Apiman vs Tyk API Management

Apiman is open-source API management software for securing API access and handling discovery and governance across the API lifecycle. Its policy-based runtime governance supports multiple plans with different service levels for the same API. The management layer includes a REST API, Manager UI, and standalone Developer Portal, along with multi-tenancy, events, notifications, permissions, and approvals. Teams can create custom policies and components with Java plugins, which can be loaded at runtime without restarting. Gateways scale independently from the Manager and can keep running if the Manager goes down. Supported gateway platforms are Vert.x, WildFly, and Tomcat. Standard policies cover authorization, BASIC authentication, IP allowlisting and blocklisting, OAuth2/JWT through the Keycloak plugin, and HTTP security headers. Apiman is licensed under Apache License 2.0, with no features behind paywalls. It is primarily an HTTP gateway: WebSockets lack explicit testing or support, while raw TCP, raw UDP, and messaging protocols are unsupported. Version 3.x is community-supported; versions 2.x and 1.x are unsupported. Commercial support packages are also described as including 24/7 support and CVE patching and alerts.

Tyk API Management provides tools to develop, operate, govern, and publish APIs. Its gateway manages authentication, authorization, versioning, and rate limits across REST, GraphQL, gRPC, asynchronous APIs, and other protocols. Lifecycle capabilities span API design through publication in a developer portal. Tyk describes automated APIOps workflows and real-time analytics, including native OpenTelemetry support, and cites OpenAPI Specification, OAuth, and Open Policy Agent. Deployment choices are Cloud, Hybrid, and Self-managed, including customer-hosted control and data planes. Tyk says it holds ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certifications and supports multi-chained authentication and OAuth 2.0. The paid service has pricing on request and a 2-day trial; separately, the pricing page describes a 48-hour trial of fully featured Tyk Cloud and a free open-source gateway version. Core is usage-based, Professional is flat-rate with unlimited monthly API requests, and Enterprise uses customized pricing. Enterprise includes advanced governance and security, premium support, custom SLAs, and multi-region and multi-cloud deployments. Tyk was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in London.