What is Apigee?
Apigee is an API gateway management tool. Now owned by Google, the Apigee API gateway makes it easy to exchange data between cloud services, platforms, and applications.
Apigee provides a proxy layer that:
- Enables data sharing between unrelated apps and services
- Enhances security controls
- Applies rate limits to maintain quality of service and experience
- Analyses API usage
What are the top benefits of Apigee?
Apigee is a powerful tool for unifying your APIs. Here are some of the top benefits of the service:
- Centralised API control
Having all your APIs available in one place makes them easier to manage and use. Centralisation will help your development, operations, and security teams increase efficiency and productivity.
- Cloud-ready
Apigee is built for the realities of the modern IT environment, offering support for any API, wherever it is hosted. The Hybrid version allows for the Apigee runtime to be deployed anywhere (including on-premises) and the X version is completely managed by Google Cloud.
- Unlock your legacy data stores
Legacy systems continue to be a major problem for established businesses, too valuable to retire. APIs provide a lifeline, allowing you to build new, modern applications connected to legacy data stores. Apigee provides a way to manage these APIs and allows you to continue realising value from older data while making converting older interfaces like SOAP to fully compliant RESTful APIs a simple process.
- AI-driven analytics
Apigee automatically collects information about your APIs and the data flowing through them. The platform then uses artificial intelligence analytics to help you better understand your APIs and how they are being used. These insights assist with API troubleshooting, development, security, and optimisation.
- Self-service APIs
With a known location for all APIs, developers can ‘help themselves’ to the interfaces they need to build new apps and services.
- Increased automation
Apigee takes care of certain time-consuming tasks like API documentation and software development kit (SDK) creation. This frees your developers to spend more time writing code instead of manuals.
Apigee use cases
Apigee is just one of several API management platforms available, but it is particularly strong in certain use cases:
- Connected app scenarios
- Updating legacy apps to enable data exchange across a wider ecosystem of apps and services
- You need a full API lifecycle management tool
- You could benefit from powerful API governance and management features like an in-built catalogue (compatible with APIs hosted anywhere), a developer’s portal, AI-powered analytics, security features, and API development scoring, among many others
Apigee can be used in almost any API management scenario, but it excels in these scenarios.
Is Apigee part of Google Cloud?
Yes, Apigee is the native API management platform for Google Cloud.
Who uses Apigee?
Apigee is primarily used by businesses already invested in the Google Cloud platform. High-profile customers include:
- Telia
- Autodesk
- Pitney Bowes
- Telstra
- Equinix
- Trustpilot
- Netflix
- Walgreens
Apigee is available worldwide, with most of its customers currently based in the US.
Is Apigee free?
Apigee is currently available in three main variants:
- Evaluation – a 30-day free trial to test the platform and its capabilities.
- Pay-as-you-go – where you are charged according to usage (API calls, analytics requests, and network usage).
- Subscription – A fixed annual cost with a pre-defined number of API calls included (several tiers are available offering between 180 million and 12 billion calls).
This three-tier pricing strategy allows businesses to progress upward as demand and usage grow.
What else do I need to know about Apigee?
Apigee was first released in 2009 by Sonoa Systems. It was purchased in 2016 by Google for $625 million, after which it was rolled into the Google Cloud product suite. This article and infographic are part of a larger series centered around the technologies and themes found within the 2023 edition of the TechRadar by Devoteam report. To learn more about Google Apigee and other technologies you should consider adopting or trialing, please explore the TechRadar by Devoteam
