Small business▼−2Since September 2026: 4% → 2%, −2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
2%from 4% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 9 pointsRank 6 → 7 of 53
3 categories · RankedApache APISIX
81Judge labels
10First choices
12Negative labels
13 / 14Models named it
3Categories
October 2026 Edition. Every number here is derived from the raw labels under vendor table v2026-10.8, every buyer segment counted.
Best standing
11% in API gateways for mid-market buyers
Rank 2 of 66 in the mid-market standingaccepted challenger
0 of 14 models made it the first choice on the direct prompt; 8% of its 26 labels there were negative.
What the models named instead of Apache APISIX →By buyer segmentStrongest at mid-market.
Small business7 of 59
2%16 labels
criticized challenger
Mid-market2 of 66
11%26 labels
accepted challenger
Enterprise14 of 65
0%14 labels
accepted challenger
In api gateways · each standing computed within its segment · bars are 0 to 100 · the accent bar is the product's own best reading
Standing by category
Every category where a model named Apache APISIX for a mid-market B2B company. Share is first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts; rank is within every product named in that category.
| Category | Function | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Quadrant | Since September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| API gateways | Developer platform | 11% | 2 of 66 | 8% | 26 | accepted challenger | ▲+7Since September 2026: 4% → 11%, +7 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
| LLM gateways and observability | Data platform | 2% | 10 of 69 | 0% | 2 | under 10 labels · led by LiteLLM at 31% | ▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
| API management | Developer platform | 0% | 17 of 61 | 12% | 8 | under 10 labels · led by Kong Gateway at 37% | ▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. |
Movement
Since September 2026, Apache APISIX held within the floor in all three categories: no change cleared 11 points.
Best category · API gateways · by segment
Mid-market▲+7Since September 2026: 4% → 11%, +7 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
11%from 4% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 4 pointsRank 5 → 2 of 58
Enterprise=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.
0%from 0% in September 2026
Inside the floor by 11 pointsRank 10 → 12 of 59
All categories · Mid-market
| Category | September 2026 | Now | Change | Reading | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| API gateways | 4% | 11% | ▲+7Since September 2026: 4% → 11%, +7 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 5 → 2 of 66 |
| API management | 2% | 0% | ▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 9 → 17 of 61 |
| LLM gateways | 0% | 2% | ▲+2Since September 2026: 0% → 2%, +2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked. | Within noise | Rank 35 → 10 of 69 |
Shares here are read over the models both editions asked, so they can differ by a point or two from the standing above, which counts every model in this edition.
The floor is 11 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise, and both are shown. Movement is read over the twelve models both editions asked; GPT-6 Luna, Muse Glimmer 30B joined this edition and are in the standing but not yet in the comparison. How the floor is measured · The editions
By model
How each model treated Apache APISIX across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Fourteen models, six prompts per category.ShowHide
By model
How each model treated Apache APISIX across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Fourteen models, six prompts per category.
ShowHide| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Negative | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Grok 4.20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Kimi K2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
By framing
Which of the six questions produced the naming. By model says how often; this says asked what. The first-choice count on the right carries the marks of the models that produced it.
FramingLabels by classFirst choices
Direct2 labelsNone
Paraphrase5 labelsNone
Comparative17 labels4not counted in share
Budget-constrained28 labels10
Scale-constrained12 labelsNone
Negative17 labels1not counted in share
First choiceAlternativeMentionNegative81 labels in all, every segment counted; 10 of the 15 first choices count toward share, since the comparative and negative framings do not. The bar is one segment per label class, to scale within the framing.
What the models said for it
Verbatim evidence the judge attached to positive labels.
