API Academy
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HomePetstore APIExplore more APIs
HomePetstore APIExplore more APIs
🌐 English
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🌐 English
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  1. API Gateway
  • Introduction
  • Table of Contents
  • API Academy
    • Get Started
      • What is an API?
      • How Does an API Work?
      • How to Call an API?
      • How to Read an API Documentation?
      • Chapter Summary
      • Get realtime weather
    • API Fundamentals
      • API Funtamentals: Overview
      • Method & Path
      • Parameters
      • Request Body
      • Responses
      • API Specification & OAS
      • Chapter Summary
    • Working with APIs
      • Working with APIs: Overview
      • Making Requests from Spec
      • Environments and Variables
      • Chaining Multiple Endpoints
      • Handling Authentication
      • Handling API Signatures
      • Introduction to Scripts
      • Chapter Summary
    • Mocking APIs
      • Mocking APIs: Overview
      • Smart Mock
      • Mock Expectations
      • Cloud Mock
      • Mock Scripts
      • Chapter Summary
    • Designing APIs
      • Designing APIs: Overview
      • Introduction to API Design
      • Creating Your First API Project
      • Analyzing Requirements and Planning Your API
      • Designing Data Models
      • Designing Endpoints
      • Using Components and Reusability
      • Setting Up Authentication
      • API Design Guidelines
      • Chapter Summary
    • Developing APIs
      • Developing APIs: Overview
      • Setup: Install Your AI Coding Assistant
      • Quick Start: From Spec to Running API in 30 Minutes
      • Understanding the Generated Code
      • Testing Your API with Apidog
      • Deployment: Put Your API Online
      • Chapter Summary
    • Testing APIs
      • Testing APIs: Overview
      • Getting Started: Your First Test Scenario
      • Integration Testing and Data Passing
      • Dynamic Values
      • Assertions and Validations
      • Flow Control: If, For, ForEach
      • Data-Driven Testing
      • Performance Testing
      • Test Reports and Analysis
      • CI/CD Integration
      • Scheduled Tasks and Automation
      • Advanced Testing Strategies
      • Chapter Summary
    • API Documentations
      • API Documentations: Overview
      • Publishing Your First API Doc
      • Customizing Documentation Appearance
      • Interactive Features for Consumers
      • Advanced Publishing Settings
      • Managing API Versions
      • Chapter Summary
    • Advanced API Technologies
      • API Technologies: Overview
      • GraphQL
      • gRPC
      • WebSocket
      • Socket.IO
      • Server-Sent Events (SSE)
      • SOAP
      • Chapter Summary
    • API Lifecycle
      • API Lifecycle: Overview
      • Stages of the API Lifecycle
      • API Governance
      • API Security Best Practices
      • Monitoring and Analytics
      • API Versioning Strategies
      • The Future of APIs
      • Chapter Summary
    • API Security
      • API Security: Overview
      • API Security Fundamentals
      • Authentication vs Authorization
      • Understanding OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect
      • JSON Web Tokens (JWT)
      • OWASP API Security Top 10
      • Encryption and HTTPS
      • Chapter Summary
    • API Tools
      • API Tools: Overview
      • The Evolution of API Tools
      • API Clients
      • Command Line Tools (cURL, HTTPie)
      • API Design and Documentation Tools
      • API Mocking Tools
      • API Testing Tools
      • All-in-One API Platforms
      • Chapter Summary
    • API Gateway
      • API Gateway: Overview
      • What is an API Gateway?
      • Key Features of API Gateways
      • API Gateway vs Load Balancer vs Service Mesh
      • Popular API Gateway Solutions
      • The BFF (Backend for Frontend) Pattern
      • Chapter Summary
  • Modern Pet Store
    • Pet
      • Get Pet
      • Update Pet
      • Delete Pet
      • Create Pet
      • List Pets
      • Upload Pet Image
    • User
      • Update User
      • Get User
      • Delete User
      • Login
      • Logout
      • Create User
    • Store
      • List Inventory
      • Create Order
      • Get Order
      • Delete Order
      • Callback Example
      • Pay for an Order
    • Payments
      • Pay Order
    • Chat
      • Create Chat Completion
    • Webhooks
      • Pet Adopted Event
      • New Pet Available Event
  • Schemas
    • Pet
    • Category
    • User
    • ApiResponse
    • OrderPayment
    • Tag
    • Order
    • Links-Order
    • PetCollection
    • Bank Card
    • Bank Account
    • Links
    • Error
HomePetstore APIExplore more APIs
HomePetstore APIExplore more APIs
🌐 English
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🌐 English
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  1. API Gateway

