Apache APISIX

Free plan APILinuxSelf-hosted

What Apache APISIX is

Apache APISIX is an open-source gateway for managing traffic to APIs, microservices, and LLM workloads. It can run on bare metal or Kubernetes and supports HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, UDP, WebSocket, gRPC, MQTT, HTTP/3, and Dubbo. The project is licensed under Apache 2.0 and is self-managed, with commercial support available separately. Its more than 100 open-source plugins cover traffic management, security, observability, and protocol handling. The plugin pipeline can reload without restarting, while etcd distributes configuration changes across a cluster in real time. Security options include CORS, API keys, JWT, Basic Authentication, OAuth 2.0/OpenID Connect, and other listed authentication methods. For AI workloads, APISIX supports multi-provider proxying, load balancing, retries and fallback, token rate limits, and prompt security and transformation. The homepage reports approximately 18,000 queries per second per core and 0.2 ms added latency. Source releases include detached signatures and SHA-512 checksums; version 3.19.0 is listed as current.

Who it suits

APISIX suits teams managing API, microservice, or LLM traffic in self-hosted environments. It is also relevant to teams that need cluster configuration, protocol support, or a large plugin set.

What it does well

Free plan; licensed under Apache 2.0.
More than 100 open-source plugins.
Supports bare metal and Kubernetes deployments.
Configuration updates across clusters without restarts.
AI gateway includes retries and fallback.

What to know first

Teams are responsible for self-management.
Commercial support is separate.
Integration Hub lists two integrations as validation in progress.

Limits

Commercial support is available separately. No other free-plan quota or limit is stated in the facts.

Getting started

Visit the Apache APISIX website.
Choose a source release from the downloads page.
Verify the archive using its detached signature and SHA-512 checksum.
Deploy APISIX on bare metal or Kubernetes.
Use the project’s Slack, mailing list, GitHub Issues, or GitHub Discussions for help.

Verdict

APISIX combines API and AI gateway functions with broad protocol and plugin support. Its self-managed model and separate commercial support are important considerations for teams evaluating it.

Questions

Is Apache APISIX free?

Its pricing model is free, with a free plan. The project is licensed under Apache 2.0.

Where can APISIX run?

It is self-hosted and can run on bare metal or Kubernetes. Listed platforms include API, Linux, and self-hosted.

What protocols does it support?

Supported protocols include HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, UDP, WebSocket, gRPC, MQTT, HTTP/3, and Dubbo.

Does it include AI gateway features?

Yes. These include multi-provider proxying, load balancing, retries and fallback, token rate limits, prompt security, and prompt transformation.

What integrations are listed?

The homepage lists Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, OpenTelemetry, Kubernetes, Redis, Keycloak, OpenAI, Anthropic, and AWS Bedrock.

Where can users get support?

The project directs users to its Slack channel, mailing list, GitHub Issues, and GitHub Discussions. Commercial support is available separately.

Facts from Apache APISIX's own pages

AI gateway: Its AI gateway supports multi-provider proxying, load balancing, retries and fallback, token rate limits, prompt security, and prompt transformation. · apisix.apache.org, 3 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
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
Founded: 2019 · apisix.apache.org, 28 Sept 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
Integrations: The site lists integrations including Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, OpenTelemetry, Kubernetes, Redis, Keycloak, OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, DeepSeek, and Ollama. · apisix.apache.org, 3 Oct 2026
License: The project is licensed under Apache 2.0. · apisix.apache.org, 3 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
Performance: The homepage reports about 18,000 queries per second per core and 0.2 ms added latency. · apisix.apache.org, 2 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
Plugins: APISIX offers more than 100 open-source plugins for traffic management, security, observability, and protocol handling. · apisix.apache.org, 3 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
Published performance figures: The homepage states approximately 18,000 QPS per core and 0.2 ms added latency. · apisix.apache.org, 3 Oct 2026
Purpose: Apache APISIX is an open-source API gateway for routing, securing, and managing traffic to APIs, microservices, and LLM workloads. · apisix.apache.org, 3 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
Security: Security plugins include CORS, JWT, Key Auth, OpenID Connect, and Keycloak; vulnerability reports are directed to the Apache Security Team at [email protected]. · apisix.apache.org, 3 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
Support and community: The site links to community discussion through Slack and GitHub. · apisix.apache.org, 3 Oct 2026