“Use Kong (for its vast ecosystem) or Apache APISIX (if you want pure open-source with no relational DB requirements)” Gemini 3.5 Flash · API gateways · comparative prompt · first choice
“Apache APISIX and Traefik are currently the strongest recommendations for budget-conscious teams” Qwen 3.7 Flash · API gateways · budget prompt · first choice
“Go with Kong OSS or Apache APISIX - you get enterprise-grade features at zero license cost” Kimi K2 · API gateways · budget prompt · first choice
“Apache APISIX consistently outperforms other open-source gateways in published benchmarks” Claude Haiku 4.5 · API gateways · comparative prompt · first choice
And against it
Verbatim evidence attached to negative labels. A warning on a product with few labels is a warning; on a product with many, it is one voice among them.
“Be cautious. These platforms are powerful, but they require a highly skilled team to secure properly.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · API management · negative prompt · soft negative
“Emerging, smaller community than Kong” Grok 4.20 · API gateways · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“Similar misconfig exposure as Kong” Grok 4.20 · API gateways · negative prompt · soft negative
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as Apache APISIX, over the 81 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Apache APISIX was named but was not.ShowHide
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as Apache APISIX, over the 81 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Apache APISIX was named but was not.
ShowHideProductSame answerTook the first choice insteadHead to head
A head-to-head page exists where both products are among a category's top eight. The other rows are the same fact without a page behind them, so they link to the product instead.
What carried it into the answer
The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Apache APISIX. A fact about retrieval, not a lever on the model.
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list, five of the fourteen in this edition, so these counts come from 75 of the 81 answers that named Apache APISIX and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
geekflare.com38
api7.ai36
dupple.com32
zuplo.com31
solo.io26
tyk.io22
dev.to20
konghq.com20
sourceforge.net19
aws.amazon.com18
262 of the 262 domain citations in answers naming Apache APISIX came from somebody else's page.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
Search and answers
apache.org is not in Google's top ten for any of the category's searches. In the answers, Apache APISIX takes 11% of first choices and Kong Gateway takes 53%.ShowHide
Search and answers
apache.org is not in Google's top ten for any of the category's searches. In the answers, Apache APISIX takes 11% of first choices and Kong Gateway takes 53%.
ShowHideIn search
Google, US estimatesPosition for “api gateway”
–
not in the top ten
Position for “api gateways”
–
not in the top ten
- Searches for its name, Google
- 260 a month (“apache apisix”)
- AI search demand for its name, est.
- 6 a month
- Organic visits to its site
- about 1,144,025 a month
- Searches its site ranks for
- 44,247 · 10,306 in the top three
- Sites linking to it
- 174,267
- Paid Google search
- No ads found in the estimate; that does not mean it runs none
Ads on GoogleDetailLess1 ads · 1 text · 0 shown in the last 30 days
First shown March 2025, as GridGain Systems, verified. 1 more by other advertisers linking to it.
On Google's pages: 1
In answers
This editionShare of first choices
11%
rank 2 of 66 in API gateways
Segment leader
53%
Kong Gateway
- First choices
- 10 across its categories
- Named in
- 81 answers
- Its own site cited
- in 75 of the answers that named it
Search figures are US estimates from DataForSEO, read September 28, 2026; AI search demand is its modeled, directional estimate, not a count of queries to any assistant. The answers are this edition's. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
What it publishes
ShowHide
What it publishes
ShowHideAddresses on apache.org
2,858
subdomains included
Content
1,384
counted in the table below
Documentation
375
Product · Integration
16 · 0
| Kind | Pages | Last 90 days | 2025-10 to 2026-09 | Latest | Categories named |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| News or press | 1,081 | 12 | 2026-09-03 | ||
| Blog | 228 | 1 | 2026-07-01 | ||
| Template or tool | 38 | undated | |||
| Report or ebook | 14 | undated | |||
| Conference or event | 10 | 0 | 2026-06-09 | ||
| Glossary or explainer | 9 | undated | |||
| Case study | 2 | undated | |||
| Webinar or virtual event | 2 | undated |
Most recent
- 2026-09-03Security scanning at foundation scale news or press
- 2026-09-02Asf plus one newsletter august 2026 news or press
- 2026-09-01The apache software foundation advances open source infrastructure and celebrates community growth in fy26 news or press
- 2026-09-01The apache software foundation announces keynote speakers for community over code glasgow 2026 news or press
- 2026-08-27The apache software foundation announces new top level projects 6 news or press
- 2026-08-18Apache geode 2 0 part iii lessons learned and the path forward news or press
How it is countedHide how it is counted
Every page apache.org exposes, subdomains included. Kind is read from the address and title. The last 90 days, the latest date and the twelve months count pages by when they were published, from the site's feeds, a date in the address, or the page's own publication date, read from up to a hundred of its most recently changed pages; a page that says only when it last changed is counted in its kind but not in when, so the recent counts are a floor, and a kind none of whose pages gives a publication date reads undated. An event counts as online when its address or title says so (webinar, on demand, virtual or online summit); a conference, summit, trade show, expo or roadshow that does not say so is counted as a conference or event, which on a vendor's site is mostly in person. Read September 29, 2026.
