# API gateways for small business buyers: 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 small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/developer/api-gateways/smb

**Standing:** Zuplo (tied with Kong Gateway) leads with 29% of first choices; verdict contested. 70 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Zuplo](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/zuplo/index.md) | 29% | 0% | 50 |
| 2 | [Kong Gateway](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/kong-gateway/index.md) | 29% | 19% | 74 |
| 3 | [Amazon API Gateway](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/amazon-api-gateway/index.md) | 23% | 19% | 74 |
| 4 | [Tyk](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/tyk/index.md) | 9% | 9% | 57 |
| 5 | [KrakenD](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/krakend/index.md) | 4% | 0% | 16 |
| 10 | [Traefik Hub](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/traefik-hub/index.md) | 0% | 13% | 15 |
| 11 | [Cloudflare API Gateway](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/cloudflare-api-gateway/index.md) | 0% | 10% | 10 |
| 12 | [NGINX](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/nginx/index.md) | 0% | 25% | 16 |
| 13 | [Gravitee](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/gravitee/index.md) | 0% | 20% | 10 |
| 38 | [Azure API Management](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/azure-api-management/index.md) | 0% | 43% | 28 |
| 60 | [MuleSoft Anypoint Platform](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/mulesoft-anypoint-platform/index.md) | 0% | 84% | 19 |
| 61 | [Apigee](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/apigee/index.md) | 0% | 82% | 34 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 61 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; alternatives Azure API Management, Tyk
- GPT-5.4 mini: Amazon API Gateway; alternatives Google Cloud API Gateway
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Zuplo; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Kong Gateway, Tyk
- Perplexity Sonar: Zuplo; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Kong Gateway, Tyk
- Grok 4.20: Zuplo; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Kong Gateway
- Mistral Small: Kong Gateway, Zuplo
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Tyk, Zuplo
- Llama 4 Maverick: Zuplo
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Amazon API Gateway, Tyk; alternatives Kong Gateway, Zuplo
- Kimi K2: Zuplo; alternatives Kong Gateway, Tyk
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Kong Gateway, Tyk; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, KrakenD, WSO2 API Manager
- MiniMax M2.5: Zuplo; alternatives Kong Gateway, Tyk
- GPT-6 Luna: Amazon API Gateway, Kong Gateway
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Kong Gateway; alternatives Amazon API Gateway, Tyk, Zuplo

## Sources the answers cite

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

- zuplo.com: 44 answers, 106 citations
- dev.to: 23 answers, 26 citations
- dupple.com: 22 answers, 22 citations
- aws.amazon.com: 20 answers, 32 citations
- wso2.com: 20 answers, 27 citations
- scalar.com: 19 answers, 19 citations
- konghq.com: 18 answers, 23 citations
- github.com: 17 answers, 32 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://zuplo.com/learning-center/best-api-gateways-2026 (25 answers)
- https://dupple.com/learn/best-api-gateways (22 answers)
- https://zuplo.com/learning-center/api-gateway-comparison-2026-q2 (21 answers)
- https://zuplo.com/learning-center/best-api-gateways-startups-2026 (20 answers)
- https://scalar.com/library/best-api-management-platforms-2026 (19 answers)
- https://geekflare.com/guides/best-api-gateways (17 answers)
- https://mgsoftware.nl/en/tools/best-api-gateway-tools (17 answers)
- https://knoxcall.com/blog/article/best-api-gateways-small-teams-2026 (16 answers)
- https://cotocus.com/blog/top-10-api-gateways-features-pros-cons-comparison (11 answers)
- https://konghq.com/blog/enterprise/how-to-choose-an-api-gateway (11 answers)

## Warned against

- Apigee: 28 of 34 labels negative. "Why to avoid: Frequently cited as having "high cost, complexity, and a steeper learning curve that makes it a poor fit for small companies"" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)
- Kong Gateway: 14 of 74 labels negative. "Why to exercise caution: Both Kong and Tyk are excellent products. However, self-hosting the open-source versions requires you to manage high availability" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt)
- Amazon API Gateway: 14 of 74 labels negative. "When to avoid: If you expect >10M requests/month or have unpredictable traffic patterns" (Kimi K2, negative prompt)
- MuleSoft Anypoint Platform: 16 of 19 labels negative. "Solutions like IBM Apigee or MuleSoft often come with massive implementation fees and consulting requirements ($50k+ setup). This is likely overkill for you" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, scale prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
New leader: Kong Gateway (34%) to Zuplo (29%). Margin 0 points, within noise.

- Kong Gateway: 34% to 29%, −5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 1 → 2 of 61.
- KrakenD: 0% to 4%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 14 → 5 of 61.
- Tyk: 6% to 9%, +3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 4 of 61, unchanged.
- Zuplo: 27% to 29%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 2 → 1 of 61.
- Traefik Hub: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 6 → 10 of 61.
- Cloudflare API Gateway: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 5 → 11 of 61.
- Amazon API Gateway: 22% to 23%, +1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 3 of 61, unchanged.
- Apache APISIX: 2% to 1%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 7 of 61, unchanged.
- NGINX: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 18 → 12 of 61.
- Gravitee: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 17 → 13 of 61.
- Azure API Management: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 12 → 38 of 61.
- MuleSoft Anypoint Platform: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 58 → 60 of 61.

## 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.