Software · head to head
Swagger vs Akana
S
Swagger
Software
API design and documentation platform for building, testing, and managing APIs
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Swagger has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Swagger swaggerHub, the commercial layer over the free open source Swagger tools, is sold in Free, Team and Enterprise tiers with the Enterprise tier requiring a sales contact and no public price, per the vendor pricing page; Akana owned by Perforce and sold within their portfolio rather than independently, and akana.com redirects to perforce.com
- They diverge on capability: Swagger covers API Specification, Akana covers API Lifecycle Management.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Swagger and Akana 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 Swagger
- API Specification
- Interactive Documentation
- Code Generation
- GitHub
- GitLab
- Azure DevOps
- Jira
- Web support
Only in Akana
- API Lifecycle Management
- API Security
- Governance Controls
- OAuth
- SAML
- LDAP
- Active Directory
- Cloud support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Swagger
- API Developmentnot Akana
- API Gatewaynot Akana
- API Testingnot Akana
- API Documentationnot Akana
- Microservicesnot Akana
Akana
- API lifecycle management across REST, SOAP and GraphQLnot Swagger
- Applying OAuth, JWT and SAML policies at the gatewaynot Swagger
- Running the same platform on-premises, in Kubernetes or across cloudsnot Swagger
- Developer portal and API monetisationnot Swagger
- Monitoring API traffic and enforcing quotasnot Swagger
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Swagger
- SwaggerHub, the commercial layer over the free open source Swagger tools, is sold in Free, Team and Enterprise tiers with the Enterprise tier requiring a sales contact and no public price, per the vendor pricing page
Akana
- Owned by Perforce and sold within their portfolio rather than independently, and akana.com redirects to perforce.com
- Pricing is not published; only a 30 day trial is offered
Pricing, plan by plan
Swagger
Free- FreeFree
- OpenAPI specification
- Swagger UI
- API documentation
- Professional$20/monthly
- Advanced features
- Team collaboration
- API testing
- Enterprise$undefined/monthly
- Custom deployment
- Advanced security
- Dedicated support
Akana
$2500/monthly- Professional$2500/monthly
- API Gateway
- Developer Portal
- Basic analytics
- Enterprise$5000/monthly
- Advanced governance
- Multi-cloud support
- Premium support
- Custom$undefined/monthly
- Custom solutions
- Dedicated support
- SLA guarantee
Which should you pick?
Choose Swagger if
- You need api specification.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, CLI, Desktop.
- You also want interactive documentation.
Choose Akana if
- You need api lifecycle management.
- You work on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid.
- You also want api security.
Questions people ask
- Is Swagger or Akana better?
- Neither clearly leads. Swagger starts at Free and Akana at $2500/monthly, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Swagger or Akana?
- Swagger has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Swagger and $2500/monthly for Akana.
- Does Swagger or Akana run on more platforms?
- Swagger runs on Web, CLI, Desktop. Akana runs on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid.
- Can I use Swagger for free?
- Yes. Swagger has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Akana starts at $2500/monthly.
- What is Swagger best used for?
- Swagger is most often used for api development, api gateway, api testing, api documentation. Of those, api development and api gateway are not what Akana is typically brought in for.
- What can Swagger do that Akana cannot?
- Swagger covers API Specification, Interactive Documentation, Code Generation, GitHub. Akana covers API Lifecycle Management, API Security, Governance Controls, OAuth.