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Home/Categories/APIs & Integration/Apache APISIX
icon of Apache APISIX

Apache APISIX

Open source alternative to Google Apigee, Kong Konnect and Portkey

Apache APISIX is a cloud-native API gateway with dynamic routing, load balancing, authentication plugins, and real-time traffic management. Apache 2.0 licensed.

16.6K starsLuaApache-2.0Active this month
Visit websiteGitHub repo
image of Apache APISIX
Contents
  1. 01Who Apache APISIX is for
  2. 02The problem it solves
  3. 03How it solves it
  4. 04Strengths and trade-offs
  5. 05Apache APISIX vs alternatives
  6. 06Tech stack
  7. 07FAQ
  8. 08Similar open-source tools
TL;DR

Apache APISIX is an Apache-2.0 API gateway and AI gateway for routing, securing, and observing API traffic across microservices. It replaces managed or commercial gateways such as Google Apigee and Kong Konnect when platform teams need dynamic configuration, plugin control, Kubernetes-friendly deployment, and permissive licensing.Apache-2.0 · Lua · 16.6K stars · Active this month

who it's for

Who Apache APISIX is for#

Platform teams standardizing API traffic

APISIX gives platform teams one gateway for authentication, rate limits, routing, and metrics across many services. Dynamic route updates help teams ship policy changes without touching every backend.

Skip if:

Use a managed gateway if your team does not want to operate etcd, gateway upgrades, or production traffic policy.

Kubernetes teams replacing hosted gateways

APISIX fits Kubernetes ingress and service discovery workflows while keeping gateway behavior under the team's control. It is useful when request volume makes managed gateway pricing hard to justify.

Skip if:

Skip it if your main requirement is a hosted portal, billing, and enterprise API product management with minimal infrastructure work.

tech stack · detected from GitHub

What it's built on#

Languages
GoLuaPerlPythonTypeScript
Infrastructure
Kubernetes
frequently asked

FAQ#

What is Apache APISIX used for?
Is Apache APISIX open source?
How does Apache APISIX compare with Kong?
also worth a look

Similar open-source tools#

9Router

9Router

Smart AI Router with 3-Tier Fallback

9.8KJavaScriptMIT

Repository

Stars
16.6K
Forks
2.9K
License
Apache-2.0
Latest
3.16.0
Last commit
19 days ago
Last verified
May 13, 2026
Repo
apache/apisix ↗

Additional details

Language
Lua
Open issues
273
Contributors
502
First release
2019

Categories

APIs & IntegrationDevOps & CI/CDCloud & Hosting

Tags

API InfrastructureCloud NativeAuthenticationAuthorizationDevOps ToolsKubernetesMonitoringSecurity
the problem

The problem it solves#

Microservice teams need one reliable layer for routing, authentication, rate limiting, traffic splitting, and observability. Without an API gateway, every service repeats the same edge concerns, and policy changes require application releases instead of infrastructure configuration.\u000A\u000AManaged API gateways solve part of the problem but can tie cost to traffic volume, seats, or enterprise packages. That becomes painful for teams with high request volume, private network requirements, or gateway policies that need to change quickly.

how Apache APISIX solves it

How it solves it#

Dynamic route management

APISIX stores gateway configuration in etcd and lets operators update routes, upstreams, and plugins through the Admin API without restarting the gateway. That supports live traffic changes during migrations and incident response.

Plugin-based traffic control

Built-in plugins cover authentication, rate limiting, circuit breaking, request transformation, logging, tracing, and Prometheus metrics. Teams can apply policies per route instead of baking them into each service.

Cloud-native deployment paths

APISIX supports Docker, Kubernetes, ingress use cases, and service discovery integrations. It fits platform teams running HTTP, HTTPS, gRPC, WebSocket, and microservice traffic through one edge layer.

strengths · trade-offs

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

  • Permissive Apache licenseApache-2.0 licensing allows commercial use, modification, and redistribution with standard notice requirements. That makes APISIX easier to adopt in commercial infrastructure than copyleft gateway projects.
  • Runtime configuration changesDynamic configuration is a core APISIX design point. Operators can add routes or change plugin behavior while traffic is flowing, which reduces release pressure for gateway policy changes.

Trade-offs

  • -Requires gateway operations skillAPISIX is infrastructure software. Teams need to operate etcd, certificates, plugin configuration, observability, and upgrade processes, which is heavier than consuming a fully managed API gateway.
  • -Enterprise support is separateThe open source gateway is mature, but commercial support, dashboards, and managed operations come through vendors such as API7. Teams expecting one packaged enterprise product should account for that choice.
versus alternatives

Apache APISIX vs alternatives#

Apache APISIX vs Kong Konnect\u000A\u000AApache APISIX and Kong Konnect both manage API gateway traffic, but APISIX is a self-hosted Apache-2.0 gateway while Kong Konnect is a commercial control-plane product around Kong's ecosystem.\u000A\u000A| Criterion | Apache APISIX | Kong Konnect |\u000A| --- | --- | --- |\u000A| License | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary managed product |\u000A| Hosting | Self-hosted Docker or Kubernetes | Managed control plane |\u000A| Dynamic config | Admin API backed by etcd | Konnect control plane |\u000A| Best fit | Platform teams wanting gateway ownership | Teams wanting vendor-managed governance |\u000A\u000AAPISIX is the better fit when gateway control, license clarity, and traffic cost predictability matter. Kong Konnect is still attractive when a team wants a hosted control plane, enterprise support, and packaged API governance.

Both are API gateways with plugin ecosystems. APISIX emphasizes dynamic configuration through etcd and an Apache-2.0 open source core, while Kong has a larger commercial ecosystem and enterprise product family.

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Apache APISIX is used as an API gateway for routing, securing, load balancing, rate limiting, and observing API traffic. It also positions itself as an AI gateway for teams routing model and agent traffic.

Yes. Apache APISIX is licensed under Apache-2.0 and developed as an Apache Software Foundation project. The license permits commercial use and modification.