Names read as Apache APISIX
What the judge wrote, as written, with how often. The vendor table decides that these count as Apache APISIX; a claim can dispute any of them.
APISIX 5API7 / Apache APISIX 1
Follow Apache APISIX
An email the morning each edition publishes: where this product moved, where it held, and by how much against the noise floor. One address, confirmed by a click; a stop link in every email.
Already following? Everything you follow, with a stop for each.
The company
Apache APISIX is its own company.ShowHide
The company
Apache APISIX is its own company.
ShowHideIn its own words
Stated by the vendor, not checked- Positioning
- The open-source API Gateway & AI Gateway
- For
- teams running APIs, microservices, and LLM workloads
- Price stated
- 0 apisix.apache.org
- Starting price
- 0 apisix.apache.org
- Free plan or trial
- free apisix.apache.org
- Integrations claimed
- 100 apisix.apache.org
- Not stated on the pages read
- Certifications, hosting, customers
What Apache APISIX's own pages state, read October 5, 2026: apisix.apache.org, apache.org, apache.org/use-cases/dish. A claimed page can correct any of them.
Is this your product?
Claim this page
Claiming is free and changes nothing in the data. A claimed page shows a verified contact who is told when each edition publishes and when Apache APISIX's standing changes by more than the noise floor; the right to propose corrections to the vendor table, meaning names the judge wrote that should or should not read as Apache APISIX, applied by version and listed in the change log; and a one-line description supplied by the vendor and marked as such.
What a new claim receivesHide what a new claim receives
A new claim receives the current edition's vendor brief for Apache APISIX by email, built from the raw record of the edition. It shows:
- where Apache APISIX is named, by buyer and by framing, and which cells hold its first choices;
- the claims the models make when they name it, ranked, with the strongest and the weakest quoted;
- its vocabulary against the segment leader's, and the pages the models cited;
- who was chosen in the answers that did not name Apache APISIX, and every reason the record gives;
- a battlecard for each top rival: the head-to-head split, why they win, and the reservation quoted against them;
- one page of published figures cleared to show a buyer.
Badges
Wins only: a badge exists where Apache APISIX is ranked in a category's top three this edition. Three sizes, one file each, light and dark; the code is under each.ShowHide
Badges
Wins only: a badge exists where Apache APISIX is ranked in a category's top three this edition. Three sizes, one file each, light and dark; the code is under each.
ShowHideApache APISIX is among the products AI models recommend first in API gateways this edition. Each badge says so in the buyer's words, names the edition, and links to the standing. The next edition issues a new badge; this one stays true as a record of October 2026.
Wide · 320 × 104 Website, beside other badges
Square · 240 × 240 LinkedIn, slides
Compact · 200 × 56 Email signature, footer
Badges read on light and dark pages. Alt text carries the claim, the category, the edition and the index, so it stays a citation where the image does not load.