# API gateways: 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 a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/developer/api-gateways/2026-10

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since.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/index.md

**Standing:** Kong Gateway leads with 53% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 53 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Kong Gateway](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/kong-gateway/index.md) | 53% | 15% | 71 |
| 2 | [Apache APISIX](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apache-apisix/index.md) | 11% | 8% | 26 |
| 3 | [Amazon API Gateway](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/amazon-api-gateway/index.md) | 9% | 21% | 61 |
| 4 | [Tyk](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/tyk/index.md) | 8% | 11% | 47 |
| 5 | [Zuplo](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/zuplo/index.md) | 8% | 0% | 24 |
| 6 | [Azure API Management](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/azure-api-management/index.md) | 2% | 3% | 36 |
| 7 | [Traefik Hub](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/traefik-hub/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 21 |
| 8 | [Apigee](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apigee/index.md) | 2% | 28% | 43 |
| 12 | [Gravitee](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/gravitee/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 13 |
| 13 | [NGINX](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/nginx/index.md) | 0% | 7% | 14 |
| 66 | [MuleSoft Anypoint Platform](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/mulesoft-anypoint-platform/index.md) | 0% | 57% | 14 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 66 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: Amazon API Gateway, Kong Gateway
- GPT-5.4 mini: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, Azure API Management
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Tyk; alternatives Gravitee, Kong Gateway, Zuplo
- Perplexity Sonar: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, Cleo Integration Cloud
- Grok 4.20: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, Tyk, Zuplo
- Mistral Small: Zuplo; alternatives Apigee, Axway API Gateway
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Tyk, Zuplo
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Amazon API Gateway, Apigee; alternatives Kong Gateway, Tyk
- Kimi K2: Kong Gateway; alternatives Azure API Management
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Tyk, Zuplo
- MiniMax M2.5: Kong Gateway; alternatives Azure API Management, NGINX, Red Hat 3scale
- GPT-6 Luna: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, Azure API Management
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Kong Gateway, Tyk; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management

## Sources the answers cite

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

- geekflare.com: 38 answers, 39 citations
- dupple.com: 32 answers, 32 citations
- api7.ai: 31 answers, 39 citations
- zuplo.com: 30 answers, 68 citations
- solo.io: 23 answers, 26 citations
- guideflow.com: 21 answers, 21 citations
- konghq.com: 20 answers, 23 citations
- aws.amazon.com: 19 answers, 36 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://geekflare.com/guides/best-api-gateways (38 answers)
- https://dupple.com/learn/best-api-gateways (32 answers)
- https://zuplo.com/learning-center/best-api-gateways-2026 (22 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/api-gateway-software (18 answers)
- https://debugg.ai/resources/best-api-gateway-tools-developers-2024 (17 answers)
- https://api7.ai/top-11-api-gateways-platforms-compared (12 answers)
- https://itechguides.com/best/api-gateway-software (11 answers)
- https://tecmint.com/open-source-api-gateways-and-management-tools (11 answers)
- https://mgsoftware.nl/en/tools/best-api-gateway-tools (10 answers)
- https://solo.io/topics/api-gateway/api-gateway-security (9 answers)

## Warned against

- Apigee: 12 of 43 labels negative. "What to Avoid for Mid-Size Budgets - Apigee (Google) — powerful but expensive; pay-as-you-go can reach $400K+/year" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, paraphrase prompt)
- Amazon API Gateway: 13 of 61 labels negative. "avoid per-call pricing models (like AWS API Gateway at $1–$3.50 per million calls)" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- Kong Gateway: 11 of 71 labels negative. "Don’t start a new deployment on this version. Kong says it entered end-of-life in July 2026" (GPT-6 Luna, negative prompt)
- MuleSoft Anypoint Platform: 8 of 14 labels negative. "What Mid-Market B2B Companies Should Generally Avoid ... MuleSoft & Apigee:" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, direct prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Kong Gateway at 54%.

- Kong Gateway: 61% to 54%, −7. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 1 of 59, unchanged.
- Apache APISIX: 4% to 11%, +7. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 5 → 2 of 59.
- Zuplo: 16% to 9%, −7. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 2 → 4 of 59.
- Amazon API Gateway: 6% to 9%, +3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 4 → 3 of 59.
- Tyk: 10% to 7%, −3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 3 → 5 of 59.
- Traefik Hub: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 9 → 6 of 59.
- Apigee: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 43 → 7 of 59.
- Azure API Management: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 8 → 11 of 59.
- Gravitee: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 13 → 12 of 59.
- NGINX: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 11 → 13 of 59.
- MuleSoft Anypoint Platform: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 45 → 59 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.