Apache APISIX

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Score6.9

Rank#4 of 32

Free planNo

Runs onAPI, Linux, Self-hosted

Summary

Apache APISIX is an open-source gateway for routing, securing, and managing traffic to APIs, microservices, and LLM workloads. Licensed under Apache 2.0, it is designed for teams to self-manage, with commercial support available separately if required. It can run on bare metal or Kubernetes and supports HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, UDP, WebSocket, gRPC, MQTT, HTTP/3, and Dubbo. APISIX offers more than 100 open-source plugins for traffic management, security, observability, and protocol handling. Its hot-reloadable plugin pipeline and etcd distribute configuration across a cluster in real time without restarts. Security options include CORS, JWT, Key Auth, OpenID Connect, and Keycloak, alongside rate limiting and request transformation. AI gateway capabilities include multi-provider proxying, load balancing, retries and fallback, token rate limits, prompt security, and prompt transformation. The homepage reports approximately 18,000 queries per second per core and 0.2 ms added latency. Official source releases include detached signatures and SHA-512 checksums for verification.

Who it is for

APISIX suits teams managing API, microservice, or LLM traffic who can operate a self-hosted gateway. Its protocol support and plugin options also suit deployments needing traffic controls, security, and observability integrations.

What is good

More than 100 open-source plugins
Supports bare metal and Kubernetes deployment
Hot-reloadable configuration updates without restarts
AI gateway includes retries and fallback
Official releases include signatures and checksums

What to know first

Teams self-manage the open-source deployment
Commercial support is separate
Both listed Integration Hub entries are in validation

Verdict

APISIX combines gateway controls, protocol support, and AI traffic features in a self-managed package. Teams should account for operating it themselves; the project lists commercial support separately.

Compared on LLM gateway software

Free plan: Yesapisix.apache.org
Deployment model: self-hostedapisix.apache.org
Supported protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, UDP, WebSocket, gRPC, MQTT, HTTP/3, Dubboapisix.apache.org
Authentication methods: API key, JWT, Basic Authentication, OAuth 2.0/OpenID Connect, HMAC, LDAP, CAS, Keycloak, Casdoor, forward authentication, multi-authapisix.apache.org
Rate limiting: Yesapisix.apache.org
Request transformation: Yesapisix.apache.org

Facts

Purpose: Apache APISIX is an open-source API and AI gateway for routing, securing, and managing traffic to APIs, microservices, and LLM workloads.apisix.apache.org · 2 Oct 2026
License: The project is licensed under Apache 2.0.apisix.apache.org · 2 Oct 2026
Performance: The homepage reports about 18,000 queries per second per core and 0.2 ms added latency.apisix.apache.org · 2 Oct 2026
Plugins: APISIX offers more than 100 open-source plugins for traffic management, security, observability, and protocol handling.apisix.apache.org · 2 Oct 2026
Dynamic configuration: Its hot-reloadable plugin pipeline and etcd distribute configuration across a cluster in real time without restarts.apisix.apache.org · 2 Oct 2026
AI gateway: AI gateway features include multi-provider proxying, load balancing, retry and fallback, token rate limits, prompt security, and prompt transformation.apisix.apache.org · 2 Oct 2026
Integrations: The homepage lists integrations including Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, OpenTelemetry, Kubernetes, Redis, Keycloak, OpenAI, Anthropic, and AWS Bedrock.apisix.apache.org · 2 Oct 2026
Security: Security plugins include CORS, JWT, Key Auth, OpenID Connect, and Keycloak.apisix.apache.org · 2 Oct 2026
Protocols and deployment: APISIX can run on bare metal or Kubernetes and supports HTTP-to-gRPC transcoding, WebSocket, gRPC, Dubbo, MQTT proxy, and ARM64.apisix.apache.org · 2 Oct 2026
Release verification: The downloads page provides source releases with detached signatures and SHA-512 checksums and explains how to verify an archive.apisix.apache.org · 2 Oct 2026
Support: The project FAQ directs users to its Slack channel, mailing list, GitHub Issues, and GitHub Discussions for help.apisix.apache.org · 2 Oct 2026
Operational responsibility: The project describes APISIX as open source that teams can self-manage, with commercial support available separately if required.apisix.apache.org · 2 Oct 2026
Integration catalog status: The Integration Hub page lists two integrations, LocalAI and Redis, and marks both as validation in progress.apisix.apache.org · 2 Oct 2026
Architecture: APISIX is based on NGINX and etcd, with a hot-reloadable plugin pipeline and real-time cluster configuration updates without restarts.apisix.apache.org · 3 Oct 2026
Deployment and protocols: APISIX can run on bare metal or Kubernetes and supports HTTP-to-gRPC transcoding, WebSocket, gRPC, Dubbo, MQTT proxy, and ARM64.apisix.apache.org · 3 Oct 2026
Downloads: The downloads page provides official source releases, detached signatures, SHA-512 checksums, and archived versions; it lists version 3.19.0 as current, released 2026-09-28.apisix.apache.org · 3 Oct 2026
Plugin languages: The project lists Java, Go, and Python plugin runners implemented as sidecars accompanying Apache APISIX.apisix.apache.org · 3 Oct 2026
Published performance figures: The homepage states approximately 18,000 QPS per core and 0.2 ms added latency.apisix.apache.org · 3 Oct 2026
Support and community: The site links to community discussion through Slack and GitHub.apisix.apache.org · 3 Oct 2026