API7.ai
API7.ai is a Singapore-based open-source infrastructure company providing enterprise API gateway and AI gateway products built on Apache APISIX, serving global enterprises across financial services, telecom, retail, automotive, gaming, and government with hybrid and multi-cloud deployments.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersSingapore, Singapore
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What API7.ai does
API7.ai (legal entity APISEVEN PTE. LTD) is a Singapore-headquartered open-source infrastructure company founded in 2019 by the original creator of Apache APISIX. The company provides enterprise-grade API gateway and AI gateway products built on the open-source Apache APISIX foundation, serving a global enterprise customer base that includes Zoom, NASA, Cashfree Payments, McDonald's, KFC, SHEIN, Flipkart, iQIYI (513M MAU), VIVO, Haier, Tencent Cloud, Honor, and Geely across financial services, telecom, retail, automotive, gaming, streaming, and government verticals.
The company's product portfolio spans four core offerings: API7 Enterprise (on-premises API gateway with annual CPU-core-based licensing, 99.95% SLA, and advanced security features including OAuth 2.0, JWT validation, and FIPS compliance); API7 Cloud (managed SaaS API gateway with pay-as-you-go pricing at $2 per million API calls, $250 per gateway group per month, and $10 per service per month); AISIX (an AI-native gateway for LLMs and AI agents built in Rust with Apache-2.0 open-source core, supporting 100+ LLM providers through an OpenAI-compatible API, with semantic caching, model ensembles, token-level rate limiting, and MCP protocol support for agentic workflows); and the API7 API Portal for developer onboarding and API monetization. Technical differentiation rests on an etcd-based distributed configuration architecture with sub-millisecond propagation, a radix tree routing engine, and demonstrably superior throughput — ~15K QPS per CPU core with 0.2ms average latency and 93x lower max latency than Kong, translating to roughly 50% infrastructure cost reduction at scale.
API7 monetizes through three primary revenue streams: usage-based cloud billing, annual subscription licensing for enterprise on-premises deployments, and tiered AISIX subscriptions (Developer free / Team $149/month / Enterprise custom), augmented by professional services for migration, custom plugin development, and architecture consulting. The company operates a hybrid go-to-market combining enterprise field sales for large deployments, a global network of 15+ channel partners and system integrators across Europe, the Americas, APAC, and Africa, self-serve product-led growth with 30-day free trials, and community-led adoption through the Apache APISIX open-source ecosystem with meetups, a Discord community, and educational content.
API7.ai firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- API7.ai
- Legal name
- APISEVEN PTE. LTD
- Website
- https://api7.ai
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- API7.ai is a Singapore-based open-source infrastructure company providing enterprise API gateway and AI gateway products built on Apache APISIX, serving global enterprises across financial services, telecom, retail, automotive, gaming, and government with hybrid and multi-cloud deployments.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
API7.ai industry classification
Industry- Product category
- API Management Software
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- API Management Platforms (API Gateways, Developer Portals) (HDAEAIAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- API Analytics, Monetization & Developer Experience Tooling (HDAEAIAJ), API Security & Governance (Policy, Threat Protection) (HDAEAIAI), API Management & Gateways (BPAMAOAA)
Keywords
Where API7.ai is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Singapore
- HQ country
- Singapore
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
API7.ai business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- API7 Cloud (SaaS): Pay-as-you-go cloud-hosted API gateway with API calls billed at $2 per million, gateway groups at $250 per group per month, services at $10 per service per month, and regional surcharges. Includes Standard tier with essential features and Premium tier with enterprise support.
- API7 Enterprise (On-Premises): Annual licensing based on CPU cores for on-premises deployments. Annual billing with transparent pricing based on total CPU cores across all production clusters, with no additional control plane or cluster count costs.
- AISIX AI Gateway (Cloud): Tiered subscription model: Developer (free, 100K requests/month), Team ($149/month, 1M requests with $100/additional 1M overage), and Enterprise (custom pricing, 10M+ requests with custom SLA). No token markup - customers bring their own LLM provider keys.
