API gateway comparison
AWS API Gateway vs. Azure API Management
AWS API Gateway and Azure API Management are the native API gateway services of the two largest clouds, each tied deeply to its own ecosystem. AWS API Gateway is a pay-per-call managed gateway built for serverless architectures, while Azure API Management is a full-lifecycle API management platform with tiered pricing and a richer policy engine.
Comparison
AWS API Gateway
Azure API Management
API7 Enterprise
Architecture
Fully-managed AWS service, managed through AWS console and CLI
Proprietary (Azure-managed)
Built on NGINX/LuaJIT, lightweight and high-performance with etcd as a storage center
API Management Capabilities
Lacks advanced features like canary releases or WebSocket optimizations
Comprehensive API lifecycle management from design to monitoring but has policy customization limitations
High-performance API gateway, extensible via plugins, cloud-native friendly, flexible enough to be integrated with third-party tools for extendibility
Performance & Scalability
Moderate latency due to reliance on AWS infrastructure, limited QPS compared to alternatives
Moderate throughput and latency, scalable but Azure-region dependent and Azure-only
Extremely high (Apache APISIX), lightweight, 23,000 QPS per core with 0.2ms delay, outperforms Kong by 200% QPS
Deployment Flexibility
Can be spun up across multiple global AWS regions but more advanced routing would require additional setup, management, and costs
Azure-only for SaaS option and hybrid deployment but not available for self-hosted, multi-cloud environments and edge computing
Easy installation with flexible deployment, supports multi-cloud, hybrid-cloud, and edge environments
Integration Complexity
Requires writing custom lambda authorizers to integrate with third-party IdP, which is more costly, error-prone, and complex
Seamless integration with Azure services but has complexity and limited flexibility in integrating non-Azure services
Flexible enough to be integrated with third-party tools for extendibility, allows for custom integrations and extensions through its plugin ecosystem
Multi-Tenancy
Tied to a single control plane, making it more challenging to isolate teams and environments and build a truly federated and multi-tenant API platform
Flexible deployment models for multi-tenant solutions but has potential noisy-neighbor issues in shared instances
Strong multi-tenancy support with fine-grained access control and isolation capabilities, suitable for complex enterprise environments requiring tenant separation
Protocol Support
Primarily supports HTTP/REST APIs with limited support for WebSocket APIs, not suitable for diverse protocol requirements
Supports multiple protocols including REST, SOAP, WebSocket but has limited support for some legacy protocols
Broad support, supports protocols including TCP, UDP, HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, gRPC, WebSocket, MQTT, Dubbo, SOAP, and custom Layer 4 and Layer 7 protocols
Cost Structure
Scalability costs rise significantly with high traffic, and integration with AWS services (e.g., Lambda) adds hidden expenses
Usage-based pricing model with multiple tiers
Low total cost of ownership due to its open-source core, pay-for-support model, cost-effective at scale
Developer Experience
Beginners may find AWS API Gateway challenging due to its intricate configuration requirements and integration with other AWS services
Provides interactive documentation, code samples, and sandbox environments but has a steep learning curve for new users
Provides extensive documentation and tutorials to assist developers, minimizing the learning curve for new users
Developer Portal
Offers a customizable Developer Portal with API documentation
API7 Portal provides robust management and monitoring tools and powerful monetization strategies
Vendor Lock-in
High lock-in risk due to AWS ecosystem dependency, migration to other clouds is costly
Fully managed PaaS from Microsoft, tightly integrated with Azure services (e.g., Logic Apps, AAD)
Based on Apache APISIX, which is fully open source and licensed under the Apache 2.0 License, Kubernetes-native and multi-cloud friendly
Plugins
Tight AWS integration (IAM, Lambda) but limited plugins and customization
Rich plugin and tool ecosystem but limited to Azure-specific extensions and integrations
100+ open-source plugins (e.g., Kafka, SAML) with hot reloading, including custom plugins, security, observability, and authentication
Analytics
Provides detailed metrics on API performance, latency, and error rates
Integrates with Azure Monitor for comprehensive audit logging and compliance
Real-time observability with Prometheus, Grafana, and SkyWalking
Security
Supports SSL/TLS encryption, request validation, and throttling
Provides OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and built-in security features such as IP filtering
Supports JWT, OIDC, OAuth2, IP whitelisting, mTLS, and FIPS 140-2 compliance
Community Support
Benefits from a vast community of developers and a wealth of AWS resources
Supported by the Azure community and Microsoft support channels
Active open-source Apache APISIX community, vendor-backed enterprise support with contributions to the Apache project
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