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Cybersecurity · head to head

Akeyless vs Apigee

Akeyless logo

Akeyless

Cybersecurity

Runtime identity security at agentic scale

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Apigee logo

Apigee

APIs

API management platform for designing, securing, and scaling APIs

From
$500/monthly
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Akeyless has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Akeyless pricing is usage-based and complex, requires sales consultation; Apigee the free evaluation is a sandbox limited to 60 days
  • They diverge on capability: Akeyless covers Secrets management, Apigee covers API Gateway.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Akeyless and Apigee actually diverge.

Attributes where Akeyless and Apigee differ
AttributeAkeylessApigee
Starting priceFree$500/monthly
Pricing modelUsage-based pricing units that vary by product modulesubscription
Free tierYesNo
CategoryCybersecurityAPIs
FoundedUnknown2006

Identical on both: platforms (Cloud, Hybrid, On-Premises), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Akeyless

  • Secrets management
  • Machine identity
  • AI agent identity
  • Certificate management
  • Privileged access management
  • Multi-vault governance
  • Encryption and KMS
  • Password manager

Only in Apigee

  • API Gateway
  • API Analytics
  • Developer Portal
  • Google Cloud services
  • Azure
  • AWS
  • Okta
  • Cloud support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Akeyless

  • Securing AI agents with dedicated identity trackingnot Apigee
  • Managing machine-to-machine credentials at scalenot Apigee
  • Automating PKI and certificate lifecyclenot Apigee
  • Implementing just-in-time privileged accessnot Apigee

Apigee

  • Publishing, securing and versioning APIs for an enterprise API programnot Akeyless
  • Monetizing APIs and running a developer portalnot Akeyless
  • Analyzing API traffic and defending APIs against bots and abusenot Akeyless

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Akeyless

  • Pricing is usage-based and complex, requires sales consultation
  • Free tier is very limited with restricted access
  • No transparent pricing published for enterprise features
  • Pricing model varies significantly by product module

Apigee

  • The free evaluation is a sandbox limited to 60 days
  • Pay-as-you-go has no SLA available at all
  • Pay-as-you-go bills environments separately from API calls, with a Base environment costing $365 per month per region
  • The Base environment is capped at 50 QPS with an SLA of up to 99%
  • Standard API Proxy calls are billed at $20 per 1M calls up to 50M, and Extensible API Proxy calls at $100 per 1M calls up to 50M
  • API Analytics is a paid add-on at $20 per 1M API calls and cannot be bought on a Base environment
  • Advanced API Security is a paid add-on at $350 per 1M API calls and cannot be bought on a Base environment
  • Monetization is unavailable on pay-as-you-go and requires a subscription tier
  • Additional API proxy deployments beyond those included cost $0.04 per hour per region on a Comprehensive environment
  • Subscription tiers Standard, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus are quote only with no published price
  • Google Cloud networking charges for IP addresses, data transfer out and forwarding rules are billed on top of Apigee usage

Pricing, plan by plan

Akeyless

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Limited feature access
    • Restricted usage quotas
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Custom pricing based on usage
    • Unlimited resource quotas
    • Full feature access

Apigee

$500/monthly
  • Starter$500/monthly
    • API gateway
    • Analytics
    • Developer portal
  • Professional$2500/monthly
    • Advanced security
    • Traffic management
    • Monetization
  • Enterprise$undefined/monthly
    • Custom deployment
    • SLA
    • Dedicated support

Which should you pick?

Choose Akeyless if

  • You need secrets management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, Hybrid, On-Premises.
  • You also want machine identity.
Akeyless review

Choose Apigee if

  • You need api gateway.
  • You work on Cloud, Hybrid, On-premises.
  • You also want api analytics.
Apigee review

Questions people ask

Is Akeyless or Apigee better?
Neither clearly leads. Akeyless starts at Free and Apigee at $500/monthly, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Akeyless or Apigee?
Akeyless has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Akeyless and $500/monthly for Apigee.
Does Akeyless or Apigee run on more platforms?
Akeyless runs on Cloud, Hybrid, On-Premises. Apigee runs on Cloud, Hybrid, On-premises.
Can I use Akeyless for free?
Yes. Akeyless has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Apigee starts at $500/monthly.
What is Akeyless best used for?
Akeyless is most often used for securing ai agents with dedicated identity tracking, managing machine-to-machine credentials at scale, automating pki and certificate lifecycle, implementing just-in-time privileged access. Of those, securing ai agents with dedicated identity tracking and managing machine-to-machine credentials at scale are not what Apigee is typically brought in for.
What can Akeyless do that Apigee cannot?
Akeyless covers Secrets management, Machine identity, AI agent identity, Certificate management. Apigee covers API Gateway, API Analytics, Developer Portal, Google Cloud services.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Akeyless: What pricing model does Akeyless use?

Akeyless uses usage-based pricing units that vary by product. For example, Secrets Management is priced by clients, Certificate Management by managed certificates, Encryption by transactions, and PAM by users. Contact sales for a custom quote.

Source
Apigee: Does Apigee offer a free tier?

Yes, Apigee offers an always-free tier with access to 20+ products for common API management use cases, and a separate free trial providing $300 in credit for proof-of-concept projects.

Source
Akeyless: Does Akeyless support hybrid deployment?

Yes, Akeyless offers Pure SaaS cloud-managed deployment and Hybrid SaaS with on-premise gateways and zero-knowledge encryption for sensitive environments.

Source
Apigee: What is Apigee's pricing model?

Apigee uses a pay-as-you-go pricing model where customers pay based on API calls and usage, with a new pay-as-you-go model designed to optimize costs.

Source
Akeyless: How does Akeyless handle AI agent identities?

Akeyless provides dedicated AI agent identity tracking with runtime access control, allowing organizations to manage AI agent access separately from human and machine identities.

Source
Apigee: Is there a commitment required to start with Apigee?

No. The free trial provides $300 in credit with no automatic charges or commitment required, allowing customers to evaluate the platform risk-free.

Source
Apigee: Are there usage limits I should know about?

Apigee documentation includes a limits page covering usage constraints, though specific limits are not detailed in the pricing section.

Source
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