API Management · head to head
Gravitee vs Stoplight

Gravitee
API Management
Open source API management platform for event-native APIs
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -

Stoplight
API Management
API design, documentation, and governance platform
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
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; Stoplight the free plan allows one project and one user
- They diverge on capability: Gravitee covers API Gateway, Stoplight covers API Design.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Gravitee and Stoplight actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (API Management).
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
- On-premise support
Only in Stoplight
- API Design
- API Documentation
- Governance
- GitHub
- GitLab
- Jenkins
- Azure DevOps
- Web support
Both cover
- Cloud support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Gravitee
- API gateway and lifecycle managementnot Stoplight
- Exposing Kafka event streams as managed APIsnot Stoplight
- Protocol mediation between event brokers and clientsnot Stoplight
- Self-hosting an open source API gatewaynot Stoplight
- Access control and authentication in front of internal APIsnot Stoplight
Stoplight
- Designing and documenting OpenAPI specifications visuallynot Gravitee
- Serving interactive API docs and instant mock servers from a specnot 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
Stoplight
- The free plan allows one project and one user
- Private projects, multi branch support and custom domains start at the Startup plan, $113 a month billed annually
- SSO and shared style guides are Pro Team only, at $362 a month billed annually
- Seats beyond each plan's allowance are $11 to $27 each per month depending on tier and billing period
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
Stoplight
Free- FreeFree
- API design
- Documentation
- Community support
- Pro$75/monthly
- Governance
- Advanced testing
- Team collaboration
- Enterprise$undefined/monthly
- Custom deployment
- SLA
- Priority support
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.
Choose Stoplight if
- You need api design.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Cloud.
- You also want api documentation.
Questions people ask
- Is Gravitee or Stoplight better?
- Neither clearly leads. Gravitee starts at Free and Stoplight at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Gravitee or Stoplight?
- Gravitee starts at Free and Stoplight at Free.
- Does Gravitee or Stoplight run on more platforms?
- Gravitee runs on Cloud, On-premise, Kubernetes. Stoplight runs on Web, Cloud.
- 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 Stoplight is typically brought in for.
- What can Gravitee do that Stoplight cannot?
- Gravitee covers API Gateway, Developer Portal, Analytics Dashboard, Kubernetes. Stoplight covers API Design, API Documentation, Governance, GitHub. Both handle Cloud support.
Related pages
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- Stoplight vs Appwrite
- Stoplight vs Hasura
- Stoplight vs PocketBase
- Stoplight vs Sanity
- Stoplight vs Apigee
- Stoplight vs Bruno
- Stoplight vs KeystoneJS
- Stoplight vs Parse Server
- Stoplight vs Strapi
- Stoplight vs Swagger/OpenAPI
- Stoplight vs Thunder Client
- Stoplight vs WSO2 API Manager
- Stoplight vs 3scale
- Stoplight vs Akana
- Stoplight vs Asyncapi
- Stoplight vs AWS API Gateway
- Stoplight vs Microsoft Azure API Management
- Stoplight vs Backendless
