Google Apigee Alternatives 2025: Top 10
Updated October 2025
If you’re evaluating Google Apigee alternatives, this guide maps the landscape like a builder would. First, we clarify what Apigee is—Google Cloud’s enterprise API management platform with API proxies, a deep policy catalog (auth, quotas, transformation), analytics, and hybrid deployment—then we compare the 10 best options for AI/LLM traffic and modern API programs. We place ShareAI first for teams that want one API across many providers, a transparent marketplace (price, latency, uptime, availability, provider type) before routing, instant failover, and people-powered economics where 70% of spend flows to providers. Apigee remains compelling for full-spectrum API management and governance; it’s not a provider-agnostic model marketplace nor a multi-provider router.
What Google Apigee is (and isn’t)
Apigee is Google Cloud’s fully managed API management product. You front backends with API proxies, apply dozens of prebuilt policies (security, rate limiting, transformation), publish developer portals, analyze traffic, and (optionally) run in hybrid mode with an Apigee-hosted management plane plus a runtime you operate on Kubernetes. In an AI gateway context, teams commonly place LLM providers behind Apigee for centralized keys, quotas, and observability. But Apigee isn’t a neutral model marketplace or a smart multi-provider router—you bring the providers; Apigee supplies governance and analytics.
If you want the official primer later, start with the Apigee product page and “What is Apigee?” overview.
Aggregators vs Gateways vs Agent/Orchestration platforms
- LLM aggregators (e.g., ShareAI, OpenRouter, Eden AI) – One API across many models/providers with pre-route transparency (price, latency, uptime, availability, provider type) and resilient routing/failover baked in. ShareAI also emphasizes people-powered economics (70% to providers) and catalog breadth (150+ models).
- AI/API gateways (e.g., Apigee, Kong, Traefik AI Gateway, Apache APISIX, NGINX, Portkey) – Centralize credentials, policies, quotas, and observability at the edge; you bring providers. Apigee lives here; it’s API-program-centric, not a model marketplace.
- Agent/orchestration platforms (e.g., Orq, Unify) – Packaged flows, tools, evals, and collaboration—great for experiments and production orchestration, not for provider-agnostic routing.
TL;DR: If you need marketplace-guided model choice and instant failover, choose an aggregator. If you need enterprise policy, governance, analytics, and portals, choose a gateway. Many production teams pair both.
How we evaluated the best Google Apigee alternatives
- Model breadth & neutrality: proprietary + open; quick swapping; no rewrites.
- Latency & resilience: routing policies, timeouts/retries, instant failover.
- Governance & security: key handling, scopes, org-level policies, regional routing.
- Observability: logs/traces and cost/latency dashboards you’ll actually use.
- Pricing transparency & TCO: compare real costs before you route.
- Developer experience: docs, SDKs, quickstarts; time-to-first-token.
- Community & economics: whether your spend grows supply (incentives for GPU owners).
Top 10 Google Apigee alternatives
#1 — ShareAI (People-Powered AI API)
What it is. A multi-provider API with a transparent marketplace and smart routing. With one integration, browse a large catalog of models and providers, compare price, latency, uptime, availability, provider type, and route with instant failover. Economics are people-powered: 70% of every dollar flows to providers (community or company) who keep models online.
Why it’s #1 here. If you want provider-agnostic aggregation with pre-route transparency and resilience, ShareAI is the most direct fit. Keep Apigee if you need org-wide API program features (policy catalog, analytics, portals); add ShareAI for marketplace-guided routing.
- One API → 150+ models across many providers; no rewrites, no lock-in.
- Transparent marketplace: choose by price, latency, uptime, availability, provider type.
- Resilience by default: routing policies + instant failover.
- Fair economics: 70% of spend goes to providers (community or company).
Quick links — Browse Models · Open Playground · Create API Key · API Reference · Read the Docs · See Releases
For providers: earn by keeping models online
Anyone can become a ShareAI provider—Community or Company. Onboard via Windows, Ubuntu, macOS, or Docker. Contribute idle-time bursts or run always-on. Choose your incentive: Rewards (money), Exchange (tokens/AI Prosumer), or Mission (donate a % to NGOs). As you scale, you can set your own inference prices and gain preferential exposure. Start in the Provider Guide or manage devices via the Provider Dashboard.
#2 — Kong AI Gateway
What it is. Enterprise gateway for governance, policies/plugins, analytics, and observability at the edge. It’s a control plane rather than a marketplace.
#3 — Portkey
What it is. AI gateway emphasizing observability, guardrails, and governance—often chosen for regulated workloads.
#4 — OpenRouter
What it is. Aggregator with a wide model catalog and a unified API; great for rapid experimentation across providers.
