AWS API Gateway vs Tyk: Managed vs Open-Source 2026
Quick Comparison
| Tyk | AWS API Gateway | |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Teams that want a full-featured, self-hostable gateway with predictable costs and no per-call billing. | Teams already running on AWS Lambda who want a zero-infrastructure, pay-per-call gateway. |
| Pricing | Free (OSS self-hosted) / Cloud: usage-based Core + flat-rate Professional (custom) / Enterprise: custom | 12-month free tier for new AWS accounts (1M calls/mo) / $1.00 per million requests (HTTP API) starting |
| Winner | Our Pick |
Tool Breakdown
Tyk
Tyk's open-source edition has no feature lockout and runs anywhere, giving teams predictable self-hosted costs and full control — the better default unless you're already fully committed to AWS and want zero infrastructure to manage.
- Open-source edition ships every core feature with no lockout, unlike gateways that gate GraphQL or analytics behind a paid tier
- Ships as a single Go binary — simpler to deploy and operate than JVM-based alternatives
- Cloud offering has a 48-hour free trial with no credit card required
- No built-in developer portal or API monetization tooling out of the box
- Individual/content affiliate commissions aren't offered — only a B2B reseller/partner program
AWS API Gateway
AWS API Gateway is a fully managed AWS service for creating, publishing, and securing REST, HTTP, and WebSocket APIs at scale, billed per API call.
- Fully managed — no servers to patch, scale, or maintain
- Native integration with Lambda, IAM, Cognito, and CloudWatch for auth and monitoring
- Canary deployments let you route a configurable percentage of traffic to a new stage before full rollout
- Usage-based pricing per million requests (HTTP $1.00, REST $3.50) means costs scale with traffic rather than staying flat
- The 1M-call free allowance only lasts 12 months from AWS account creation — it is not a permanent free tier
- No built-in developer portal or plugin marketplace — custom logic typically requires writing separate Lambda functions
Frequently Asked Questions
Is AWS API Gateway's free tier permanent? +
No. AWS API Gateway's free allowance (1M REST/HTTP calls and 1M WebSocket messages plus 750K connection-minutes per month) only applies for 12 months from when the AWS account was created. After that, every call is billed per million requests. Tyk's open-source edition, by contrast, is free to self-host indefinitely.
Which is cheaper at scale — AWS API Gateway or Tyk? +
It depends on your traffic pattern and operational capacity. AWS API Gateway bills per million requests with no infrastructure to manage, so costs rise predictably with traffic but you avoid ops overhead. Tyk's OSS edition is free to self-host regardless of volume, but you take on the cost of running and scaling the servers yourself.
Can I switch from AWS API Gateway to Tyk? +
Yes — this is a documented real-world migration path. Teams move off AWS API Gateway to Tyk typically when they want full-featured GraphQL support, no per-call billing, or the ability to run the same gateway across multiple clouds rather than being tied to AWS.