vioscaleAI
Comparison

Apache APISIX vs KrakenD

No clear leader: Apache APISIX (54.2) and KrakenD (49.9) 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.

Apache APISIX full profile →KrakenD full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Apache APISIX54
KrakenD50
Score
vioscaleAI score
Apache APISIX54 / 100medium · 53%
KrakenD50 / 100medium · 67%
Pricing
Free tier
Apache APISIX✓
KrakenD✓
Model
Apache APISIXopen_source
KrakenDfreemium
Price level
Apache APISIXfree
KrakenDlow
Transparent
Apache APISIX✓
KrakenD✓
Integrations
Count
Apache APISIX11
KrakenD12
Security
Certifications
Apache APISIX–
KrakenDSOC 2 Type II
Disclosure policy
Apache APISIX✓
KrakenD–
Gdpr
Apache APISIX–
KrakenD✓
Scorecard
Apache APISIX7.2
KrakenD–
Soc2
Apache APISIX–
KrakenD✓
Trust center
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Status page
Apache APISIX–
KrakenD✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Apache APISIX1
KrakenD0
Github stars
Apache APISIX17,220
KrakenD2,691
Activity
Commits last 30d
Apache APISIX67
KrakenD23
Release
Cadence days
Apache APISIX61
KrakenD19
History
Apache APISIX20 items
KrakenD20 items
License
Spdx
Apache APISIXApache-2.0
KrakenDApache-2.0
Language
Primary
Apache APISIXLua
KrakenDGo
Market
Availability
Apache APISIX–
KrakenDAvailable worldwide · HQ ES
Content
Faq
Apache APISIX6 items
KrakenD8 items

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

Open-source software that manages and routes traffic to APIs and AI services. Designed for flexible deployment on your own infrastructure with extensive customization through plugins.

Independently observed

KrakenD

An open-source gateway positioned between client applications and backend services that aggregates, transforms, and secures API traffic across distributed microservice architectures with minimal resource consumption.

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 source
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
Web
Apache APISIX✓
KrakenD✗
Linux
Apache APISIX✓
KrakenD✓
CLI
Apache APISIX✓
KrakenD✗
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Apache APISIX✗
KrakenD✓
Self-hosted
Apache APISIX✓
KrakenD✓
On-premise
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 (4)
  • OpenAI
  • gRPC
  • AWS Lambda
  • Prometheus

Apache APISIX

28 total - 24 not shared
  • Anthropic
  • AWS Bedrock
  • DeepSeek
  • Ollama
  • gRPC-Web
  • Open Policy Agent
  • Spring Boot
  • OAuth2
  • OpenID Connect
  • Keycloak
  • Istio
  • Kuma
  • Azure Serverless Function
  • Apache OpenWhisk
  • Vault
  • Dubbo
  • MQTT
  • etcd
  • OpenTelemetry
  • ClickHouse
  • Google Cloud
  • Kubernetes
  • Azure Functions
  • HashiCorp Vault
Independently observed

KrakenD

24 total - 20 not shared
  • REST APIs
  • RabbitMQ
  • SNS
  • SQS
  • Kafka
  • GraphQL
  • SOAP
  • Lambda
  • NATS
  • Moesif
  • Google Analytics
  • Amazon SNS
  • Amazon SQS
  • Apache Kafka
  • Elasticsearch
  • Kibana
  • Datadog
  • Grafana
  • Zipkin
  • Jaeger
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Apache APISIX or KrakenD: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

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