- Professional Services: Onboarding, migration support, custom plugin development, integration services, performance optimization, and architecture reviews provided as add-on services for enterprise customers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | API7 Cloud Standard - Pay-as-you-go for growing teams |
| Hybrid | Multi-year contract | API7 Cloud Premium - Enterprise-grade security and support |
| Subscription | Annual | API7 Enterprise Edition - On-premises annual licensing |
| Freemium | Monthly | AISIX Developer - Free tier for AI features |
| Subscription | Monthly | AISIX Team - Production scale at $149/month |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | AISIX Enterprise - Custom org-wide AI governance |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels9 records
API7.ai product offering
Product offeringCore offering
API7 sells an API management platform built on the Apache APISIX open-source gateway, delivered as API7 Enterprise (on-premises annual CPU-core licensing), API7 Cloud (managed SaaS with pay-as-you-go usage pricing), and AISIX (an AI-native gateway for LLM and AI agent traffic). Customers are enterprises and engineering teams that need high-throughput, low-latency API routing, security, observability, and LLM traffic governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
Product overview
API7.ai provides a unified API management platform consisting of three core products: API7 Enterprise (on-premises API gateway based on Apache APISIX with CPU-core licensing and enterprise features), API7 Cloud (managed SaaS gateway with pay-as-you-go pricing), and AISIX (AI-native gateway for LLMs and AI agents built in Rust with Apache-2.0 open-source core). The platform also includes the API7 API Portal for monetization and developer onboarding. The products share the Apache APISIX foundation, offering unified management across hybrid and multi-cloud environments with 100+ plugins, observability integrations, and enterprise security features.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- AISIX: AI-native AI gateway for LLMs and AI agents, built in Rust with Apache-2.0 open-source licensing. Supports 100+ LLM providers with OpenAI-compatible API, model routing, rate limiting, guardrails, and observability.
- API7 Cloud
- API7 Enterprise
- API7 API Portal
Products and services
- API7 Enterprise Enterprise API gateway built on Apache APISIX for full API lifecycle management. Offers on-premises deployment with annual CPU-core-based licensing, multi-region high availability, 99.95% uptime SLA, and advanced security features including OAuth 2.0, JWT validation, and FIPS compliance. Targeted at large enterprises.
- API7 Cloud Managed API gateway as a service (SaaS) built on Apache APISIX. Pay-as-you-go pricing at $2 per million API calls with 99.9% SLA. Provides unified management for hybrid and multi-cloud environments without vendor lock-in. Targeted at developers, SMBs, and mid-market teams.
- AISIX AI Gateway AI-native gateway for LLMs and AI agents built in Rust. Open-source core (Apache-2.0) with managed cloud tiers (Developer free, Team $149/month, Enterprise custom). Provides unified OpenAI-compatible API for 100+ LLM providers with routing, rate limiting, guardrails, semantic caching, and observability. Targeted at AI/ML engineering teams and enterprises deploying AI applications.
- API7 API Portal Developer portal for API monetization and partner onboarding. Features include API documentation generation, subscription management, flexible pricing plans, API versioning, usage analytics, and AI-powered natural language querying of APIs. Targeted at enterprises that need to publish and monetize APIs externally.
- Apache APISIX Top-level Apache open-source API gateway project forming the foundation of API7's commercial offerings. Offers 80+ built-in plugins, multi-language plugin support (Lua, Go, Java, Python, WASM), etcd-based configuration, and sub-millisecond latency with approximately 15K QPS per CPU core. Distributed under Apache 2.0 license.
Quantifiable outcome
- 93x lower maximum latency than Kong (2.2ms vs 205ms)
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use API7.ai
Customer profileNamed customers25 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
API7.ai technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration11 records
AI capability11 records
Feature8 records
API7.ai partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and regional.
- iC Consult GmbHcoreWorld's leading independent consultancy for Identity & Access Management with 850+ employees worldwide, headquartered in Germany. Provides integration and consulting services for API7 deployments.
- IntegrationWorksregionalIntegration expert headquartered in New Zealand helping clients use and share data more effectively. Creates bespoke integration solutions for government, state-owned enterprises, and large organizations worldwide.
- Achieve InternetregionalUSA-based company enabling organizations to expand API programs through API Gateway design and implementation, leading API adoption workshops, and enterprise developer portal solutions.
- Alexa CybersecurityregionalGlobal Value-Added Distributor and digital defense firm specializing in high-end security architectures for enterprise and institutional clients, focusing on multi-vendor security product integration and automation software services.
- SIGHUPregionalOpen Source Software Vendor in Italy focusing on automating enterprise-grade IT infrastructure based on Open Source and Cloud Native technologies. Enables organizations to run mission-critical production workloads.
- DomeCloudregionalAgile software house in Thailand providing premium IT solutions including software development, infrastructure, and blockchain services (public and private).
- PT. Sinergi Merah PutihregionalIndonesia-based system integrator focusing on Solution Integration & Software Development with experience in Security Middleware, Analytic Mediation, Automation Systems, and Single Management System.
- SkalenaregionalLeading consulting firm in Brazil specializing in API Design, Integration & Migration, DevOps, DevSecOps, Identity & Access Management, and Workflows with tailor-made solution architecture.
- DatadogcoreEssential monitoring and security platform for cloud applications. API7 integrates with Datadog for end-to-end traces, metrics, and logs observability.
- OSC KorearegionalGroup of experts in South Korea helping customers accelerate digital transformation through open-source technical support, microservices architecture, DevOps & CI/CD consulting, and open-source training.
- Unity Data Technology LLCregionalLeading IT integrator in Mongolia delivering secure, scalable cloud, cybersecurity, and data infrastructure. Serves top banks, enterprises, and government sectors with high-performance solutions and strong capabilities in API management.
