Comparison

Apache APISIX vs KrakenD

No clear leader: Apache APISIX (55.7) and KrakenD (51.9) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
Apache APISIX56
KrakenD52
Score
Vioscale score
Apache APISIX56 / 100medium · 54%
KrakenD52 / 100high · 76%
Pricing
Free tier
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
Model
Apache APISIXopen_source
KrakenDcommercial
Price level
Apache APISIXfree
KrakenDlow
Transparent
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
Integrations
Count
Apache APISIX13
KrakenD13
Reliability
Status page
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
Adoption
Dependent repos
Apache APISIX1
KrakenD0
Github stars
Apache APISIX17,037
KrakenD2,668
Activity
Commits last 30d
Apache APISIX61
KrakenD9
Release
Cadence days
Apache APISIX61
KrakenD24
History
Apache APISIX20 items
KrakenD20 items
License
Spdx
Apache APISIXApache-2.0
KrakenDApache-2.0
Language
Primary
Apache APISIXLua
KrakenDGo
Market
Availability
Apache APISIX

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for api gateways. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Deployment
Hosting
Apache APISIXCloud + self-hosted
KrakenDCloud + self-hosted
Kubernetes-native
Apache APISIX
KrakenD-
Traffic
Rate limiting
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
Request/response transformation
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
Security
OAuth2 / OIDC / JWT
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
Mutual TLS
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
Protocols
GraphQL gateway
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
gRPC support
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
Delivery
Developer portal
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
Monetization
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
Ecosystem
Plugin ecosystem
Apache APISIXExtensive
KrakenDLimited
Insight
Observability
Apache APISIX
KrakenD

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Apache APISIX

A dynamic, high-performance gateway that routes and secures API traffic with built-in plugins for authentication, rate limiting, and observability. Runs anywhere from bare metal to Kubernetes with no vendor lock-in.

Independently observed

KrakenD

KrakenD is an open-source API gateway offering both a free community edition and a commercial enterprise version. It provides API aggregation, request/response transformation, traffic management, and security features for microservices and AI workload routing.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Apache APISIX

Open sourceFree tier
as of verify ↗

KrakenD

HybridFree tier

Free Community Edition; Enterprise Edition available by quote

  • Community EditionFree
  • Enterprise EditionContact sales
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Linux
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
CLI
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
Self-hosted
Apache APISIX
KrakenD
Hybrid
Apache APISIX
KrakenD

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

In common (2)
  • OpenAI
  • gRPC

Apache APISIX

21 total - 19 not shared
  • Anthropic
  • AWS Bedrock
  • DeepSeek
  • Ollama
  • gRPC-Web
  • Open Policy Agent
  • Spring Boot
  • OAuth2
  • OpenID Connect
  • Keycloak
  • Istio
  • Kuma
  • AWS Lambda
  • Azure Serverless Function
  • Apache OpenWhisk
  • Vault
  • Dubbo
  • MQTT
  • etcd
Independently observed

KrakenD

13 total - 11 not shared
  • REST APIs
  • RabbitMQ
  • SNS
  • SQS
  • Kafka
  • GraphQL
  • SOAP
  • Lambda
  • NATS
  • Moesif
  • Google Analytics
Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.