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AWS API Gateway

Fully managed API gateway service for creating and managing APIs at scale

As of 30 August 2026, AWS API Gateway has a free plan and paid plans start at $1/per million HTTP API calls. AWS API Gateway is a fully managed service that makes it easy for developers to create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale. Softwr lists it under APIs. AWS API Gateway is made by Amazon Web Services, launched in 2006, available on Web.

Overview

What AWS API Gateway does

AWS API Gateway is a fully managed service that makes it easy for developers to create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale. It handles traffic management, authorization, and monitoring.

What people use it for

  • Fronting Lambda functions with an HTTP endpoint
  • REST and HTTP API management with throttling and keys
  • WebSocket APIs for real-time clients
  • Private APIs reachable only inside a VPC
  • Publishing a developer portal for API consumers

The honest half

Where it falls short

Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about AWS API Gateway.

  • REST APIs cost $3.50 per million calls against $1.00 for HTTP APIs, so the older and more featureful type is three and a half times dearer
  • Data transfer out is charged at $0.09 per GB on top of request pricing
  • WebSocket APIs bill connection minutes as well as messages, at $0.25 per million minutes
  • Private APIs avoid data transfer charges but incur AWS PrivateLink costs instead
  • The developer portal is $125 a month, with additional portal products at $12.50 each
  • The free tier lasts 12 months rather than being ongoing

Cross-shopped

What people choose instead of AWS API Gateway

Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.

Pricing

What AWS API Gateway costs

Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.

Free Tier (12 months)

Free

  • 1M REST API calls per month
  • 1M HTTP API calls per month
  • 1M WebSocket messages plus 750K connection minutes per month

HTTP APIs

$1 /per million requests (first 300M)

  • First 300M: $1.00 per million
  • Next 132M: $0.90 per million
  • Data transfer varies by volume

REST APIs

$3.5 /per million API calls

  • Edge Optimized and Regional: $3.50 per million (first tier)
  • Higher volumes: $2.80 then $2.38 per million
  • Data transfer: $0.09 per GB

WebSocket APIs

$1 /per million messages

  • Messages: $1.00 per million
  • Connection minutes: $0.25 per million minutes

Capabilities

Features

  • REST APIs

  • WebSocket APIs

  • HTTP APIs

  • Lambda

    Integration with Lambda

  • EC2

    Integration with EC2

  • DynamoDB

    Integration with DynamoDB

  • CloudWatch

    Integration with CloudWatch

  • IAM

    Integration with IAM

  • AWS Cloud support

    Available on AWS Cloud

Answered, with sources

Questions people ask

Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.

How much does AWS API Gateway cost?

AWS API Gateway pricing varies by API type. HTTP APIs cost $1.00 per million requests for the first 300M monthly, then $0.90 per million. REST APIs cost $3.50 per million, and WebSocket APIs cost $1.00 per million messages plus $0.25 per million connection minutes. Data transfer charges ($0.09 per GB) apply separately.

Source
Is AWS API Gateway free?

New AWS customers receive 12 months of free tier access including 1 million REST API calls, 1 million HTTP API calls, and 1 million WebSocket messages plus 750,000 connection minutes per month. Starting July 15, 2025, new customers receive up to $200 in AWS Free Tier credits.

Source
What is the price difference between HTTP and REST APIs?

HTTP APIs are significantly cheaper at $1.00 per million requests compared to REST APIs at $3.50 per million (first tier). REST API pricing decreases to $2.80 and $2.38 per million for higher volumes, while HTTP API pricing drops to $0.90 per million after 300M monthly requests.

Source
How much does an API Gateway Portal cost?

API Gateway Portals require a base fee of $125 per month (includes 10 PortalProducts with 40 endpoints each) plus $12.50 per month for each additional PortalProduct beyond the included 10.

Source

Behind it

Who makes AWS API Gateway

Company
Amazon Web Services
Based in
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for AWS API Gateway, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.

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