Popular API Gateway Solutions

Choosing an API Gateway is a major architectural decision. The market is crowded, ranging from open-source libraries to fully managed cloud services.

Open Source / Self-Hosted#

1. NGINX#

Official Website: https://www.nginx.com/
The legendary web server that powers 1/3 of the internet. It is often used as a basic Gateway.
Pros: Extremely fast, stable, ubiquitous.
Cons: Basic configuration is manual (editing nginx.conf text files). The advanced "API Management" dashboard is part of the paid "NGINX Plus".

2. Kong Gateway#

Official Website: https://konghq.com/
Built on top of NGINX (OpenResty), Kong is the most popular open-source gateway.
Plugin Ecosystem: It has a massive marketplace of plugins (Auth, Logging, Rate Limiting) written in Lua.
AI Gateway: In 2024, Kong introduced specific "AI Gateway" features to manage LLM traffic (prompt guard, semantic caching).
Architecture: Stores configuration in a database (Postgres or Cassandra), which adds some operational complexity.

3. Apache APISIX#

Official Website: https://apisix.apache.org/
A newer, ultra-high-performance gateway from the Apache Foundation.
Performance: Often benchmarks higher than Kong due to its etcd-based architecture.
Dynamic: Supports "Hot Reloading" of plugins and routes. You don't need to restart the server to change a rule.
Cloud Native: Designed specifically for Kubernetes Ingress.

4. Tyk#

Official Website: https://tyk.io/
A gateway written in Go (Golang).
Batteries Included: Unlike Kong (which relies on plugins), Tyk has almost every feature (Auth, Quotas, Dashboard) built into the single binary out of the box.
No DB Dependency: Can run purely from file-based config or Redis, making it easier to deploy in some scenarios.

Cloud Managed Services#

If you are on the cloud, using the native offering is often the easiest path.

1. AWS API Gateway#

Billing: Pay-per-request. Great for low traffic, expensive for high traffic.
Integration: Triggers AWS Lambda functions directly.

2. Apigee (Google Cloud)#

Focus: Enterprise Heavyweight.
Best For: Monetization (billing partners for API usage) and deep analytics.

Comparison Summary (2025 Outlook)#

FeatureNGINXKongApache APISIXTyk
Core TechCNginx + LuaNginx + Lua/GoGo
Config StoreFilePostgresetcdRedis / File
Performance⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
EcosystemMassiveHugeGrowingModerate
Dynamic?Reload RequiredDynamicHot ReloadHot Reload
Best ForStatic / SimpleEnterprise GeneralHigh Perf / K8sDeveloper Exp

Recommendation#

For Kubernetes: Look at APISIX or Kong Ingress.
For Serverless: AWS API Gateway.
For Enterprise Governance: Apigee or Kong Enterprise.
For Pure Speed: NGINX (if you can handle the manual config).

Key Takeaways#

Kong and APISIX lead the open-source market with powerful plugin architectures.
AWS API Gateway is the default for serverless but can get expensive at scale.
NGINX is the fastest but hardest to manage manually.
Next Step: Are simple gateways enough? Sometimes you need specialized backends. Enter the BFF (Backend for Frontend) Pattern.
Modified atΒ 2025-12-29 04:29:59
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API Gateway vs Load Balancer vs Service Mesh
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