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Best API Gateway Software in 2026

Updated

In short: Envoy Gateway is ranked #1 of 27 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of Gravitee API Gateway and Kong Gateway. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Gravitee API Gateway. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Google Cloud Endpoints at $1.50/mo.

For software that routes API traffic, compare access controls and supported protocols with rate limiting and request transformation. Deployment model can help you assess how a gateway fits your environment, while a free plan may offer a way to compare options at no cost. The listed monthly request limit and paid-from price provide additional cost and capacity details to weigh. This ranking includes 22 products, beginning with Kong Gateway, Apache APISIX, and Tyk Gateway. KrakenD API Gateway and Tyk API Management follow, with Gravitee API Gateway, Higress, and Amazon API Gateway also among the first entries. Use the listed capabilities to consider which gateways align with your APIs and deployment needs.

27 API gateway software ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.

27ranked
8free plans on this page
$1.50/molowest paid tier
4 Oct 2026last checked

Recognised 40% · Phone app 26% · Documented 20% · Free plan 14% of the score

  1. 1 Envoy Gateway No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.4Free Deployment model: self-hostedSupported protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, gRPC, TLS, TCP, UDPAuthentication methods: mTLS, JWT, API key, Basic Auth, OIDC, external authorization
  2. 2 Gravitee API Gateway No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.4$2,500/mo Deployment model: hybridSupported protocols: REST, GraphQL, gRPC, SOAP, WebSocket, Server-sent Events, WebhookAuthentication methods: Keyless, API Key, Basic Authentication, OAuth2, JWT, Push, mutual TLS (mTLS), OIDC, SAML
  3. 3 Kong Gateway No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.4Free Deployment model: hybridSupported protocols: REST, HTTP, Kafka, WebSockets, gRPC, GraphQL, UDP, TCP, TLSAuthentication methods: Basic Auth, HMAC, JWT, Key Auth, LDAP, mutual TLS, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SAML, Vault
  4. 4 Tyk Gateway No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.4Free Deployment model: hybridSupported protocols: REST, SOAP, GraphQL, gRPC, TCP, HTTP/HTTPS, WebSockets, Server-Sent Events (SSE)Authentication methods: API keys, bearer tokens, JWT, OIDC, Basic Auth, client certificates, mTLS, custom plugins
  5. 5 Emissary-ingress No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.3Free Deployment model: self-hostedSupported protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, HTTPPROXY, HTTPSPROXY, TCP, TLS, gRPC, HTTP/3Authentication methods: Basic authentication, external HTTP or gRPC authentication service, client certificate validation, mutual TLS
  6. 6 KrakenD API Gateway No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.3Free Deployment model: hybridSupported protocols: REST, HTTP, WebSockets, SOAP, gRPC, GraphQL, AMQP, Kafka, NATSAuthentication methods: JWT, client credentials, OAuth2, OpenID Connect, API keys, Basic Authentication, mTLS
  7. 7 Spring Integration No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.3Free Deployment model: self-hostedSupported protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, gRPCAuthentication methods: Spring Security, OAuth 2.0, JWT, opaque tokens
  8. 8 Google Cloud Endpoints No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.0$1.50/mo Deployment model: hybrid
  9. 9 Apache APISIX No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.8 Deployment model: self-hostedSupported protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, UDP, WebSocket, gRPC, MQTT, HTTP/3, DubboAuthentication methods: API key, JWT, Basic Authentication, OAuth 2.0/OpenID Connect, HMAC, LDAP, CAS, Keycloak, Casdoor, forward authentication, multi-auth
  10. 10 Google Cloud API Gateway No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.8$1.50/mo Deployment model: cloudSupported protocols: HTTP/REST, HTTP/JSON, gRPCAuthentication methods: API keys, service accounts/JWT, Google authentication, Google ID tokens
  11. 11 Tyk API Management No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.7 Deployment model: hybrid
  12. 12 API7 Enterprise No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.4 Deployment model: hybrid
  13. 13 Axway SecureTransport No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.4 Deployment model: hybridSupported protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, REST, SOAP, XML, WebSockets, JMS, AMQP, MQTT, gRPC, FTPAuthentication methods: OAuth, JWT tokens, API key, HTTP Basic/Digest, SAML, credentials in headers or payloads
  14. 14 MuleSoft Composer No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.4$2,000/mo Deployment model: hybridSupported protocols: HTTP, WebSocket, SOAP, gRPC, GraphQL, OAS3 REST, MCP, A2AAuthentication methods: Client ID enforcement, HTTP Basic Authentication, JWT validation, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect
  15. 15 Oracle Cloud Infrastructure API Gateway No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.4 Deployment model: cloudSupported protocols: HTTP, HTTPSAuthentication methods: OCI IAM, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, Remote JWKS, static keys, authorizer functions, mTLS
  16. 16 Alibaba Cloud API Gateway No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.3 Deployment model: cloudSupported protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, WebSocket, gRPCAuthentication methods: AppCode, digest authentication, JWT, mutual TLS, custom authentication
  17. 17 Ambassador Edge Stack No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.3 Deployment model: self-hostedSupported protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, gRPC, gRPC-Web, HTTP/3
  18. 18 Higress No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.3 Deployment model: hybridSupported protocols: HTTP, HTTP2, HTTPS, GRPC, GRPCS, TCP, DubboAuthentication methods: Key Auth, HMAC Auth, JWT Auth, Basic Auth, OAuth2, OIDC, External Auth, OPA
  19. 19 NGINX Gateway Fabric No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.3 Deployment model: self-hostedSupported protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, HTTP/2, gRPC, TCP, TLS, UDPAuthentication methods: Basic authentication, JWT, OpenID Connect, external authentication
  20. 20 Ocelot No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.3 Deployment model: self-hostedSupported protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, WebSocket Secure (WSS)Authentication methods: JWT bearer tokens, IdentityServer bearer tokens, ASP.NET Core authentication schemes
  21. 21 WSO2 Choreo Connect No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.3 Deployment model: hybridSupported protocols: HTTP/1.1; WebSocketAuthentication methods: OAuth 2.0; Publisher Internal Key; API Key; Enforcer Test Key
  22. 22 Zuul No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.3 Deployment model: self-hostedSupported protocols: HTTP, HTTP/2, WebSocket, Server-Sent Events (SSE)Authentication methods: Filter-based authentication, mutual TLS, custom authentication handlers
  23. 23 Amazon API Gateway No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.2 Deployment model: cloudSupported protocols: HTTP, REST, WebSocketAuthentication methods: IAM/SigV4, Amazon Cognito user pools, JWT/OIDC/OAuth 2.0, Lambda authorizers, API keys, mutual TLS
  24. 24 Lura No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.2 Deployment model: self-hostedSupported protocols: HTTP(S); other transport adapters can be added, including Thrift, gRPC, AMQP and NATS
  25. 25 MuleSoft Omni Gateway No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.2 Deployment model: hybridSupported protocols: HTTP, WebSocket, SOAP, gRPC, GraphQL, OAS3 REST, MCP, A2AAuthentication methods: Client ID enforcement, HTTP Basic Authentication, JWT validation, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect

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Questions about this list

Which API gateway software is ranked first on Samsung Mobile US Press?

Envoy Gateway is ranked #1 of 27 with a score of 6.4. Gravitee API Gateway is second and Kong Gateway third.

How many of these have a free plan?

8 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.

Which is the cheapest paid option?

On this page, Google Cloud Endpoints has the lowest first paid tier we found: $1.50/mo.

How is this list ranked?

Ranked mobile-first: a phone app alongside the web or desktop product, a free tier and the depth of its documentation. Paid placements never change a rank.

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