API Management · head to head
Akana vs Swagger
Akana
API Management
Enterprise API lifecycle management platform
- From
- $2500/monthly
- Rated
- -
S
Swagger
API Management
API design and documentation platform for building, testing, and managing APIs
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Swagger has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Akana owned by Perforce and sold within their portfolio rather than independently, and akana.com redirects to perforce.com; Swagger swaggerHub, the commercial layer over the free open source Swagger tools, is sold in Free, Team and Enterprise tiers with the Enterprise tier requiring a sales contact and no public price, per the vendor pricing page
- They diverge on capability: Akana covers API Lifecycle Management, Swagger covers API Specification.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Akana and Swagger actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (API Management).
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 Akana
- API Lifecycle Management
- API Security
- Governance Controls
- OAuth
- SAML
- LDAP
- Active Directory
- Cloud support
Only in Swagger
- API Specification
- Interactive Documentation
- Code Generation
- GitHub
- GitLab
- Azure DevOps
- Jira
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Akana
- API lifecycle management across REST, SOAP and GraphQLnot Swagger
- Applying OAuth, JWT and SAML policies at the gatewaynot Swagger
- Running the same platform on-premises, in Kubernetes or across cloudsnot Swagger
- Developer portal and API monetisationnot Swagger
- Monitoring API traffic and enforcing quotasnot Swagger
Swagger
- API Developmentnot Akana
- API Gatewaynot Akana
- API Testingnot Akana
- API Documentationnot Akana
- Microservicesnot Akana
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Akana
- Owned by Perforce and sold within their portfolio rather than independently, and akana.com redirects to perforce.com
- Pricing is not published; only a 30 day trial is offered
Swagger
- SwaggerHub, the commercial layer over the free open source Swagger tools, is sold in Free, Team and Enterprise tiers with the Enterprise tier requiring a sales contact and no public price, per the vendor pricing page
Pricing, plan by plan
Akana
$2500/monthly- Professional$2500/monthly
- API Gateway
- Developer Portal
- Basic analytics
- Enterprise$5000/monthly
- Advanced governance
- Multi-cloud support
- Premium support
- Custom$undefined/monthly
- Custom solutions
- Dedicated support
- SLA guarantee
Swagger
Free- FreeFree
- OpenAPI specification
- Swagger UI
- API documentation
- Professional$20/monthly
- Advanced features
- Team collaboration
- API testing
- Enterprise$undefined/monthly
- Custom deployment
- Advanced security
- Dedicated support
Which should you pick?
Choose Akana if
- You need api lifecycle management.
- You work on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid.
- You also want api security.
Choose Swagger if
- You need api specification.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, CLI, Desktop.
- You also want interactive documentation.
Questions people ask
- Is Akana or Swagger better?
- Neither clearly leads. Akana starts at $2500/monthly and Swagger at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Akana or Swagger?
- Swagger has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $2500/monthly for Akana and Free for Swagger.
- Does Akana or Swagger run on more platforms?
- Akana runs on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid. Swagger runs on Web, CLI, Desktop.
- Can I use Swagger for free?
- Yes. Swagger has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Akana starts at $2500/monthly.
- What is Akana best used for?
- Akana is most often used for api lifecycle management across rest, soap and graphql, applying oauth, jwt and saml policies at the gateway, running the same platform on-premises, in kubernetes or across clouds, developer portal and api monetisation. Of those, api lifecycle management across rest, soap and graphql and applying oauth, jwt and saml policies at the gateway are not what Swagger is typically brought in for.
- What can Akana do that Swagger cannot?
- Akana covers API Lifecycle Management, API Security, Governance Controls, OAuth. Swagger covers API Specification, Interactive Documentation, Code Generation, GitHub.