Software · head to head
Asyncapi vs Apigee
Asyncapi
Software
Specification and tools for defining asynchronous APIs
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Apigee
Software
API management platform for designing, securing, and scaling APIs
- From
- $500/monthly
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Asyncapi has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Asyncapi complex to implement and debug asynchronous operations due to their non-linear and concurrent nature; Apigee the free evaluation is a sandbox limited to 60 days
- They diverge on capability: Asyncapi covers API Specification, Apigee covers API Gateway.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Asyncapi and Apigee actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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 Asyncapi
- API Specification
- Code generation
- Documentation
- Multiple messaging protocols
- Code generators
- Specification support
- Tools support
- CLI support
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.
Asyncapi
- API Developmentnot Apigee
- API Gatewaynot Apigee
- API Testingnot Apigee
- API Documentationnot Apigee
- Microservicesnot Apigee
Apigee
- Publishing, securing and versioning APIs for an enterprise API programnot Asyncapi
- Monetizing APIs and running a developer portalnot Asyncapi
- Analyzing API traffic and defending APIs against bots and abusenot Asyncapi
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Asyncapi
- Complex to implement and debug asynchronous operations due to their non-linear and concurrent nature
- Keeping AsyncAPI documents up to date is challenging as systems evolve
- Tracing and debugging asynchronous operations is more difficult than synchronous request-response patterns
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
Asyncapi
Free- Open SourceFree
- AsyncAPI specification
- Tools
- Community support
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 Asyncapi if
- You need api specification.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, CLI, IDE Extensions.
- You also want code generation.
Choose Apigee if
- You need api gateway.
- You work on Cloud, Hybrid, On-premises.
- You also want api analytics.
Questions people ask
- Is Asyncapi or Apigee better?
- Neither clearly leads. Asyncapi 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, Asyncapi or Apigee?
- Asyncapi has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Asyncapi and $500/monthly for Apigee.
- Does Asyncapi or Apigee run on more platforms?
- Asyncapi runs on Web, CLI, IDE Extensions. Apigee runs on Cloud, Hybrid, On-premises.
- Can I use Asyncapi for free?
- Yes. Asyncapi has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Apigee starts at $500/monthly.
- What is Asyncapi best used for?
- Asyncapi is most often used for api development, api gateway, api testing, api documentation. Of those, api development and api gateway are not what Apigee is typically brought in for.
- What can Asyncapi do that Apigee cannot?
- Asyncapi covers API Specification, Code generation, Documentation, Multiple messaging protocols. Apigee covers API Gateway, API Analytics, Developer Portal, Google Cloud services.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Asyncapi: What is AsyncAPI used for?
AsyncAPI is an open-source specification for defining and documenting asynchronous APIs, message-driven systems, and event-driven architectures. It serves the same purpose for async APIs as OpenAPI does for REST APIs, providing standardized documentation, code generation, and tooling.
SourceAsyncapi: Is AsyncAPI free to use?
Yes, AsyncAPI is completely free and open-source. It is hosted by the Linux Foundation and supported by community contributions and sponsorships from companies like Postman, IBM, IQVIA Technology, and Solace.
SourceAsyncapi: What protocols and technologies does AsyncAPI support?
AsyncAPI supports multiple protocols and technologies including Kafka, RabbitMQ, MQTT, Socket.IO, AWS EventBridge, and others. It provides language support for JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Java, Go, C#/.NET, Kotlin, and PHP.
SourceAsyncapi: Does AsyncAPI have IDE support?
Yes, AsyncAPI has IDE extensions available for VSCode and IntelliJ, along with CLI utilities and GitHub Actions integration for developers.
Source