# API gateways: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 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/2026-11

**Standing:** Kong Gateway leads with 63% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 60 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) | 63% | 10% | 79 |
| 2 | [Amazon API Gateway](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/amazon-api-gateway/index.md) | 8% | 19% | 74 |
| 3 | [Tyk](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/tyk/index.md) | 7% | 4% | 51 |
| 4 | [Apache APISIX](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apache-apisix/index.md) | 7% | 9% | 23 |
| 5 | [Azure API Management](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/azure-api-management/index.md) | 3% | 9% | 56 |
| 6 | [Zuplo](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/zuplo/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 21 |
| 7 | [Gravitee](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/gravitee/index.md) | 2% | 5% | 19 |
| 8 | [Traefik Hub](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/traefik-hub/index.md) | 2% | 6% | 17 |
| 13 | [NGINX](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/nginx/index.md) | 0% | 10% | 21 |
| 14 | [KrakenD](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/krakend/index.md) | 0% | 7% | 15 |
| 15 | [Envoy](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/envoy/index.md) | 0% | 15% | 13 |
| 16 | [Apigee](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apigee/index.md) | 0% | 36% | 50 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 64 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: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Tyk, Zuplo
- GPT-5.4 mini: Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management; alternatives Kong Gateway, Tyk
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, Gravitee, Tyk
- Perplexity Sonar: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, Zuplo
- Grok 4.20: Kong Gateway, Tyk; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management
- Mistral Small: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, Tyk
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Azure API Management, Kong Gateway; alternatives Gravitee, Tyk
- Llama 4 Maverick: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Apache APISIX, Azure API Management, NGINX
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, Azure API Management
- Kimi K2: Kong Gateway; alternatives Azure API Management, Tyk
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, Azure API Management, Tyk
- MiniMax M2.5: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, Gravitee, KrakenD
- GPT-6 Luna: Tyk Cloud or Tyk Hybrid; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, Kong Gateway
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, Zuplo

## Sources the answers cite

67 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 13 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- zuplo.com: 29 answers, 50 citations
- wso2.com: 24 answers, 38 citations
- dev.to: 22 answers, 27 citations
- konghq.com: 20 answers, 22 citations
- mgsoftware.nl: 19 answers, 19 citations
- gravitee.io: 18 answers, 25 citations
- aws.amazon.com: 17 answers, 24 citations
- tyk.io: 17 answers, 24 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://mgsoftware.nl/en/tools/best-api-gateway-tools (19 answers)
- https://dev.to/devstackhub/6-best-api-gateways-for-developers-breaking-their-routing-logic-4a99 (15 answers)
- https://dupple.com/learn/best-api-gateways (15 answers)
- https://konghq.com/blog/enterprise/how-to-choose-an-api-gateway (15 answers)
- https://geekflare.com/guides/best-api-gateways (14 answers)
- https://zuplo.com/learning-center/best-api-gateways-2026 (14 answers)
- https://scalar.com/library/best-api-management-platforms-2026 (13 answers)
- https://techtarget.com/news/Explore-these-7-popular-API-gateway-tools/858012 (11 answers)
- https://wso2.com/api-platform/learn/api-tools-and-gateways (11 answers)
- https://gane.ai/index/it/developer/api-gateways (10 answers)

## Warned against

- Amazon API Gateway: 14 of 74 labels negative. "Avoid if you are outside AWS-heavy stacks or need strict predictability in large organizations. Reports highlight vendor lock-in and insufficient governance" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- Apigee: 18 of 50 labels negative. "Avoid enterprise products such as Apigee or MuleSoft until advanced governance... justify their substantially higher cost" (Perplexity Sonar, budget prompt)
- Kong Gateway: 8 of 79 labels negative. "Kong without reviewing licensing and edition boundaries. Its plugin ecosystem is strong, but upgrades and custom plugins can add complexity" (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt)
- MuleSoft Anypoint Platform: 11 of 24 labels negative. "mid-market doesn't need Apigee/MuleSoft scale (those are enterprise-grade with six-figure price tags)" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, direct prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Kong Gateway at 63%.

- Kong Gateway: 53% to 63%, +10. Inside the floor by 1 point · rank 1 of 64, unchanged.
- Zuplo: 8% to 2%, −6. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 5 → 6 of 64.
- Apache APISIX: 11% to 7%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 2 → 4 of 64.
- Gravitee: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 12 → 7 of 64.
- Apigee: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 8 → 16 of 64.
- WSO2 API Manager: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 11 → 60 of 64.
- Amazon API Gateway: 9% to 8%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 3 → 2 of 64.
- Tyk: 8% to 7%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 4 → 3 of 64.
- Azure API Management: 2% to 3%, +1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 6 → 5 of 64.
- Traefik Hub: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 7 → 8 of 64.
- NGINX: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 13 of 64, unchanged.
- KrakenD: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 15 → 14 of 64.

## Record

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