Amazon API Gateway vs Higress
Amazon API Gateway
aws.amazon.com
Higress
higress.ioSide by side
| Figure | Amazon API Gateway | Higress |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $1/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 7 | 5 |
| Spec score · API Gateway Software | 9.4 (#1) | 8.7 (#2) |
| Caching | REST APIs offer optional configurable caching billed hourly according to cache size. | It supports precise and semantic caching of inference results to reduce token use and latency for similar or repeated questions. |
| Documentation depth | The documentation site includes conceptual guides, tutorials, API references, OpenAPI import/export procedures and security guidance. | Documentation covers quickstarts, Helm configuration, plugin usage, CRDs, service discovery, protocol conversion, operations and contributor workflows. |
| Licence | AWS customer terms contain proprietary-rights provisions governing AWS services; API Gateway is not published as open-source software. | The main Higress project is licensed under Apache License 2.0, while bundled components can carry separate licences. |
| Observability | The console integrates with CloudWatch for API-call, latency and error metrics, alarms and execution-error logs. | The AI statistics plugin records token counts, first-token latency, total request latency and logs across gateway, route, service and model dimensions. |
| Rating on Capterra | 4.7 out of 5 from 14 reviews | 0.0 out of 5 from 0 reviews. |
| Security controls | Authorization options include IAM, Amazon Cognito, OAuth2/OIDC, Lambda authorizers and AWS WAF integration. | Official capabilities include WAF protection and key, HMAC, JWT, Basic and OIDC authentication or authorization strategies. |
| Traffic management | Built-in capabilities include CORS, throttling, traffic management, authorization, monitoring and API version management. | Its AI gateway supports Token-based quotas and rate limiting, API key pool rotation, and consumer authentication. |
| What it does | Amazon API Gateway is a fully managed service for creating, publishing, maintaining, monitoring and securing APIs. | Higress is an open-source, AI-native cloud API gateway built on Istio and Envoy. |
Plans
Amazon API Gateway
- Free tierFree
- Free TierFree
- HTTP APIs$1 a month
- WebSocket APIs$1 a month
- REST APIs$3.50 a month
- API Gateway Portals$125 a month
- Pay-as-you-goPrice not published
Higress
- Alibaba Cloud AI Gateway Serverless StandardPriced on request
- Higress CommunityFree
- Higress Community EditionFree
- Alibaba Cloud AI Gateway Serverless EnterprisePriced on request
- Feitian Exclusive EditionPriced on request
In their own words
Amazon API Gateway
Amazon API Gateway is a cloud service for creating, publishing, maintaining, monitoring, and securing APIs that connect applications to backend services. It supports REST, HTTP, and WebSocket APIs, including real-time two-way communication. Integrations include AWS Lambda, Step Functions, Elastic Beanstalk, EC2, and public HTTP endpoints; HTTP APIs can also route requests to certain private services. API Gateway Portals provide managed spaces to discover, document, and govern REST APIs. Traffic controls include request throttling and configurable caching for REST APIs. The console integrates with Amazon CloudWatch for call, latency, and error metrics, alarms, and execution logs. Authorization options include IAM, Lambda authorizers, OIDC, OAuth 2.0, and other listed methods; REST API keys are optional. A free tier is available to new AWS customers for up to 12 months within monthly allowances, with excess usage charged at standard rates. Pay-as-you-go has no minimum fees or upfront commitments; the listed pricing note is From $1. WebSocket messages can be up to 128 KB and are metered in 32 KB increments.
Higress
Higress is an open-source API gateway for governing AI services and cloud-native traffic, built on Istio and Envoy. Its AI Gateway provides centralized access to model APIs and MCP servers, with unified routing, protocol conversion, load balancing, and fallback. Higress says it supports more than 100 mainstream large language models. It can convert HTTP to MCP and proxy native MCP services. Traffic controls include token-based quotas and rate limits, API key pool rotation, and consumer authentication. Caching can reuse inference results precisely or semantically to reduce token use and latency for similar or repeated questions. Listed security measures cover prompt attacks, sensitive content, data privacy, and output filtering. The wider API gateway combines traffic, microservice, and security gateway functions with service exposure and API lifecycle management. It supports HTTP, HTTP2, HTTPS, GRPC, GRPCS, TCP, and Dubbo, along with Kubernetes Ingress and Gateway API. Custom Wasm plugins can be written in Go, Rust, or JavaScript, with sandbox isolation and hot updates. The self-hosted Community Edition is free; the site also lists a managed Alibaba Cloud plan billed by actual usage, starting at ¥0.