Google Cloud Endpoints vs KrakenD API Gateway

Google Cloud Endpoints manages APIs with tools for securing access, monitoring activity, analyzing usage, and setting quotas. It supports API descriptions written in OpenAPI 2.0 or 3.x, as well as gRPC, and provides management through ESP or ESPv2. Documented deployment backends include Google Kubernetes Engine, Compute Engine, Kubernetes, App Engine, Cloud Run, Cloud Run functions, and Knative serving; proxy availability varies by backend. Endpoints is optimized for Docker and can host an API wherever Docker runs, provided it has internet access to Google Cloud. API keys can be required and validated to identify a Google Cloud project for quotas, billing, and monitoring. Documented user authentication options include Firebase Authentication and Auth0, using JWT validation by ESP. Logs and metrics are viewable in the Google Cloud console. Pricing depends on API calls and Service Control calls: the Free usage tier is free for 1,999,999 calls; Standard is $3 a month for 2,000,000 to 1,000,000,000; and High-volume is $1.50 a month for 1,000,000,000 and above. Listed rates are per million API calls.

KrakenD API Gateway is a stateless, distributed gateway for connecting, securing, aggregating, and transforming APIs and AI workloads. It can combine data from multiple services into one response shaped for client needs. Traffic controls include rate limiting, circuit breaking, IP filtering, bot detection, and load balancing. Connectivity includes REST, RabbitMQ, SNS, SQS, Kafka, GraphQL, gRPC, SOAP, and Lambda; listed protocols also include HTTP, WebSockets, AMQP, and NATS. Authentication options include JWT, OAuth2, OpenID Connect, client credentials, API keys, Basic Authentication, and mTLS. KrakenD is self-hosted, with deployment choices including Docker, Kubernetes, cloud marketplace virtual machines, and Linux packages or binaries. The maker says the development Docker image can be used on Windows, Mac, or Linux, and KrakenD runs natively on Linux and Mac OS. Community Edition costs nothing and includes unlimited requests, APIs, and AI workloads. AI Gateway and AI security are Enterprise features.