Zuplo

Zuplo is a unified gateway and portal service for organizations running APIs alongside AI models or MCP servers. It fits API teams that want security, documentation, traffic governance and a customer-facing portal under one roof. The free tier is useful for small programs, while Builder’s overage rate makes traffic forecasting essential.

Overview

Zuplo combines API Gateway, AI Gateway and MCP Gateway products with OpenAPI-based documentation and cataloging. Its hosted developer portal is included on every plan and can run on your domain, giving API consumers a branded place to find documentation and access services without buying a separate portal product. This breadth suits teams building an API program; a documentation-only project would be paying for capabilities it may not use.

Gateways can be deployed across more than 300 edge locations, while self-hosted or dedicated deployment is offered for organizations that need control over where the gateway runs. GitOps through GitHub is available on Free and Builder, with broader repository choices on Enterprise.

Key features

Security controls include API keys, JWT, Basic Auth, mutual TLS, bot detection, rate limiting and schema validation. That combination covers authentication, abuse prevention and contract enforcement in a single gateway. Zuplo also states that SOC 2 Type II, audit logs and policy-enforcement evidence are built into the platform, which matters for regulated or audit-conscious teams.

The AI Gateway can distribute requests among OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Mistral. Semantic caching can reduce repeated model work, while prompt-injection protection, secret masking and spending budgets address operational and cost risks around AI traffic. The MCP Gateway is included on every plan and provides authentication, routing and governance for MCP servers, making Zuplo relevant where emerging tool protocols sit beside conventional APIs.

Documented logging integrations include AWS CloudWatch, Datadog, Dynatrace, New Relic, Google Cloud Logging, Loki, Splunk, Sumo Logic and VMware Log Insight. Interactive API documentation, an API catalog and basic usage analytics round out the platform.

Pricing

Free

Free costs free and remains free forever while usage is at or below 100K requests per month. It includes 2 account members, 5 environments, 100 consumers or API keys, 2 projects or services, GitHub GitOps and a 14-day Analytics trial. This is a sensible fit for prototypes, internal services and small API portfolios. The two-member cap and 100K-request ceiling will constrain larger teams, and the analytics trial is temporary.

Builder

Builder costs $25 a month, including 100K requests. Additional usage costs $100 per 100K requests, so a traffic increase can quickly outweigh the low subscription price. The plan raises capacity to 10 environments and 1,000 consumers or API keys, adds up to 2 custom domains, and retains 2 projects or services, GitHub GitOps and a 14-day Analytics trial. It suits a growing team that can keep traffic predictable; high-volume public APIs should model overages carefully.

Enterprise

Enterprise uses custom pricing and custom request volume, domains and environments. It adds SSO/RBAC, dedicated or self-hosted deployment, and a 99.5% baseline SLA with up to 99.999% available. Premium 24x7x365 support is an add-on. This is the route for organizations with identity, residency, availability or support requirements beyond the fixed plans.

Platforms

Zuplo supports API, Linux, self-hosted and web deployments. Hosted portal delivery is standard, with dedicated or self-hosted gateway options on Enterprise.

Who it's for

Choose Zuplo if one team needs to protect, document and publish APIs while governing model and MCP traffic. It is particularly suitable for organizations that value OpenAPI cataloging, a branded portal and Git-based workflow. It is a weaker fit for a simple documentation site or for workloads whose request volume makes Builder overages unpredictable.

Pros and cons

• Pro: API, AI and MCP gateways share one management layer, reducing the need to stitch together separate traffic-control products.
• Pro: The portal is free on every plan and supports a custom domain, useful for presenting a consistent developer experience.
• Pro: Broad authentication, policy and logging integrations support varied security and observability setups.
• Con: Builder charges $100 for each additional 100K requests, creating a substantial variable-cost risk.
• Con: Free is limited to two members and 100K monthly requests, which may force an early upgrade.
• Con: Analytics beyond the 14-day trial is not included in the fixed-plan allowance.

Alternatives

Gravitee API Gateway is worth choosing when an Apache 2.0 community edition and Windows support matter, with no numerical limits stated for that edition.

Kong Gateway fits teams wanting a 30-day free trial with no Gateway limits and 30 days of analytics retention.

Lago is the better direction for teams seeking an AGPLv3 open-source, self-hosted product focused on billing.

Moesif suits API programs centered on event analytics, with a 14-day trial of Growth features.

Revenium is an option for transaction observation, offering 100,000 transactions per month and seven days of retention on Observe.

Stigg is aimed at entitlements and usage management, with a free Build plan covering 10,000 managed entities and 5M usage events monthly.

Apigee API hub may suit eligible Apigee organizations that can use it at no additional cost in supported regions.

Flexprice is a billing-focused alternative with a free allowance of 100K events per month.

For broader comparisons, see the API Monetization Software, API Developer Portal Software and API Marketplace Software lists.

Verdict

Zuplo is a strong choice for API teams that want gateway security, OpenAPI organization, a hosted branded portal and governance for AI and MCP traffic in one service. Start with Free for modest usage, but look elsewhere or negotiate Enterprise terms if request volume is high or unpredictable, because Builder’s overage pricing can become the dominant cost.