configuration
    1. ​​​​​​​Kong allows for centralized configuration and management of APIs, making it easier to handle and update configurations across multiple services.
  9. Active Community
    1. ​​​​​​​Kong has a large and active community which can be beneficial for finding support

Cons:

  1. Learning Curve
    1. ​​​​​​​Users may need some time to become familiar with all the features and configurations
  2. Documentation Quality
    1. ​​​​​​​Some users have reported that the documentation could be more comprehensive, leading to potential challenges in features
  3. Complexity for Small Projects
    1. The full feature set of Kong might be considered overkill
  4. Upgrade Process
    1. ​​​​​​​Users have reported challenges with the upgrade process

Gravitee :

Pros: 

  1. Open Source 
    1. Open-source version of its API Gateway
    2. Flexibility for customization and integration with other tools
  2. Scalability
    1. Designed to scale horizontally by adding more nodes to your infrastructure
  3. API Analytics
    1. Provides strong analytics and reporting tools that monitor and analyze API traffic
  4. Developer Portal
    1. ​​​​​​​Gravitee includes a developer portal that allows you to create and publish documentation
  5. Developer-Friendly
    1. ​​​​​​​The platform includes features such as key management, rate limiting, and authentication, making it easier for developers to work with APIs
  6. Plugin System
    1. ​​​​​​​Enabling customization based on your specific needs
  7. Multi-Protocol Support
    1. ​​​​​​​Supports multiple protocols, including REST, WebSocket, providing flexibility in building and managing APIs
  8. User-Friendly
    1. ​​​​​​​Provides dashboard that allows administrators to configure and manage APIs easily
  9. Integrated Management
    1. ​​​​​​​Gravitee provides integrated management for various API-related tasks, such as versioning, security, and documentation.

Cons:

  1. Learning Curve
    1. ​​​​​​​Users may need some time to become familiar with all the features and configurations
  2. Community Support
    1. ​​​​​​​While Gravitee is open source and has a community edition, the community support may not be as extensive as with some other API management solutions
  3. Documentation Quality
    1. ​​​​​​​Some users have reported that the documentation could be more comprehensive, leading to potential challenges in features
  4. Limited Third-Party Integrations
    1. ​​​​​​​Gravitee may have fewer third-party integrations compared to some other API management solutions, which could impact its compatibility

Azure :

Pros: 

  1. Integration with Azure Services 
    1. Azure API Management integrates with other Azure services, providing experience for organizations already utilizing the Azure cloud platform
  2. Scalability
    1. Designed to scale horizontally by adding more nodes to your infrastructure or utilizing Azure's auto-scaling features.
  3. Developer Portal
    1. ​​​​​​​Azure includes a developer portal that allows you to create and publish documentation and manage subscriptions
  4. Security Features
    1. Including OAuth support, API key management, IP filtering, and SSL/TLS encryption.
  5. Analytics and Monitoring
    1. ​​​​​​​Azure API Management provides detailed analytics and monitoring tools to track API usage, performance, and errors
  6. Developer-Friendly
    1. ​​​​​​​It offers features such as API versioning, policy enforcement, and access control to collaborative API development.
  7. Policy Engine
    1. ​​​​​​​Azure API Management has a powerful policy engine that allows you to apply various policies such as transformation, rate limiting, and caching to APIs.
  8. Hybrid Cloud Support
    1. ​​​​​​​It supports hybrid cloud scenarios, enabling organizations to manage APIs both in the cloud and on-premises.

Cons:

  1. Learning Curve
    1. ​​​​​​​Users may need some time to become familiar with all the features and configurations
  2. Cost
    1. ​​​​​​​Can be a consideration especially for smaller organizations or projects with limited budgets.
  3. Customization Limitations
    1. ​​​​​​​Limitations in terms of customization compared to other solutions
  4. Documentation Management
    1. ​​​​​​​Managing large amounts of API documentation might be a bit complex
  5. Limited On-Premises Support
    1. ​​​​​​​While Azure API Management does offer some on-premises support, organizations with strict on-premises requirements may find the level of support to be limited compared to fully on-premises solution

AWS :

Pros: 

  1. Integration with AWS Services 
    1. AWS API Gateway integrates with various AWS services, making it easy to build and deploy APIs alongside other cloud resources.
  2. Scalability
    1. AWS API Gateway is designed to scale automatically based on demand, allowing you to handle varying levels of API traffic without manual intervention.
  3. Security ​​​​​​​
    1. It provides security features, including AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) integration, API key management, OAuth support, and SSL/TLS encryption.
  4. Developer-Friendly
    1. ​​​​​​​AWS API Gateway supports the creation of RESTful APIs and WebSocket APIs, and it includes features like API versioning and customizable error handling.
  5. Serverless Integration
    1. ​​​​​​​It integrates well with AWS Lambda, allowing you to build serverless architectures
  6. Monitoring and Analytics
    1. ​​​​​​​AWS API Gateway provides comprehensive monitoring and analytics tools, including CloudWatch
  7. Developer Portal
    1. ​​​​​​​It includes a developer portal for publishing API documentation, managing API keys
  8. Cost Control
    1. ​​​​​​​AWS API Gateway offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model, allowing you to control costs based on the actual usage of your APIs.

