Apache APISIX AI Gateway review

The fee model is listed as Free (Apache 2.0 open source, self-hosted), and a free tier is listed too, so the software adds no subscription charge. What you pay is your own infrastructure to run APISIX, plus token usage billed by each AI provider you route to. Since there is no subscription cycle, there is no separate renewal price to plan around.

Self hosting is the model here: the fee model is listed as Free (Apache 2.0 open source, self-hosted). You install APISIX on your own infrastructure and point it at provider keys you control. That suits teams with a platform group, and suits less well anyone who wants a control plane opened in a browser by someone else.

Bring your own key is supported across the 9 providers APISIX routes, so you attach keys for the model vendors you already pay. Traffic then bills your own provider account, with no gateway markup between you and the vendor. Combined with an OpenAI-compatible API, existing clients can point at the gateway and keep the same request format.

APISIX routes 9 providers, which lines up with the median across the gateways on this site at 9. Wider coverage exists elsewhere in this ranking, stretching to 140 providers, so check the provider list for your stack before you commit.

Maintenance sits with The Apache Software Foundation, a foundation in US founded 1999, and the software is published under the terms carried in the fee model: Free (Apache 2.0 open source, self-hosted). That suits teams whose procurement rules prefer an open source licence with a named steward over a commercial vendor contract.

Support runs on email, chat and community, which means email, chat and community channels rather than a managed help desk. For a self hosted project that is the normal pattern, and the community path is where configuration questions usually get answered. Plan your own escalation route if an outage has a deadline attached.

A free tier is listed, and with the fee model shown as Free (Apache 2.0 open source, self-hosted) there is nothing to claim beyond keeping the software current. The real trial costs are your own server and the provider usage you generate while wiring routes up. Prove it on a single route before moving the rest of your traffic.