Zuplo
Zuplo is an API management platform offering API Gateway, AI Gateway and MCP Gateway products.
What Zuplo is
Zuplo is an API management platform offering API Gateway, AI Gateway and MCP Gateway products. API protection includes API keys, JWT, Basic Auth, mTLS, bot detection, rate limiting and schema validation. OpenAPI supports documentation and cataloging, and every plan includes a hosted developer portal that can use a customer domain. The AI Gateway routes requests among providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Mistral, with semantic caching, prompt injection protection, secret masking and spending budgets. MCP Gateway, also included on every plan, authenticates, routes and governs MCP servers. Zuplo lists logging integrations including AWS CloudWatch, Datadog, Dynatrace, New Relic, Google Cloud Logging, Loki, Splunk, Sumo Logic and VMware Log Insight. The company says gateways deploy to more than 300 edge locations; self-hosted or dedicated deployment is available. Free costs $0 per month for up to 100K monthly requests. Builder is $25/mo, includes 100K requests, and charges $100 per additional 100K requests. Enterprise pricing is available by contacting Zuplo.
Good
- Free plan includes 100K monthly requests.
- Hosted developer portal is included on every plan.
- AI Gateway offers spending budgets and secret masking.
- Self-hosted or dedicated deployment is available.
Watch out
- Free plan limits usage to 100K requests monthly.
- Free plan allows two account members.
- Builder charges $100 per additional 100K requests.
Who it suits
Zuplo suits teams managing APIs that want gateway security, documentation and a hosted developer portal. Its AI and MCP gateways may also fit teams routing AI-provider requests or governing MCP servers.
Verdict
Zuplo combines API gateway controls with AI and MCP gateway products, plus a portal included on each plan. Compare the request allowances and deployment options with your needs; Enterprise pricing requires contacting Zuplo.
Plans and prices
From Zuplo's own pricing page, checked 30 Sep 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 100K requests/month · 2 account members · 5 environments · 100 consumers/API keys · 2 projects/services · GitHub GitOps · 14-day Analytics trial · $0/mo; free forever for ≤ 100K req/mo |
| Starter | Free | Free forever ≤100K requests/mo · 14-day Analytics trial · up to 2 account members · GitOps with GitHub · $0/mo |
| Builder | $25 a month | 100K requests included · up to 2 custom domains for $25/mo · 10 environments · 1,000 consumers/API keys · 2 projects/services · 300 data centers · $25/mo plus $100 per 100K requests |
| Enterprise | Priced on request | Custom volume and limits · SSO/RBAC · audit logs · SLA 99.5% baseline up to 99.999% · self-hosted/dedicated options · Contact us |
The facts
Each one read from Zuplo's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- AI Gateway
- AI Gateway routes OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini and Mistral traffic, with semantic caching, prompt-injection protection, secret masking and team dollar budgets.checked 15 Oct 2026
- API and SDK extensibility
- Programmable APIs expose request/context, caching, hooks, logging and handlers for OpenAPI, MCP, WebSockets, Lambda, URL forwarding and custom code through @zuplo/runtime.checked 15 Oct 2026
- API management
- The platform provides authentication, rate limiting, request validation, CORS, API keys, developer portals and programmable TypeScript policies.checked 15 Oct 2026
- API protection
- Its API security features include API keys, JWT, Basic Auth, mTLS, bot detection, rate limiting, and schema validation.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Compliance
- Its security documentation points to a SOC 2 Type II trust and compliance report.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- Zuplo says it deploys gateways to more than 300 edge locations, and its pricing page lists self-hosted or dedicated deployment as available.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Developer portal
- The hosted portal generates OpenAPI reference pages, API Explorer testing, Markdown/MDX/React content, key management, usage dashboards, themes and custom domains.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Documentation depth
- The documentation is organized into getting started, API management, AI Gateway, MCP, developer portal, deployment, analytics, observability, networking, programming API, limits, security, support and changelog sections.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Funding news
- A December 19, 2024 company post announced a $9 million seed raise led by Trilogy Equity Partners with Boldstart Ventures, BoxGroup and angel investors.checked 15 Oct 2026
