9 Top API Management Solutions for a Small Business to Enterprise

API management tools help businesses of all sizes create, launch, and manage their APIs more easily, while also helping them earn more from them.

Developers and companies working with APIs have a lot of tasks to handle throughout the API’s lifecycle.

From planning and building to launching, maintaining, and making money from it, the process can feel overwhelming—especially if done manually.

That’s why using an API management tool can simplify things by automating these tasks and offering useful features to help manage everything smoothly.

In this article, we’ll cover some API basics and look at the best API management tools for small businesses and larger companies alike.

What Is an API?

An Application Programming Interface (API) is a software tool that allows two different applications to communicate and work together.
API’s come with some key features which makes them valuable in the modern world:

• They follow common standards like REST and HTTP, making them easy to use and widely understood by developers.
• APIs aren’t just a few lines of code; they are designed with specific user groups in mind, such as mobile app developers.
• They come with clear documentation and versioning to ensure they meet users' needs.
• APIs offer strong governance, security, and monitoring to maintain performance and scalability.
• They follow a defined software development lifecycle.

Today, there are many APIs in use such as weather APIs, payment processing APIs, flight booking APIs, and food ordering APIs. These are designed to help developers easily add new features to their applications.

For example, when you use a ride-sharing app and see a map on your screen, that map is likely provided by Google Maps or another service. The app developer uses a map API to include this feature, making it easier for you to see your location during the ride.

What Is an API Management Tool?

An API management tool is a solution designed to help you oversee and control your APIs effectively. It supports various functions such as building, deploying, monitoring, and maintaining APIs. API management becomes simple and easy with features such as a developer portal, user-friendly interface, integration options, security protocols, monitoring tools, and multiple deployment environments.

By using such a tool, you can streamline your workflow, save time, and reduce effort in managing APIs. It automates many processes, allowing you to develop and manage APIs faster, which leads to quicker market launches and improved revenue opportunities.

API Management and API Gateway - Understanding the Differences

An API Gateway acts as a proxy server, while API management is a comprehensive solution for managing APIs in production environments. The latter often includes multiple API Gateways working together, along with a user interface and additional features like a developer portal that allows users to generate API keys and register.

Now, let’s take a look at some top API management tools.

Postman

Postman provides a collaborative platform for developing and managing APIs, featuring:

• Collaboration Tools: Enhance team collaboration to share and work on APIs effectively.
• Multiple Interfaces: Manage API information through CLI, web, desktop, or API interfaces.
• Wide-Ranging Integrations: Benefit from numerous integrations, public APIs, and enterprise-level governance and security services.
• Security Features: Includes Single Sign-On (SSO), audit logs, dedicated IPs, and user-based access controls.
• API Lifecycle Management: Access an extensive list of services designed for managing the API lifecycle.
• Core Services: Manage collections, API requests, and authorization seamlessly.
• Version Tracking: Track and manage API versions easily.
• Mock Servers: Set up mock servers for API simulation.
• API Documentation: Automatically generate comprehensive API documentation and test scripts.
• Historical Data Storage: Store historical API requests automatically for reference and analysis.
• Continuous Monitoring: Monitor API health continuously to ensure optimal performance.
• Development Speed: Develop APIs at 5x speed and fix bugs 4x faster.
• Enhanced Collaboration: Collaborate on APIs 10x more efficiently.
• Testing Capabilities: Test APIs using Postman’s desktop and web client, along with CLI for direct collection performance.

MuleSoft

MuleSoft provides a robust platform for managing and scaling your API efforts and microservices. Here are some of its key features:

• Security Management: Implement clear policies to secure your APIs, group them effectively, and manage client access.
• Flexible API Gateway: Utilize a flexible API gateway to manage and unlock various services while applying both pre-made and custom security policies without downtime.
• Service Mesh: Govern and secure microservices regardless of their hosting location.
• Asset Management: Control access to assets for teams or individual users and gain insights into API performance, reliability, and compliance.
• API Grouping: Easily group APIs for streamlined consumption from a single interface.
• Traffic Control: Automatically enforce custom or pre-built policies to manage API access and traffic, including caching, security, rate limiting, and throttling.
• Unified Policy Application: Apply consistent policies across APIs, regardless of their specifications or architecture.
• Integrated Access Management: Connect with Okta, OpenAM, LDAP, and other identity management solutions for secure access.
• SAML Integration: Handle single sign-on (SSO) and authorize API usage using OAuth 2 policies.
• Free Trial Available: Try MuleSoft with a free trial.

