API Management · head to head
Apigee vs AWS API Gateway
Apigee
API Management
API management platform for designing, securing, and scaling APIs
- From
- $500/monthly
- Rated
- -
AWS API Gateway
API Management
Fully managed API gateway service for creating and managing APIs at scale
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only AWS API Gateway has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Apigee the free evaluation is a sandbox limited to 60 days; AWS API Gateway rEST APIs cost $3.50 per million calls against $1.00 for HTTP APIs, so the older and more featureful type is three and a half times dearer
- They diverge on capability: Apigee covers API Gateway, AWS API Gateway covers REST APIs.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Apigee and AWS API Gateway actually diverge.
| Attribute | Apigee | AWS API Gateway |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $500/monthly | Free |
| Pricing model | subscription | usage-based |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Cloud, Hybrid, On-premises | AWS Cloud |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (API Management), founded (2006).
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 Apigee
- API Gateway
- API Analytics
- Developer Portal
- Google Cloud services
- Azure
- AWS
- Okta
- Cloud support
Only in AWS API Gateway
- REST APIs
- WebSocket APIs
- HTTP APIs
- Lambda
- EC2
- DynamoDB
- CloudWatch
- IAM
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Apigee
- Publishing, securing and versioning APIs for an enterprise API programnot AWS API Gateway
- Monetizing APIs and running a developer portalnot AWS API Gateway
- Analyzing API traffic and defending APIs against bots and abusenot AWS API Gateway
AWS API Gateway
- Fronting Lambda functions with an HTTP endpointnot Apigee
- REST and HTTP API management with throttling and keysnot Apigee
- WebSocket APIs for real-time clientsnot Apigee
- Private APIs reachable only inside a VPCnot Apigee
- Publishing a developer portal for API consumersnot Apigee
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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
AWS API Gateway
- REST APIs cost $3.50 per million calls against $1.00 for HTTP APIs, so the older and more featureful type is three and a half times dearer
- Data transfer out is charged at $0.09 per GB on top of request pricing
- WebSocket APIs bill connection minutes as well as messages, at $0.25 per million minutes
- Private APIs avoid data transfer charges but incur AWS PrivateLink costs instead
- The developer portal is $125 a month, with additional portal products at $12.50 each
- The free tier lasts 12 months rather than being ongoing
Pricing, plan by plan
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
AWS API Gateway
Free- Free TierFree
- 1M requests per month
- Basic API management
- Pay-as-you-go$3.5/per 1M requests
- Unlimited requests
- HTTP APIs
- REST APIs
Which should you pick?
Choose Apigee if
- You need api gateway.
- You work on Cloud, Hybrid, On-premises.
- You also want api analytics.
Choose AWS API Gateway if
- You need rest apis.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on AWS Cloud.
- You also want websocket apis.
Questions people ask
- Is Apigee or AWS API Gateway better?
- Neither clearly leads. Apigee starts at $500/monthly and AWS API Gateway at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Apigee or AWS API Gateway?
- AWS API Gateway has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $500/monthly for Apigee and Free for AWS API Gateway.
- Does Apigee or AWS API Gateway run on more platforms?
- Apigee runs on Cloud, Hybrid, On-premises. AWS API Gateway runs on AWS Cloud.
- Can I use AWS API Gateway for free?
- Yes. AWS API Gateway has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Apigee starts at $500/monthly.
- What is Apigee best used for?
- Apigee is most often used for publishing, securing and versioning apis for an enterprise api program, monetizing apis and running a developer portal, analyzing api traffic and defending apis against bots and abuse. Of those, publishing, securing and versioning apis for an enterprise api program and monetizing apis and running a developer portal are not what AWS API Gateway is typically brought in for.
- What can Apigee do that AWS API Gateway cannot?
- Apigee covers API Gateway, API Analytics, Developer Portal, Google Cloud services. AWS API Gateway covers REST APIs, WebSocket APIs, HTTP APIs, Lambda.