#5 — Eden AI
What it is. Aggregates LLMs plus broader AI capabilities (vision, translation, TTS) with fallbacks/caching and batching.
#6 — LiteLLM
What it is. Lightweight Python SDK + self-hostable proxy that speaks an OpenAI-compatible interface to many providers.
#7 — Unify
What it is. Quality-oriented routing and evaluation to pick better models per prompt.
#8 — Orq
What it is. Orchestration/collaboration platform helping teams move from experiments to production with low-code flows.
#9 — Apache APISIX
What it is. Open-source API gateway (plugins, traffic control, policies). You bring providers; APISIX enforces gateway behavior.
#10 — NGINX
What it is. DIY approach: build routing, token enforcement, and caching for LLM backends with high-performance primitives.
Apigee vs ShareAI
If you need one API over many providers with transparent price/latency/uptime and instant failover, choose ShareAI. If your top requirement is enterprise API management—centralized credentials, policy enforcement, analytics, hybrid/multicloud—Apigee fits that lane. Many teams pair them: Apigee for org policy & developer portals, ShareAI for marketplace-guided routing and resilience.
Quick comparison (at a glance)
| Platform | Who it serves | Model breadth | Governance & security | Observability | Routing / failover | Marketplace transparency | Provider program |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ShareAI | Product/platform teams needing one API + fair economics | 150+ models, many providers | API keys & per-route controls | Console usage + marketplace stats | Smart routing + instant failover | Yes (price, latency, uptime, availability, provider type) | Yes — open supply; 70% to providers |
| Apigee | Enterprises needing broad API management | BYO providers/models | Strong policy library (auth, quotas, transform) | Built-in analytics & monitoring | Conditional proxy flows, retries | No (platform governance, not a marketplace) | n/a |
Apigee’s strengths in policy libraries, analytics, portals, and the hybrid runtime are well known; multi-provider marketplace transparency and routing live with aggregators like ShareAI.
Pricing & TCO: compare real costs (not just unit prices)
Raw $/1K tokens hides the real picture. TCO shifts with retries/fallbacks, latency (which changes usage), provider variance, observability storage, and evaluation runs. A transparent marketplace helps you choose routes that balance cost and UX.
TCO ≈ Σ (Base_tokens × Unit_price × (1 + Retry_rate))
+ Observability_storage
+ Evaluation_tokens
+ Egress- Prototype (~10k tokens/day): Optimize for time-to-first-token (use the Open Playground and quickstarts).
- Mid-scale (~2M tokens/day): Marketplace-guided routing + failover can trim 10–20% while improving UX.
- Spiky workloads: Expect higher effective token costs from retries during failover; budget for it.
Migration guide: moving to ShareAI
From Apigee
Keep Apigee where it shines (policy, governance, portals, analytics); add ShareAI for marketplace routing + instant failover. Pattern: Apigee auth/policy → ShareAI route per model → monitor marketplace stats → tighten policies.
From OpenRouter
Map model names, verify prompt parity; shadow 10% of traffic and ramp 25% → 50% → 100% as latency/error budgets hold. Marketplace data makes provider swaps straightforward.
From LiteLLM
Replace the self-hosted proxy on production routes you don’t want to operate; keep LiteLLM for dev if desired. Compare ops overhead vs. managed routing benefits.
From Unify / Portkey / Orq / Kong / APISIX / NGINX
Define feature-parity expectations (analytics, guardrails, orchestration, plugins). Many teams run hybrid: keep specialized features where they’re strongest; use ShareAI for transparent provider choice and failover.
Developer quickstart (copy-paste)
The following use an OpenAI-compatible surface. Replace YOUR_KEY with your ShareAI key—create one at Create API Key. See the API Reference for details.
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# cURL — Chat Completions
# Prereqs:
# export SHAREAI_API_KEY="YOUR_KEY"
curl -X POST "https://api.shareai.now/v1/chat/completions" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SHAREAI_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "llama-3.1-70b",
"messages": [
{ "role": "user", "content": "Give me a short haiku about reliable routing." }
],
"temperature": 0.4,
"max_tokens": 128
}'// JavaScript (fetch) — Node 18+/Edge runtimes
// Prereqs:
// process.env.SHAREAI_API_KEY = "YOUR_KEY"
async function main() {
const res = await fetch("https://api.shareai.now/v1/chat/completions", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.SHAREAI_API_KEY}`,
"Content-Type": "application/json"
},
body: JSON.stringify({
model: "llama-3.1-70b",
messages: [
{ role: "user", content: "Give me a short haiku about reliable routing." }
],
temperature: 0.4,
max_tokens: 128
})
});
if (!res.ok) {
console.error("Request failed:", res.status, await res.text());
return;
}
const data = await res.json();
console.log(JSON.stringify(data, null, 2));
}
main().catch(console.error);Security, privacy & compliance checklist (vendor-agnostic)
- Key handling: rotation cadence; minimal scopes; environment separation.