Apigee

Apigee, by Google Cloud, offers a comprehensive API management solution with the following features:

• API Design and Analysis: Design, analyze, scale, and secure APIs with enhanced control and visibility.
• Full API Lifecycle Management: Create and scale APIs while driving API consumption through flexible developer portals.
• Actionable Insights: Gain insights throughout the app development lifecycle and monetize APIs effectively.
• Multilayer Security: Enjoy robust security measures like IAM, CMEK, and Cloud Armor for cloud security.
• AI-Powered Automation: Use AI to convert API data into actionable insights, detect anomalies, and predict traffic patterns.
• Global API Reach: Host APIs across Google Cloud’s global network for enhanced performance and caching.
• Hybrid Deployment Options: Deploy APIs in Google Cloud, on-premises, or hybrid setups.
• Developer Portal: Leverage a developer portal for better integration and release management.
• Real-Time Monitoring: Detects and diagnoses issues swiftly while predicting API behavior using historical data.

Axway

Axway’s API Gateway offers robust tools for managing and securing enterprise APIs, featuring:

• Full Lifecycle Management: Manage APIs from creation to end-of-life efficiently.
• Governance and Quality Control: Ensure governance and quality by securing APIs at various levels—access, data, and interface.
• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Mediate APIs to enable compatibility across different platforms.
• Self-Service API Consumption: Facilitate rapid API registration and easy management.
• Core Services: Enjoy security, protocol connectivity, scalability, and high availability for API development.

Boomi

Boomi’s API management capabilities include:

• Full Lifecycle Management: Manage APIs in a hybrid environment with easy configuration and integration.
• Centralized Control: Monitor API health through dashboards and engage developers with a comprehensive developer portal.
• Rapid Endpoint Creation: Quickly create and publish endpoints in the cloud or on-premises.
• Seamless Integrations: Aggregate data from multiple sources to enhance customer and partner experiences.

SnapLogic

SnapLogic offers a user-friendly approach to API development:

• Click-Not-Code Methodology: Enable developers to create APIs without manual coding, enhancing business value.
• Automated API Management: Manage APIs in an automated environment for seamless operations.
• Powerful Dashboards: Monitor performance metrics, response times, and usage with robust dashboards.
• Integration Flexibility: Easily connect various services, including ERP systems, databases, and cloud apps.

Akana

Akana streamlines API lifecycle management with features such as:

• Cross-Cloud Deployment: Deploy APIs across different cloud environments and ensure compliance.
• Simplified Security Application: Easily apply security policies for up to 100,000 endpoints.
• Developer Portal: Enhance collaboration and workflow through a dedicated developer portal.
• Real-Time Insights: Gain insights into API performance and identify optimization opportunities.

Nevatech Sentinet

Nevatech Sentinet offers a robust API management platform with:

• Enterprise-Level Repository: Manage APIs with a comprehensive repository, including versioning and multitenancy.
• Secure Gateway: Ensure secure access to services, microservices, and APIs with advanced capabilities.
• Custom Developer Portal: Create a branded portal for API publication and analytics.
• Deployment Flexibility: Deploy APIs in the cloud or on-premises, expanding ESB architectures for better manageability.

Fusio

Fusio is an open-source solution for API management featuring:

• User-Friendly Backend: Manage and control APIs with an intuitive interface.
• Developer Portal: Set up API programs easily for developer registration and consumption.
• Low-Code API Creation: Create APIs with minimal coding effort, utilizing various programming languages.

Conclusion

Using the right API management solution can simplify the entire process of developing, deploying, and managing APIs. It reduces the complexity of manual tasks, offers better visibility into API performance, and helps ensure smooth API operations.