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APIs · head to head

Gravitee vs Longhorn

Gravitee logo

Gravitee

APIs

Open source API management platform for event-native APIs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Longhorn logo

Longhorn

Cloud

Open source distributed block storage for Kubernetes, incubating at the CNCF

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Gravitee the entry paid API management tier is $2,500 a month and includes a single production gateway; Longhorn there is no vendor and no SLA, so a production incident at three in the morning is your own problem unless you buy SUSE Rancher Prime support separately.
  • They diverge on capability: Gravitee covers API Gateway, Longhorn covers Per-volume controllers.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Gravitee and Longhorn actually diverge.

Attributes where Gravitee and Longhorn differ
AttributeGraviteeLonghorn
Pricing modelfreemiumOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsCloud, On-premise, KubernetesLinux, Kubernetes
CategoryAPIsCloud
Founded2015Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Gravitee

  • API Gateway
  • Developer Portal
  • Analytics Dashboard
  • Kubernetes
  • Docker
  • Kafka
  • LDAP
  • Cloud support

Only in Longhorn

  • Per-volume controllers
  • Synchronous replication
  • Snapshots and backups
  • Volume expansion
  • Disaster recovery volumes
  • Web interface

What people use each for

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

Gravitee

  • API gateway and lifecycle managementnot Longhorn
  • Exposing Kafka event streams as managed APIsnot Longhorn
  • Protocol mediation between event brokers and clientsnot Longhorn
  • Self-hosting an open source API gatewaynot Longhorn
  • Access control and authentication in front of internal APIsnot Longhorn

Longhorn

  • An on-premises Kubernetes cluster with local disks and no SAN that needs replicated persistent volumesnot Gravitee
  • Edge sites where shipping a storage array is impractical and three nodes is the whole clusternot Gravitee
  • A K3s deployment where the storage layer must be light enough to run alongside the workloadsnot Gravitee
  • A team that wants snapshots and S3 backups of persistent volumes without paying per-node storage licencesnot Gravitee

Where each one falls short

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

Gravitee

  • The entry paid API management tier is $2,500 a month and includes a single production gateway
  • Event management is priced separately, starting at $1,250 a month for the Comet tier
  • Tiers are gated on gateway and broker counts, so scaling horizontally means moving tier rather than paying incrementally
  • Data logging masking and other enterprise features are withheld from the lowest paid tier
  • 24/7 support requires the top Universe tier

Longhorn

  • There is no vendor and no SLA, so a production incident at three in the morning is your own problem unless you buy SUSE Rancher Prime support separately.
  • Synchronous replication across nodes means write latency depends on the slowest replica and the network between nodes, which makes it a poor fit for latency-sensitive databases.
  • Every replica is a full copy, so three-way replication consumes three times the raw capacity, unlike erasure-coded systems that are far more space efficient.
  • It is designed for block storage on modest clusters and does not scale to the node counts or throughput that Ceph or a commercial array handles, so growth eventually forces a migration.
  • Recovery from certain degraded states, such as a volume stuck detaching or replicas failing to rebuild, requires manual intervention and knowledge of Longhorn internals that is not widely held.

Pricing, plan by plan

Gravitee

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • API Gateway
    • Basic analytics
    • Community support
  • Enterprise$1500/monthly
    • Advanced features
    • SLA support
    • SSO integration
  • Custom$undefined/monthly
    • Custom deployment
    • Dedicated support
    • Premium SLA

Longhorn

Free
  • LonghornFree
    • Apache 2.0 licensed, no licence fee
    • Community support via GitHub and Slack only
    • No vendor SLA or escalation path

Which should you pick?

Choose Gravitee if

  • You need api gateway.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, On-premise, Kubernetes.
  • You also want developer portal.
Gravitee review

Choose Longhorn if

  • You need per-volume controllers.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Kubernetes.
  • You also want synchronous replication.
Longhorn review

Questions people ask

Is Gravitee or Longhorn better?
Neither clearly leads. Gravitee starts at Free and Longhorn at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Gravitee or Longhorn?
Gravitee starts at Free and Longhorn at Free.
Does Gravitee or Longhorn run on more platforms?
Gravitee runs on Cloud, On-premise, Kubernetes. Longhorn runs on Linux, Kubernetes.
Can I use Gravitee for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Gravitee best used for?
Gravitee is most often used for api gateway and lifecycle management, exposing kafka event streams as managed apis, protocol mediation between event brokers and clients, self-hosting an open source api gateway. Of those, api gateway and lifecycle management and exposing kafka event streams as managed apis are not what Longhorn is typically brought in for.
What can Gravitee do that Longhorn cannot?
Gravitee covers API Gateway, Developer Portal, Analytics Dashboard, Kubernetes. Longhorn covers Per-volume controllers, Synchronous replication, Snapshots and backups, Volume expansion.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Gravitee: What is Gravitee's pricing model?

Gravitee uses a tiered subscription model with monthly flat pricing. The Planet tier for API Management starts at $2,500/month with one production gateway, while the Comet tier for Event Management starts at $1,250/month.

Source
Longhorn: Who do we call when it breaks?

Nobody, unless you buy SUSE Rancher Prime, which includes commercial support for Longhorn. This is the decisive question for production use.

Gravitee: Are there hidden fees with Gravitee?

No. Gravitee explicitly states there are no hidden fees, and all tiers include unlimited users and unlimited APIs under management.

Source
Longhorn: How much capacity does replication cost?

Full copies, so three replicas means three times the raw capacity. Budget accordingly rather than assuming erasure coding efficiency.

Gravitee: What does higher tier pricing include in Gravitee?

Higher tiers add more production gateways, enterprise plugins, and enhanced support levels ranging from Gold to Platinum/Diamond support.

Source
Longhorn: Is it suitable for production databases?

For modest workloads yes, but synchronous replication adds write latency and high-transaction databases usually want something faster.

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