- Day Cloud ProcessingregionalIstanbul-based company helping organizations build reliable, secure, and scalable API Management platforms. Covers full stack from architecture to 24/7 support including migrations from legacy ESB/gateway solutions.
- ThynkTech Nigeria LimitedregionalSoftware development and management company in Nigeria focused on delivering exceptional API management solutions to big enterprises in Africa with experienced professionals.
- Ouranos Technologies Ltd.regionalDelivers comprehensive IT infrastructure services across West Africa (Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Ghana). Specializes in Business applications, Core infrastructure, Systems, Storage, data centers, Cloud and Enterprise networking.
- Cxrus SolutionsregionalTrusted Enterprise IT partner established 2003, headquartered in Singapore with operations across Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Specializes in Cloud-Native Applications, Automation, and AI solutions for Banking & FinTech, Insurance, Government, Education, Telco, and Energy sectors.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
API7.ai competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Google Apigee: Apigee is Google's enterprise API management platform, often sold as part of broader Google Cloud deals. It targets the same large-enterprise, regulated-buyer segment that API7 sells into.
- AWS (Amazon API Gateway): AWS API Gateway is a hyperscaler-native managed service bundled into the broader AWS platform. It competes for the same workloads and is the default option for many cloud-native buyers, representing a major incumbent threat to API7's cloud offering.
- Microsoft Azure API Management: Azure API Management is a hyperscaler-managed API gateway with full lifecycle, security, and developer portal features. It is bundled into Microsoft's enterprise agreements and competes with API7 in mid-to-large enterprise deals.
- MuleSoft (Salesforce): MuleSoft is a large, established API management and integration platform owned by Salesforce, serving global enterprises with full iPaaS and API lifecycle capabilities — a broader incumbent competing for the same large-enterprise RFPs.
Direct peers
- Kong Inc. Kong is the most direct competitor in the API gateway space, offering Kong Gateway (OSS and Enterprise) and Kong AI Gateway. It is the primary performance benchmark API7 cites and competes head-to-head for the same enterprise and developer customers.
- Tyk Technologies: Tyk offers an open-source API gateway and management platform with hybrid/on-prem deployment and an enterprise edition — directly comparable to API7's OSS-plus-commercial model and target enterprise buyer profile.
- Gravitee: Gravitee provides an open-source API management and event-native API gateway with a management plane and developer portal — overlapping with API7's gateway-plus-portal offering for similar enterprise and platform-engineering buyers.
- Solo.io: Solo.io builds Gloo Gateway and service-mesh/API management products built on Envoy, targeting cloud-native enterprises — directly comparable to API7's cloud-native, Kubernetes-friendly API gateway positioning.
Emerging players
- Portkey: Portkey is an AI gateway/LLM observability platform providing routing, caching, and governance across LLM providers — directly comparable to AISIX's core value proposition for AI/ML engineering teams.
- Helicone: Helicone provides LLM observability, caching, and routing as a developer-focused AI gateway — targeting the same AI engineering personas as AISIX with overlapping feature sets.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
API7.ai social profiles
Digital presenceAPI7.ai compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance7 records
API7.ai financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
API7.ai leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
API7.ai funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
API7.ai M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about API7.ai
What does API7.ai do?
API7 sells an API management platform built on the Apache APISIX open-source gateway, delivered as API7 Enterprise (on-premises annual CPU-core licensing), API7 Cloud (managed SaaS with pay-as-you-go usage pricing), and AISIX (an AI-native gateway for LLM and AI agent traffic). Customers are enterprises and engineering teams that need high-throughput, low-latency API routing, security, observability, and LLM traffic governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
Is API7.ai a public or private company?
API7.ai is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was API7.ai founded?
API7.ai was founded in 2019. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is API7.ai based?
API7.ai is headquartered in Singapore, Singapore, in the Asia region.
How does API7.ai make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. API7 Cloud (SaaS) is the primary driver. The others are API7 Enterprise (On-Premises), AISIX AI Gateway (Cloud) and professional Services.
Who are API7.ai's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Google Apigee, AWS (Amazon API Gateway), Microsoft Azure API Management and MuleSoft (Salesforce). Direct peers are Kong Inc., Tyk Technologies, Gravitee and Solo.io. Emerging players are Portkey and Helicone.
Does API7.ai have an API?
Yes. API7 provides an Admin API and declarative CLI (ADC) for API configuration, deployment, and management. The Admin API allows programmatic configuration of routes, services, upstreams, and plugins. Configuration can be managed declaratively through YAML files and synchronized across clusters. API7 also supports MCP (Model Context Protocol) gateway functionality for AI agent tool calls. Developer documentation is at docs.api7.ai/apisix/documentation.
What industry is API7.ai in?
API7.ai's product category is API Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEAIAA, API Management Platforms (API Gateways, Developer Portals), with a secondary code of HDAEAIAJ, API Analytics, Monetization & Developer Experience Tooling. Its NAICS code is 51821 and its SIC code is 7372.