- GitOps deployment
- GitHub pushes deploy automatically, while GitLab, Bitbucket and Azure DevOps can deploy through the CLI command npx zuplo deploy --api-key.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Git workflow
- Zuplo supports GitOps with GitHub on Free and Builder; Enterprise lists GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab, and Azure DevOps.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Integrations
- Documented integrations include GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, Stripe, Auth0, Cognito, Okta, Datadog, New Relic, Splunk, Grafana, Cloudflare and AWS Lambda.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Legal name and funding
- Crunchbase lists the legal name Zuplo, Inc., Seattle headquarters, founders Josh Twist and Nathan Totten, and one seed round backed by Trilogy Equity Partners and Boldstart Ventures.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: local tooling
- Some G2 reviewers say local development tools could be improved.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: SOAP conversion
- A G2 reviewer identifies the lack of built-in SOAP-to-REST conversion as a missing capability.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: usage pricing
- A G2 reviewer says costs accumulate as usage increases even though the pricing structure is initially reasonable.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Local installation
- The local gateway tutorial requires Node.js 24.0.0 or newer, creates projects with npx create-zuplo-api@latest and runs the dev gateway on localhost:9000.checked 15 Oct 2026
- MCP Gateway
- MCP Gateway centrally manages internal and external MCP servers, virtual MCP servers and role-based tool permissions.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Notable limits
- Free includes 100K monthly requests and 2 account members; Builder includes 100K requests and charges $100 per additional 100K requests.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Notable product release
- The July 15, 2025 changelog added MCP handler debug mode, OAuth protected-resource discovery and metrics retries, and fixed JWT expiration handling.checked 15 Oct 2026
- OpenAPI
- Zuplo uses OpenAPI for API documentation and cataloging.checked 30 Sep 2026
- Outage history
- StatusGator reports more than 68 Zuplo outages or notifications, including slow file saves in August 2026 and deployment or portal incidents in 2025–2026.checked 15 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- GetApp deployment options
- GetApp describes managed edge deployment plus self-hosting on AWS, Azure, on-premises, Kubernetes or virtual machines.checked 15 Oct 2026
The company
- Maker facts
- LinkedIn lists Zuplo as a privately held Seattle software-development company founded in 2021 with 11–50 employees.checked 15 Oct 2026
The full review of Zuplo
Zuplo is an API management platform for teams securing conventional APIs while also controlling AI and MCP traffic. It suits API programs that want gateway policy, OpenAPI cataloging and a hosted developer portal together. The free plan lowers the entry barrier, but Builder’s overage pricing makes traffic forecasting essential.
Overview
Zuplo combines API Gateway, AI Gateway and MCP Gateway products in one service. OpenAPI powers documentation and API cataloging, while the hosted developer portal is included on every plan and can run on your domain. That combination is useful when an organization needs both an operating layer for APIs and a customer-facing place to publish them; it is more platform than a standalone documentation product.
Deployment options cover hosted gateways at more than 300 edge locations, with self-hosted or dedicated deployment available on Enterprise. The platform supports GitOps through GitHub on Free and Builder, while Enterprise adds Bitbucket, GitLab and Azure DevOps.
Key features
Security controls include API keys, JWT, Basic Auth, mutual TLS, bot detection, rate limiting and schema validation. This gives teams several authentication choices plus controls for abusive traffic and malformed requests. Zuplo also states that SOC 2 Type II, audit logs and policy-enforcement evidence are built into the platform, which matters for organizations that must demonstrate operational controls.
The AI Gateway routes requests between OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Mistral. Semantic caching can reduce repeated provider work, while prompt-injection protection, secret masking and spending budgets address common governance concerns. The MCP Gateway is included on every plan and authenticates, routes and governs MCP servers, so MCP workloads do not require a separate product tier.
