Higress suits teams managing AI APIs, MCP services, or cloud-native traffic that want a self-hosted gateway.
Free plan Open source WebWindowsMacLinuxAPISelf-hosted
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Best API Gateway Software 2026
Facts read 20 Sep 2026 – 15 Oct 2026
API gateways handle the paths through which API requests are authenticated and managed. Compare authentication methods and supported protocols with rate limiting and request transformation to see which listed capabilities suit your APIs. Deployment model can help frame operational fit, while free-plan availability, monthly request limits and paid-from pricing offer cost and capacity points to weigh. Envoy Gateway, Gravitee API Gateway and Kong Gateway are among the options to consider. Use the comparison fields to assess how each gateway aligns with your deployment approach and the traffic controls you require.
The standings: top 10
| Name | In a line | Record score | Price from | Try it free | Runs on | Facts read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Higress | Higress suits teams managing AI APIs, MCP services, or cloud-native traffic that want a self-hosted gateway. | 5.8 | Free plan | Free plan | Web, Windows, Mac, Linux | 15 Oct 2026 |
| 02 Amazon API Gateway | It suits teams building APIs for applications and backend services, especially those working with AWS services. | 5.7 | Free plan | Free plan | Android, iPhone & iPad, Web, API | 14 Oct 2026 |
| 03 Tyk Gateway | Tyk positions Core for startups and scale-ups, Professional for high-growth teams, and Enterprise for regulated industries and global enterprises. | 5.5 | Free plan | Free plan | Web, Linux, API, Self-hosted | 15 Oct 2026 |
| 04 Google Cloud Endpoints | Google Cloud Endpoints suits teams seeking API lifecycle management, access policies, and usage analytics in a hybrid deployment. | 5.3 | $1.50 usage-based | Free plan | Web, Mac, Linux, API | 9 Oct 2026 |
| 05 Kong Gateway | 5.2 | Free plan | Free plan | Web, Linux, API, Self-hosted | 29 Sep 2026 | |
| 06 Gravitee API Gateway | It suits teams that need consistent runtime policies across APIs, including enterprises. | 5.0 | $2,500 a month | Free plan | Web, Windows, Linux, API | 29 Sep 2026 |
| 07 Tencent Cloud API Gateway | It suits teams managing API release and operation that need environments, versioning, traffic controls, and monitoring. | 4.9 | $0.01 usage-based | Free plan | Web, API | 7 Oct 2026 |
| 08 Google Cloud API Gateway | 4.7 | $1.50 a month | Free plan | Web, API | 1 Oct 2026 | |
| 09 KrakenD API Gateway | It suits teams that need to compose API responses, manage traffic, and apply authentication controls in a self-hosted gateway. | 4.7 | Free plan | Free plan | Windows, Mac, Linux, Self-hosted | 30 Sep 2026 |
| 10 Tyk API Management | Tyk may suit teams that need API lifecycle management across cloud, hybrid, or self-managed deployments. | 4.6 | Free plan | Free plan | Web, Linux, API, Self-hosted | 2 Oct 2026 |
02
Amazon API Gateway
It suits teams building APIs for applications and backend services, especially those working with AWS services.
AndroidiPhone & iPadWeb+1 Record5.7 Visit
03
Tyk Gateway
Tyk positions Core for startups and scale-ups, Professional for high-growth teams, and Enterprise for regulated industries and global enterprises.
WebLinuxAPI+1 Record5.5 Visit
04
Google Cloud Endpoints
Google Cloud Endpoints suits teams seeking API lifecycle management, access policies, and usage analytics in a hybrid deployment.
WebMacLinux+2 Record5.3 Visit
05
Kong Gateway
WebLinuxAPI+1 Record5.2 Visit
6
Gravitee API Gateway
WebWindowsLinux+2 $2,500 a month Record5.0 Visit It suits teams that need consistent runtime policies across APIs, including enterprises.
7
Tencent Cloud API Gateway
WebAPI $0.01 usage-based Record4.9 Visit It suits teams managing API release and operation that need environments, versioning, traffic controls, and monitoring.
9
KrakenD API Gateway
WindowsMacLinux+1 Free plan Record4.7 Visit It suits teams that need to compose API responses, manage traffic, and apply authentication controls in a self-hosted gateway.
10
Tyk API Management
WebLinuxAPI+1 Free plan Record4.6 Visit Tyk may suit teams that need API lifecycle management across cloud, hybrid, or self-managed deployments.
11
Envoy Gateway
APISelf-hosted Free plan Record4.3 Visit Envoy Gateway suits teams managing Envoy Proxy as a standalone or Kubernetes-based gateway.
12
Lura
APISelf-hosted Free plan Record4.3 Visit Lura suits developers building an API gateway or proxy in their own Go application.
13
NGINX Gateway Fabric
LinuxSelf-hosted Free plan Record4.3 Visit It suits teams deploying Kubernetes Gateway API resources with NGINX as their traffic data plane.
16
Apache APISIX
LinuxAPISelf-hosted Free plan Record4.2 Visit APISIX suits teams that want to self-manage API, microservice, or LLM traffic on Linux, bare metal, or Kubernetes.
17
Emissary-ingress
LinuxSelf-hosted Free plan Record4.2 Visit Emissary-ingress suits developers and operators in cloud-native organizations who manage services through Kubernetes.
19
WSO2 Choreo Connect
APISelf-hosted Free plan Record4.2 Visit It suits teams operating Kubernetes-based APIs across cloud, on-premises, or hybrid environments.
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