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Apache APISIX
What it is
Apache APISIX is a free, open-source API and AI gateway for routing, securing, and managing traffic to APIs, microservices, and LLM workloads. It is self-hosted, runs on Linux, and can deploy on bare metal or Kubernetes. Built on NGINX and etcd, APISIX uses a hot-reloadable plugin pipeline to distribute configuration across clusters without restarts. More than 100 open-source plugins cover traffic management, security, observability, and protocol handling. Supported protocols include HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, UDP, WebSocket, gRPC, MQTT, HTTP/3, and Dubbo. Security options include API keys, JWT, OAuth 2.0/OpenID Connect, LDAP, Keycloak, and multi-auth, with rate limiting and request transformation. AI gateway functions include multi-provider proxying, load balancing, retries, fallback, token limits, prompt security, and prompt transformation. The homepage reports approximately 18,000 queries per second per core and 0.2 ms added latency. Source releases include detached signatures and SHA-512 checksums.
For and against
For
- Free Apache 2.0 open-source project
- More than 100 open-source plugins
- Hot-reloadable cluster configuration
- Supports many protocols and authentication methods
- AI gateway traffic controls
Against
- Self-hosted operational responsibility
- Commercial support is separate
- Integration Hub entries are still being validated
The verdict
Apache APISIX combines API management, security, traffic controls, and AI gateway features in a self-hosted package. Its extensive protocols and plugin ecosystem suit teams prepared to operate the infrastructure themselves.
Who it suits
APISIX suits teams that want to self-manage API, microservice, or LLM traffic on Linux, bare metal, or Kubernetes. It also fits deployments needing broad protocol, authentication, plugin, and AI gateway options.
On the record
- AI gateway
- Its AI gateway supports multi-provider proxying, load balancing, retries and fallback, token rate limits, prompt security, and prompt transformation.apisix.apache.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Architecture
- APISIX is based on NGINX and etcd, with a hot-reloadable plugin pipeline and real-time cluster configuration updates without restarts.apisix.apache.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Deployment and protocols
- APISIX can run on bare metal or Kubernetes and supports HTTP-to-gRPC transcoding, WebSocket, gRPC, Dubbo, MQTT proxy, and ARM64.apisix.apache.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Downloads
- The downloads page provides official source releases, detached signatures, SHA-512 checksums, and archived versions; it lists version 3.19.0 as current, released 2026-09-28.apisix.apache.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Dynamic configuration
- Its hot-reloadable plugin pipeline and etcd distribute configuration across a cluster in real time without restarts.apisix.apache.org · read 2 Oct 2026
- Integration catalog status
- The Integration Hub page lists two integrations, LocalAI and Redis, and marks both as validation in progress.apisix.apache.org · read 2 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The site lists integrations including Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, OpenTelemetry, Kubernetes, Redis, Keycloak, OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, DeepSeek, and Ollama.apisix.apache.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- License
- The project is licensed under Apache 2.0.apisix.apache.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Operational responsibility
- The project describes APISIX as open source that teams can self-manage, with commercial support available separately if required.apisix.apache.org · read 2 Oct 2026
- Performance
- The homepage reports about 18,000 queries per second per core and 0.2 ms added latency.apisix.apache.org · read 2 Oct 2026
- Plugin languages
- The project lists Java, Go, and Python plugin runners implemented as sidecars accompanying Apache APISIX.apisix.apache.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Plugins
- APISIX offers more than 100 open-source plugins for traffic management, security, observability, and protocol handling.apisix.apache.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Protocols and deployment
- APISIX can run on bare metal or Kubernetes and supports HTTP-to-gRPC transcoding, WebSocket, gRPC, Dubbo, MQTT proxy, and ARM64.apisix.apache.org · read 2 Oct 2026
- Published performance figures
- The homepage states approximately 18,000 QPS per core and 0.2 ms added latency.apisix.apache.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Apache APISIX is an open-source API gateway for routing, securing, and managing traffic to APIs, microservices, and LLM workloads.apisix.apache.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Release verification
- The downloads page provides source releases with detached signatures and SHA-512 checksums and explains how to verify an archive.apisix.apache.org · read 2 Oct 2026
- Security
- Security plugins include CORS, JWT, Key Auth, OpenID Connect, and Keycloak; vulnerability reports are directed to the Apache Security Team at [email protected].apisix.apache.org · read 3 Oct 2026
- Support
- The project FAQ directs users to its Slack channel, mailing list, GitHub Issues, and GitHub Discussions for help.apisix.apache.org · read 2 Oct 2026
