Free API Gateways and API Key Management
Which API gateways and API management tools a startup can publish, secure and meter its API with for free today, how many requests the free plan allows, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, read from each provider's own page.
Free allowances read on each provider's own pages, all checked on or after . API gateways change their free plans from time to time: confirm the terms on the provider's page before you rely on it.
API gateways a startup can use for free today include Zuplo (Free plan: 100K requests a month), Kong Gateway (Open source API gateway), Unkey (Free: 150K valid requests a month), Tyk Gateway (Tyk Gateway open source, free), and AWS API Gateway (1M API calls a month for 12 months). Each of the 10 free plans below links to the provider's page that states it, with its main limit, its request caps, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs.
Once other developers use your API, you need keys, rate limits, authentication and usage analytics in front of it. API gateways provide them; several hosted gateways have a free plan, and open-source gateways run free on your own servers.
The headline rarely tells you how far it goes. Free plans cap requests a month, keep analytics and logs for a day or a week, and some free tiers last only 12 months for new accounts. Each gateway below shows what is free, its main limit, its request caps, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, quoted from the provider's own page with the date we read it.
Which gateways we picked and the order they appear in are our editorial choices; the terms are the providers'. Some of these providers pay us a referral commission when someone signs up through our link: those links are labeled, and they play no part in which gateways are listed or where.
API gateways with a free plan
Put auth, rate limits and keys in front of your API on a hosted gateway, free to start.
- 1
Zuplo
A managed gateway for a side project, 100K requests free
Zuplo's Free plan gives 100K requests a month with no credit card, and one day of analytics and logs. The Builder plan is $25 a month.
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: zuplo.com)
- First paid plan
- Builder: $25 a month (source: zuplo.com)
- 2
Unkey
API keys and rate limits, free to start
Unkey's free API Management plan gives 150,000 valid requests a month and 1,000 API keys. A card is needed only to upgrade, to Pro at $25 a month.
- Payment card
- Card only to upgrade (source: unkey.com)
- First paid plan
- Pro: $25 a month, 250K requests (source: unkey.com)
- 3
AWS API Gateway
Gateway calls on an AWS account for its first year
New AWS customers get one million REST and one million HTTP API calls a month for 12 months. After that, API call charges are $3.50 per million REST calls.
- First paid plan
- REST: $3.50 per million calls (source: aws.amazon.com)
Start free at Amazon Web ServicesTerms read on aws.amazon.com on AWS API Gateway: the free allowance and how to start - 4
Moesif
API analytics on a small volume of events
Moesif's Free plan includes 30K events a month and 7 days of data retained. The Growth plan is from $132 a month.
- First paid plan
- Growth: from $132 a month (source: moesif.com)
- 5
Google Apigee
Enterprise API management, tried for 60 days
Apigee can be evaluated in your own sandbox at no cost for 60 days. After that, the price is $20 per 1M API calls, up to 50M API calls.
Start free at Google CloudTerms read on cloud.google.com on Google Apigee: the free allowance and how to start
Open-source API gateways
Run an API gateway on your own servers, free.
- 1
Kong Gateway
A self-run open source gateway, from Kong
Kong Gateway is the open source API gateway from Kong. Its managed Konnect Plus plan is from $25 a month plus usage, billed monthly.
- What's free
- Open source API gateway (source: konghq.com)
- First paid plan
- Konnect Plus: from $25 a month + usage (source: konghq.com)
Start free at KongTerms read on konghq.com on Kong Gateway: the free allowance and how to start Kong for Startups: what startups get - 2
Tyk Gateway
An open source gateway you run on your own servers
Tyk Gateway and Tyk Pump are free; everything else comes with a paid plan. The Core plan is priced by the number of APIs managed.
- First paid plan
- Core: priced per API managed (source: tyk.io)
- 3
Apache APISIX
A permissively licensed open source gateway
The gateway is Apache 2.0 licensed open source, so you can run it yourself.
Start free at Apache APISIXTerms read on apisix.apache.org on Apache APISIX: the free allowance and how to start - 4
KrakenD
A fast open source gateway with a free Community Edition
KrakenD is a high-performance open source API gateway, free to use and trusted by thousands of teams, in its Community Edition.
- 5
Envoy Gateway
Kubernetes teams that already use Envoy Proxy
Envoy Gateway is an open source project for managing Envoy Proxy as a standalone or Kubernetes-based application gateway.
Start free at Envoy GatewayTerms read on gateway.envoyproxy.io on Envoy Gateway: the free allowance and how to start
Developer startup programs
Programs from developer tool companies that give startups credits or discounts on paid plans.
Also useful for founders
Referral links, picked for fit and ordered by fit (70%) and what a signup earns us (30%), at no cost to you. They never change this page's ranking.
ScraperAPIScraping API that handles proxies, browsers and CAPTCHAs for you1,000 API creditsReferral link
Parallel AIAutonomous AI agents for sales, marketing and support50 free credits, no cardReferral link
ColdIQOne API and MCP server for B2B sales data from 40+ providers300 free creditsReferral linkCompare the top options
How this comparison is built
The list covers API gateways and API management tools a founder can use for free today without applying to a program. The order and the "best for" notes are our editorial reading of each gateway's terms. Every term comes from the gateway's own pricing or help page on the date shown, never from a third-party list; follow each link for the full conditions. A cap on requests a month, analytics or a developer portal kept for paid plans, the open-source edition missing features of the paid one can matter more than the headline, so the comparison quotes them wherever the provider states them. Some of these gateways pay StartupPerks a referral commission, and their links are labeled as referral links; that decides neither whether nor where a gateway appears, and no gateway pays for a placement on this page.
Read the full methodologyCommon questions
What is the best free API gateway?
By the terms each provider states, Unkey's free plan covers 150K valid requests a month with 1,000 API keys, Zuplo's 100K requests a month, and AWS API Gateway gives new accounts 1M API calls a month for 12 months.
Is Kong free?
Kong Gateway is open source and free to run yourself; its hosted Konnect Plus plan starts from $25 a month plus usage.
Is AWS API Gateway free?
For 12 months on a new AWS account: 1M REST API calls and 1M HTTP API calls a month are free. After that, REST APIs cost $3.50 per million calls.
Is there a free open-source API gateway?
Yes. Kong Gateway, Tyk Gateway, Apache APISIX (Apache 2.0), KrakenD Community Edition and Envoy Gateway are open source and free to self-host.
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