Cons:

  1. Learning Curve
    1. ​​​​​​​Users may need some time to become familiar with all the features and configurations
  2. Costs for High Traffic
    1. ​​​​​​​high API traffic can lead to increased costs, and users should carefully manage and monitor usage to control expenses.
  3. Customization Limitations
    1. ​​​​​​​Limitations in terms of customization compared to other solutions
  4. Cold Start Latency
    1. ​​​​​​​In serverless architectures using AWS Lambda, there may be an initial "cold start" latency when functions are invoked, which can impact response times for infrequently used APIs.
  5. Lock-in
    1. ​​​​​​​There's a level of vendor lock-in when using AWS API Gateway
  6. Rate Limiting Limitations
    1. ​​​​​​​While rate limiting is supported, some users have provided feedback on the need for more granular control over rate limiting policies.

 

3scale :

Pros: 

  1. Scalability
    1. Designed to scale horizontally by adding more nodes to your infrastructure or utilizing Azure's auto-scaling features.
  2. Developer-Friendly
    1. It provides a user-friendly interface for managing APIs, making it easier for developers to configure and monitor their APIs.
  3. Integration with Red Hat Ecosystem
    1. ​​​​​​​Being part of Red Hat, 3scale integrates well with other Red Hat products
  4. API Analytics
    1. ​​​​​​​3scale offers analytics and reporting tools, allowing you to monitor API traffic, performance, and usage patterns
  5. Multi-Protocol Support​​​​​​​

    1. 3scale supports various protocols, including REST and SOAP, providing flexibility for different types of APIs.

  6. Security Features

    1. ​​​​​​​It includes security features such as API key management, OAuth support, and rate limiting to enhance the overall security of your APIs.

  7. Developer Portal

    1. ​​​​​​​3scale provides a developer portal for publishing API documentation, managing subscriptions

  8. Customization​​​​​​​

    1. 3scale allows customization through its API and plugin system, enabling users to extend functionality based on requirements.

Cons:

  1. Learning Curve
    1. ​​​​​​​Users may need some time to become familiar with all the features and configurations
  2. Documentation Quality
    1. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Some users have reported that the documentation could be more comprehensive, leading to potential challenges in features
  3. Limited Open Source Options
    1. some advanced features and capabilities may be available only in the enterprise version, which could be a limitation for organizations with specific needs.
  4. Cost
    1. ​​​​​​​The cost of using 3scale, especially the enterprise version, may be a consideration
  5. Community Support
    1. ​​​​​​​On openshift community 

Ocelot  :

Pros: 

  1. Open Source
    1. Ocelot is open-source, providing flexibility for customization and the ability to modify the source code to suit specific needs.
  2. Lightweight
    1. ​​​​​​​Ocelot is designed to be lightweight, making it suitable for smaller projects or scenarios where a simpler API Gateway solution is preferred
  3. .NET Ecosystem Integration
    1. It is built for .NET and ASP.NET Core, Ocelot seamlessly integrates with the .NET ecosystem, making it a good fit for organizations using .NET technologies
  4. Routing and Load Balancing
    1. ​​​​​​​Ocelot supports routing and load balancing, allowing you to distribute incoming requests across multiple backend services
  5. Configurability
    1. ​​​​​​​Ocelot allows for configuration through JSON
  6. Logging and Monitoring
    1. ​​​​​​​Ocelot can be configured to log requests and responses, aiding in monitoring and debugging efforts

Cons:

  1. Limited Features
    1. ​​​​​​​Ocelot is more lightweight compared to some other API Gateway solutions,
  2. Learning Curve for Non-.NET Developers
    1. ​​​​​​​Developers who are not familiar with the .NET ecosystem may experience a learning curve
  3. Fewer Built-in Security Features
    1. ​​​​​​​Ocelot provides basic security features
  4. Documentation Quality
    1. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Some users have reported that the documentation could be more comprehensive, leading to potential challenges in features
  5. Not Suitable for All Use Cases​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​


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