# API gateways for enterprise buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "API gateway" and as "API gateway and traffic management tool", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of an enterprise B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/developer/api-gateways/2026-10/enterprise

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/developer/api-gateways/enterprise/index.md

**Standing:** Apigee leads with 38% of first choices; verdict contested. 50 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Apigee](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apigee/index.md) | 38% | 24% | 67 |
| 2 | [Kong Gateway](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/kong-gateway/index.md) | 34% | 13% | 69 |
| 3 | [Tyk](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/tyk/index.md) | 6% | 7% | 28 |
| 4 | [Azure API Management](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/azure-api-management/index.md) | 4% | 21% | 48 |
| 5 | [Zuplo](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/zuplo/index.md) | 4% | 18% | 11 |
| 6 | [Amazon API Gateway](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/amazon-api-gateway/index.md) | 4% | 45% | 62 |
| 7 | [MuleSoft Anypoint Platform](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/mulesoft-anypoint-platform/index.md) | 2% | 11% | 36 |
| 8 | [Gravitee](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/gravitee/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 11 |
| 14 | [Apache APISIX](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apache-apisix/index.md) | 0% | 21% | 14 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 65 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Apigee, Kong Gateway, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management
- GPT-5.4 mini: Apigee, Azure API Management; alternatives IBM API Connect, Kong Gateway
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Apigee; alternatives Azure API Management, Gravitee, Kong Gateway
- Perplexity Sonar: Apigee; alternatives Kong Gateway, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform
- Grok 4.20: Apigee; alternatives IBM API Connect, Kong Gateway, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform
- Mistral Small: Apigee
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Apigee; alternatives Kong Gateway, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform
- Llama 4 Maverick: Apigee
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform, Tyk
- Kimi K2: Kong Gateway; alternatives Apigee, IBM DataPower Gateway, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Apigee; alternatives IBM API Connect, Kong Gateway, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform
- MiniMax M2.5: Apigee, Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Cloudflare API Gateway, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform
- GPT-6 Luna: Apigee; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, Kong Gateway
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Apigee; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, Kong Gateway, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform

## Sources the answers cite

74 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- zuplo.com: 44 answers, 101 citations
- dupple.com: 37 answers, 37 citations
- api7.ai: 35 answers, 41 citations
- solo.io: 33 answers, 47 citations
- geekflare.com: 30 answers, 30 citations
- tyk.io: 23 answers, 40 citations
- guideflow.com: 23 answers, 24 citations
- konghq.com: 22 answers, 29 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://dupple.com/learn/best-api-gateways (37 answers)
- https://geekflare.com/guides/best-api-gateways (30 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/api-gateway-software (22 answers)
- https://zuplo.com/learning-center/best-api-gateways-2026 (21 answers)
- https://solo.io/blog/top-7-api-gateway-capabilities (16 answers)
- https://integrate.io/blog/api-management-tools (14 answers)
- https://mgsoftware.nl/en/tools/best-api-gateway-tools (14 answers)
- https://techtarget.com/it-infrastructure/feature/Explore-these-7-popular-API-gateway-tools (14 answers)
- https://api7.ai/top-11-api-gateways-platforms-compared (12 answers)
- https://tech-insider.org/kong-vs-aws-api-gateway-vs-apigee-2026 (12 answers)

## Warned against

- Amazon API Gateway: 28 of 62 labels negative. "Avoid pure per-call gateways like AWS API Gateway, Azure API Management Consumption, or Apigee Pay-as-you-go Base" (Muse Glimmer 30B, budget prompt)
- Apigee: 16 of 67 labels negative. "here are the API gateways that large enterprises should be cautious about or avoid: ... Apigee (Google Cloud)" (Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt)
- Azure API Management: 10 of 48 labels negative. "Consumption-based billing that increases with usage" (Kimi K2, budget prompt)
- Kong Gateway: 9 of 69 labels negative. "Avoid for strict predictability: Kong Konnect (costs can vary widely with usage)." (Mistral Small, budget prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Kong Gateway at 37%.

- Kong Gateway: 45% to 37%, −8. Inside the floor by 3 points · rank 1 of 59, unchanged.
- Azure API Management: 0% to 5%, +5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 9 → 4 of 59.
- Apigee: 36% to 33%, −3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 2 of 59, unchanged.
- Amazon API Gateway: 2% to 5%, +3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 5 of 59, unchanged.
- Tyk: 9% to 7%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 3 of 59, unchanged.
- NGINX: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 13 → 11 of 59.
- MuleSoft Anypoint Platform: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 4 → 6 of 59.
- Gravitee: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 6 → 7 of 59.
- Zuplo: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 7 → 8 of 59.
- Apache APISIX: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 10 → 12 of 59.
- Gloo Gateway: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 12 → 13 of 59.
- IBM API Connect: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 11 → 14 of 59.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.