- Data retention: where prompts/responses are stored; retention window; redaction defaults.
- PII & sensitive content: masking; access controls; regional routing for data locality.
- Observability: prompt/response logging; ability to filter or pseudonymize; propagate trace IDs consistently.
- Incident response: escalation paths and provider SLAs.
FAQ — Apigee vs other competitors (plus competitor-vs-competitor variants)
Apigee vs ShareAI — which for multi-provider routing?
ShareAI. It’s built for marketplace transparency (price, latency, uptime, availability, provider type) and smart routing/failover across many providers. Apigee is an API management platform (policies, analytics, hybrid, portals). Many teams use both.
Apigee vs OpenRouter — quick multi-model access or gateway controls?
OpenRouter makes multi-model access quick; Apigee centralizes policy and observability. If you also want pre-route transparency and instant failover, ShareAI combines multi-provider access with a marketplace view and resilient routing.
Apigee vs LiteLLM — self-host proxy or managed governance?
LiteLLM is a DIY proxy you operate; Apigee offers managed governance/observability for any API traffic. If you’d rather not run a proxy and you want marketplace-driven routing, choose ShareAI.
Apigee vs Portkey — who’s stronger on guardrails?
Both emphasize governance/observability; depth and ergonomics differ. If your main need is transparent provider choice and failover, add ShareAI.
Apigee vs Unify — best-model selection vs policy enforcement?
Unify focuses on evaluation-driven model selection; Apigee on policy and analytics. For one API over many providers with live marketplace stats, use ShareAI.
Apigee vs Eden AI — many AI services or egress control?
Eden AI aggregates multiple AI services (LLM, image, TTS). Apigee centralizes policy/credentials and analytics. For transparent pricing/latency across many providers and instant failover, choose ShareAI.
Apigee vs Orq — orchestration vs egress?
Orq helps orchestrate workflows; Apigee governs egress traffic and developer portals. ShareAI complements either with marketplace routing.
Apigee vs Kong AI Gateway — two gateways
Both are gateways (policies, plugins, analytics), not marketplaces. Many teams pair a gateway with ShareAI for transparent multi-provider routing and failover.
Apigee vs Apache APISIX — open-source gateway or managed platform?
APISIX is open-source and plugin-driven; Apigee is fully managed with deep enterprise features (policies, analytics, hybrid). If you also need provider-neutral model access and smart routing, add ShareAI.
Apigee vs NGINX — DIY vs turnkey
NGINX offers DIY filters/policies; Apigee offers a packaged platform layer with analytics and portals. To avoid custom scripting and still get transparent provider selection, layer in ShareAI.
OpenRouter vs Apache APISIX (competitor-vs-competitor)
Apples and oranges: OpenRouter is an aggregator (one API over many models), while APISIX is a gateway. For marketplace transparency + multi-provider routing, ShareAI outshines both by pairing catalog + routing + failover—and it can sit behind gateways like APISIX when you want edge policy plus smart model selection.
Kong vs Portkey (competitor-vs-competitor)
Both are gateways with governance/observability; Kong has a mature plugin ecosystem, while Portkey emphasizes AI-specific guardrails and deep traces. Either way, ShareAI supplies pre-route transparency and resilient routing beyond gateway scope.
Traefik AI Gateway vs Apigee (competitor-vs-competitor)
Both are gateways; Traefik AI Gateway adds a thin AI layer and specialized middlewares, while Apigee is a comprehensive API management suite with hybrid, portals, and analytics. Many teams use ShareAI for the marketplace and instant failover piece.
LiteLLM vs NGINX (competitor-vs-competitor)
LiteLLM = self-host proxy; NGINX = DIY gateway primitives. If you don’t want to operate infra and still need provider-agnostic access with smart routing, ShareAI is simpler.
Unify vs Eden AI (competitor-vs-competitor)
Unify focuses on evaluation-driven best-model selection; Eden AI spans many AI service types. ShareAI complements either with a transparent marketplace and instant failover across providers.
Where ShareAI fits next
- Explore models: Compare pricing, latency, uptime, availability, and provider type in Browse Models.
- Try now: Send your first prompt in the Open Playground (no SDK required).
- Build with the API: Follow the API Reference and Docs Home.
- Sign in / Sign up: Start with Auth, then create an API key.