Logging integrations cover AWS CloudWatch, Datadog, Dynatrace, New Relic, Google Cloud Logging, Loki, Splunk, Sumo Logic and VMware Log Insight. Interactive API documentation, an API catalog, custom domains and both developer-authentication options round out the publishing and access-management toolkit. Usage analytics are basic, with a 14-day Analytics trial on Free and Builder.
Pricing
Free — free (billed $0/mo, free forever for up to 100K requests per month). It includes 100K monthly requests, two account members, five environments, 100 consumers or API keys, two projects or services, GitHub GitOps and the 14-day Analytics trial. This is a sensible starting point for a small API or an evaluation, but the two-member cap and 100K-request ceiling limit larger teams.
Builder — $25 a month (billed $25/mo). The plan keeps 100K requests included and charges $100 per additional 100K requests. It raises capacity to two custom domains, 10 environments and 1,000 consumers or API keys, while retaining two projects or services, GitHub GitOps and the 14-day Analytics trial. Builder fits teams needing more environments or API consumers, but its $100 increments can become expensive as usage grows.
Enterprise — custom pricing (billed Contact us). It adds custom request volume, domains and environments, dedicated or self-hosted deployment, SSO/RBAC and a 99.5% baseline SLA that can reach 99.999%. Premium 24x7x365 support is an add-on. This is the appropriate tier for regulated or high-scale deployments that need bespoke infrastructure and identity controls.
Community support and chat, email and ticketed support are listed across the service levels; premium round-the-clock support requires the Enterprise add-on.
Platforms
Zuplo is available for API, Linux, self-hosted and web deployments. Hosted edge delivery suits teams wanting managed distribution, while self-hosted and dedicated options are reserved for Enterprise.
Who it's for
Choose Zuplo when one API program must govern authentication, documentation, AI-provider traffic and MCP servers, with a branded portal included. Free is suited to small services and pilots; Builder is for growing teams that need more environments, domains or consumers. Look elsewhere if your traffic is likely to exceed 100K requests quickly and predictable marginal costs are a priority, or if you only need a documentation portal.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Broad gateway coverage: API, AI and MCP gateways share one platform and policy model.
- Strong baseline security: mTLS, bot detection, rate limiting and schema validation complement standard authentication.
- Portal included: Every plan includes a hosted, custom-domain developer portal.
- Flexible deployment: Edge locations, self-hosted and dedicated choices cover different operational requirements.
Cons
- Builder overages are costly: Each additional 100K requests costs $100, so variable traffic can raise bills sharply.
- Small-plan ceilings: Free and Builder both include only 100K requests and two projects or services.
- Enterprise gates key controls: SSO/RBAC, custom capacity and dedicated or self-hosted deployment require custom pricing.
Alternatives
Gravitee API Gateway is a better fit if you want an Apache 2.0 community edition and broader platform coverage, including Windows.
Kong Gateway suits teams wanting a 30-day trial with no gateway limits and 30 days of analytics retention.
Lago is the alternative for an AGPLv3 open-source, self-hosted approach focused on usage and billing infrastructure.
Stigg is preferable when entitlements, credits and usage events are the central requirement, with a free Build plan.
Moesif is an option for teams prioritizing API event analytics, with a 14-day trial before its free plan.
Revenium targets API and AI transaction observation with a free tier capped at 100,000 transactions per month.
Sentinel EMS is another paid API-management option with a free trial.
Apigee API hub fits eligible Apigee organizations seeking an API hub at no additional cost in supported regions.
For broader category comparisons, see API Monetization Software, API Developer Portal Software and API Marketplace Software.
Verdict
Zuplo is a strong choice for teams that want API security, AI-provider governance, MCP controls and a hosted developer portal in one system. Start with Free for a small service, move to Builder only when its 100K-request allowance and $100-per-100K overage rate fit your forecast, and choose Enterprise for identity, SLA or deployment requirements. Teams needing open-source deployment or more predictable high-volume pricing should look elsewhere.
