Softwr

API Management · head to head

Apigee vs CircleCI

Apigee logo

Apigee

API Management

API management platform for designing, securing, and scaling APIs

From
$500/monthly
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
CircleCI logo

CircleCI

Testing & QA

The leading CI/CD platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only CircleCI 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; CircleCI the free plan covers 6,000 build minutes and 5 active users a month

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Apigee and CircleCI actually diverge.

Attributes where Apigee and CircleCI differ
AttributeApigeeCircleCI
Starting price$500/monthlyFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsCloud, Hybrid, On-premisesWeb
CategoryAPI ManagementTesting & QA
Founded20062011

Identical on both: 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 Apigee

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

Only in CircleCI

Nothing recorded that Apigee does not also cover.

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 CircleCI
  • Monetizing APIs and running a developer portalnot CircleCI
  • Analyzing API traffic and defending APIs against bots and abusenot CircleCI

CircleCI

  • Continuous integration pipelines for application codenot Apigee
  • Parallel test execution across containersnot Apigee
  • Docker-based builds with layer cachingnot Apigee
  • Deployment pipelines with approval gatesnot Apigee
  • Self-hosted runners for private infrastructurenot 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

CircleCI

  • The free plan covers 6,000 build minutes and 5 active users a month
  • Active users are billed at $15 each beyond the included five, and an active user is anyone who commits to a project
  • Everything runs on credits, so compute, Docker layer caching at 200 credits a job and IP ranges at 450 credits per GB all draw from the same pool
  • Network and storage overage costs 420 credits per GB
  • Free credits expire monthly with no rollover, and paid credits expire after a year
  • Scale is annual billing only

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

CircleCI

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the CircleCI review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Apigee if

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

Choose CircleCI if

  • You want to start without paying.
CircleCI review

Questions people ask

Is Apigee or CircleCI better?
Neither clearly leads. Apigee starts at $500/monthly and CircleCI at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Apigee or CircleCI?
CircleCI has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $500/monthly for Apigee and Free for CircleCI.
Does Apigee or CircleCI run on more platforms?
Apigee runs on Cloud, Hybrid, On-premises. CircleCI runs on Web.
Can I use CircleCI for free?
Yes. CircleCI 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 CircleCI is typically brought in for.
What can Apigee do that CircleCI cannot?
Apigee covers API Gateway, API Analytics, Developer Portal, Google Cloud services.
ShareXLinkedInRedditWhatsAppEmail

Related pages

More on Apigee

More on CircleCI

Keep looking

Other head to heads