Alternatives to Gravitee
Open-source API management with an event-native gateway.
Gravitee ranks #1 of 8 in API gateways, with an Alt Score of 100. It is licensed under Apache-2.0, open source with paid hosting from $2,500/month and available on the web. 13 of 13 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Gravitee is an open-source API management platform with an event-native gateway supporting REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and async APIs, plus access management and a developer portal.
Platform and API teams at mid-size to large enterprises who need to govern REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and event-streaming (Kafka) APIs across hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructure, including teams that want an open-source, self-hostable alternative to closed API gateways.
An open-source (Apache-2.0) API gateway and management platform with a policy engine (80+ pre-built policies for rate limiting, OAuth/JWT/mTLS authentication, threat protection, and transformation), a developer portal for API discovery and self-serve subscriptions, analytics/observability dashboards, and a Kubernetes Operator plus Terraform provider for GitOps-style deployment. Enterprise/Cloud tiers add advanced policies, event/Kafka gateway features, and managed hosting.
Teams self-host the Gravitee APIM gateway, console, and portal (e.g. via Docker or the Gravitee Kubernetes Operator) or run it as managed Gravitee Cloud SaaS. APIs are registered and shaped in a no-code Policy Studio, protected with reusable policy groups, exposed through the developer portal, and monitored through built-in analytics or external tools like Grafana/Kibana.
Why people leave Gravitee
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Kong is an open-source, cloud-native API gateway and management platform for routing, securing, and observing APIs and microservices, with a large plugin ecosystem.
Tyk is an open-source API gateway and full lifecycle management platform with a developer portal, analytics, and support for REST, GraphQL, and gRPC.
WSO2 API Manager is an open-source, full-lifecycle API management platform for creating, publishing, securing, and monetizing APIs; self-hosted or as SaaS (Choreo/Bijira).
Apigee is Google Cloud API management platform for designing, securing, publishing, monetizing, and analyzing APIs at enterprise scale.
KrakenD is a high-performance, stateless open-source API gateway that aggregates and transforms backend services through declarative configuration.
Traefik Hub is an API management and gateway platform built on Traefik Proxy, offering Kubernetes-native ingress, API security, and a developer portal.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the API gateways checklist (17 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| API gateways checklist | Gravitee | Kong | Tyk | WSO2 API Manager | Apigee | KrakenD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Open source | ||||||
| Self-hostable | ||||||
| Managed / SaaS option | ||||||
| Rate limiting & throttling | ||||||
| Authentication (OAuth/JWT/API keys) | ||||||
| Developer portal | ||||||
| Plugin / extension ecosystem | ||||||
| Kubernetes-native / ingress | ||||||
| GraphQL support | ||||||
| gRPC support | ||||||
| Analytics & monitoring | ||||||
| Declarative / GitOps config | ||||||
| WAF / security policies |
Every fact and feature listed for Gravitee is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License Apache-2.0 verified 2026-07-17
Apache License Version 2.0, January 2004
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gravitee-io/gravitee-api-management/master/LICENSE.txt -
Pricing model OSS + paid hosting verified 2026-07-17
Gravitee APIM core is Apache-2.0 and free to self-host (per GitHub README quick-start); Gravitee also sells Gravitee Cloud managed SaaS and Enterprise Edition add-ons on flat monthly pricing.
Flat Pricing. Get unlimited API calls & events for one monthly price.
https://www.gravitee.io/pricing -
Starts at $2,500/month verified 2026-07-17
Cheapest listed paid/managed tier (Planet, API Management line). The self-hosted OSS core (Apache-2.0) is free; see 'Open source' cell.
Planet Perfect for smaller enterprise use cases $2,500 /month
https://www.gravitee.io/pricing -
Platforms Web verified 2026-07-17
Console UI - The administrative interface for managing your APIs. Portal UI - A catalog of your APIs
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gravitee-io/gravitee-api-management/master/README.md -
Status active verified 2026-07-17
pushed_at": "2026-07-17T08:58:47Z"" — Repo pushed to same day as research (not archived); 428+ stargazers.
https://api.github.com/repos/gravitee-io/gravitee-api-management -
Open source Yes verified 2026-07-17
Gravitee API Management (also called Gravitee APIM) is a flexible, lightweight, and blazing-fast Open Source solution
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gravitee-io/gravitee-api-management/master/README.md -
Self-hostable Yes verified 2026-07-17
If you prefer to use Gravitee APIM on your own infrastructure with Docker, follow the steps below. 1) Clone the Gravitee APIM repository
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gravitee-io/gravitee-api-management/master/README.md -
Managed / SaaS option Yes verified 2026-07-17
Gravitee Cloud has you covered. Try our Saas offer with a free trial today!
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gravitee-io/gravitee-api-management/master/README.md -
Rate limiting & throttling Yes verified 2026-07-17
OAuth 2.0, JWT, mTLS, API Key, OIDC, rate limiting, OAS validation, threat protection
https://www.gravitee.io/platform/api-management -
Authentication (OAuth/JWT/API keys) Yes verified 2026-07-17
OAuth 2.0, JWT, mTLS, API Key, OIDC, rate limiting, OAS validation, threat protection
https://www.gravitee.io/platform/api-management -
Developer portal Yes verified 2026-07-17
Developer Portal | API, Event & AI Agent Discovery | Gravitee
https://www.gravitee.io/platform/api-developer-portal -
Plugin / extension ecosystem Yes verified 2026-07-17
80+ policies listed (Kafka, AI, transformation, security, etc.), plus a separate Plugins doc section, forming an extensible policy/plugin ecosystem.
The following policies can be applied to Gravitee APIs. Policies marked with an asterisk require an Enterprise Edition license.
https://documentation.gravitee.io/apim/create-and-configure-apis/apply-policies/policy-reference -
Kubernetes-native / ingress Yes verified 2026-07-17
Deploy anywhere, govern centrally Run on AWS, Azure, GCP, on-prem, or Kubernetes via the Gateway API.
https://www.gravitee.io/platform/api-gateway -
GraphQL support Yes verified 2026-07-17
API Gateway | One Gateway for REST, GraphQL & gRPC | Gravitee
https://www.gravitee.io/platform/api-gateway -
gRPC support Yes verified 2026-07-17
a high-performance runtime that enforces security, transformation, and traffic policies across REST, GraphQL, gRPC, SOAP, WebSocket, Server-sent Events, and Webhook traffic
https://www.gravitee.io/platform/api-gateway -
Analytics & monitoring Yes verified 2026-07-17
Track every consumer across every protocol from a single observability layer. Unified analytics for REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and event streams.
https://www.gravitee.io/platform/api-management -
Declarative / GitOps config Yes verified 2026-07-17
APIs, agents, and policies defined in Terraform or Kubernetes manifests. Gravitee Terraform Provider for declarative API and agent management Gravitee Kubernetes Operator (GKO) for native CRDs and Git
https://www.gravitee.io/platform/api-developer-portal -
WAF / security policies Yes verified 2026-07-17
No literal 'WAF' product name found on Gravitee's site/docs, but the policy reference lists JSON/XML/Regex Threat Protection, IP/GeoIP Filtering, RBAC, mTLS, SSL Enforcement, and request validation po
JSON Threat Protection JSON Validation JWS Validator JWT Validator ... Rate Limit Regex Threat Protection Request Content Limit Request Validation ... SSL Enforcement ... XML Threat Protection XML Val
https://documentation.gravitee.io/apim/create-and-configure-apis/apply-policies/policy-reference
FAQ
Yes. Zuplo has a free tier or is fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Kong, Tyk and WSO2 API Manager — every license claim links its source.