The Battle of Titans: Apigee vs. Gloo Gateway

In the realm of API management platforms, two titans vie for dominance: Apigee and Gloo Gateway. Apigee, a stalwart with a significant market share, boasts seamless integration with Google Cloud and a comprehensive feature set. On the other hand, Gloo Gateway emerges as a flexible, automation and user-friendly alternative, focusing on cloud-native workloads and vibrant community support. Additionally, Gloo Gateway is based on the popular opensource Envoy Proxy project which positions it for future innovation driven by the community.

Integration vs. Flexibility

Apigee’s strength lies in its deep integration with Google Cloud, offering users access to a vast ecosystem of services. Its robust feature set, including advanced analytics and API lifecycle capabilities, appeals to enterprise customers seeking comprehensive solutions. However, Apigee faces challenges with automation, performance, and complex product differentiation and documentation, potentially hindering user experience. Moreover, its higher cost of ownership may deter smaller businesses with budget constraints.

In contrast, Gloo Gateway shines with its flexibility and ease of use. Designed with cloud-native workloads in mind, Gloo Gateway integrates with diverse cloud environments, supporting hybrid and multi-cloud deployments in a GitOps manner. Its automation-friendly configurations and streamlined deployment processes mitigate concerns regarding complexity and usability. Additionally, Gloo Gateway’s vibrant community support and comprehensive documentation provide users with ample resources for learning and problem-solving.

Architectural Differences

When comparing architectural designs, Apigee’s traditional approach contrasts with Gloo Gateway’s cloud-native architecture built on the highly performant Envoy proxy. While both platforms offer scalability and performance features, Gloo Gateway’s Kubernetes-based scaling and Envoy-based load balancing ensure efficient handling of enterprise-scale workloads and high-throughput API traffic.

Developer Experience

Developer experience is another area of divergence. While Apigee offers a developer-focused portal and point and click UI, Gloo Gateway leverages Kubernetes native custom resources for routing, resilience, discovery,  and documentation. Gloo Gateway fits into a modern developer workflow based on GitOps and tools like ArgoCD and Flux much better than Apigee can. Gloo Gateway also has a customizable Developer Portal UI and built-in GraphQL engine to suit developers’ needs, enhancing their experience.

Security and Governance

In terms of security and governance, Apigee and Gloo Gateway offer versatile methods for managing user access and authentication. However, Gloo Gateway’s utilization of Kubernetes RBAC capabilities, integration with OPA and Kyverno,  and FIPS 140-2 certification bolster its security credentials.

Reconsider Your API Management Approach

In light of Christian Posta’s assertion that full lifecycle API management is dead, organizations must reconsider their approach to API management when comparing Apigee and Gloo Gateway. While Apigee offers Google Cloud integration and robust features, its traditional approach may clash with modern development practices. In contrast, Gloo Gateway provides flexibility, simplicity, community support, and cost-effectiveness, aligning well with cloud-native strategies and collaborative environments.

Posta’s insights underscore the importance of selecting tools that seamlessly integrate with existing workflows, enhancing developer productivity and minimizing silos. As organizations move towards Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs) like Spotlight Developer Platform, they embrace automation, flexibility, and freedom from vendor lock-in, empowering them to build and deploy APIs efficiently across diverse environments.

To learn more about how Apigee and Gloo Gateway compare, download our Buyer’s Guide.