Roundup of API Platforms and Specifications

While researching for full, end-to-end, lifecycle API management tools, I discovered many that fit the bill. In this post, I compare some popular API platforms and specification formats.

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Image Credit: Apigee

API Platforms

The market is full of API platforms. Without going into details, here is a feature comparison for some of the popular platforms. I have created a matrix of feature sets that are crucial in deciding on an API platform that will meet the needs.

Platform Design Code Gen. Documentation Testing/Portal Management
3Scale Supports Swagger None ActiveDocs (Swagger compliant) Developer Portal Security, Analytics, Monetization, Dashboard, Traffic Mgmt.
Akana Graphical Designer. Supports Swagger, RAML, WADL, WSDL Build Code Document Developer Portal API Gateway, Security, Analytics, Orchestration, Transformation, Traffic Mgmt.
Apigee Edge UI. Supports OpenAPI Specs None Developer Portal Developer Portal API Gateway, Security, Analytics, Monetization, Orchestration, Transformation, Traffic Mgmt., API Proxy Editor
Boomi Mediate None None None Workflow, B2B/EDI Data Exchange, Data Hub, Data Integration, Traffic Mgmt., Usage Dashboard
Kong None None None None API Gateway
Mashery Visual API Modeling. Supports OpenAPI Specs Build Code API Developer Portal Mocking and Testing API Gateway, Analytics, Traffic Mgmt., Security, Monetization,
MuleSoft Anypoint Design Center Anypoint Studio, Anypoint Connector DevKit Anypoint Design Center MUnit Anypoint Management Center, CloudHub
Swagger Swagger Editor, SwaggerHub Swagger Codegen Swagger UI, SwaggerHub, Swagger Inspector Swagger Inspector None

See my post about What Is Swagger and Why It Is Used

API Specification Formats

I thought I will mention the popular API Specification formats as well. The OpenAPI Specifications (previously Swagger API Specs) and RAML are the most popular.

Hope you liked the comparison of the API platforms and various specification formats.

I am working on an article that will cover building an API from scratch using the Swagger toolchain. So stay tuned!

If you have any feedback, please let me know in the comments below.


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