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new 1e8014ea03f blog: add analyzing-api-gateway-adoption-rates (#1853)
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commit 1e8014ea03f840c2b0db703985876d0bc398fb04
Author: Yilia Lin <[email protected]>
AuthorDate: Thu Feb 6 15:40:42 2025 +0800
blog: add analyzing-api-gateway-adoption-rates (#1853)
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+---
+title: Analyzing API Gateway Adoption Rates Through Internet Data
+authors:
+ - name: Ming Wen
+ title: Author
+ url: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ming-wen-api7/
+ image_url: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ming-wen-api7/overlay/photo/
+ - name: Yilia Lin
+ title: Technical Writer
+ url: https://github.com/Yilialinn
+ image_url: https://github.com/Yilialinn.png
+keywords:
+ - APISIX
+ - Adoption Rates
+ - API Gateway
+description: Explore 2025 API gateway adoption trends with data-driven
insights on Kong, Apache APISIX, Traefik, WSO2, and KrakenD. Learn how
companies and regions shape API gateway usage.
+tags: [Ecosystem]
+image:
https://static.apiseven.com/uploads/2025/02/06/qX7Uwq66_1738762325395.png
+---
+
+<head>
+ <link rel="canonical"
href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/analyzing-api-gateway-adoption-rates-through-internet-ming-wen-prync/?trackingId=e7XGKblnQF%2BVlG5FDouG%2Fg%3D%3D";
/>
+</head>
+
+> [Ming Wen](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ming-wen-api7/), Chairman of Apache
APISIX, recently posted a blog about [data-driven analysis of API gateway
adoption](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ming-wen-api7_apigateway-kong-apisix-activity-7292899936659021824-7KrU/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop)
on LinkedIn. The analysis uses two methods: internet-wide scans (FOFA) to
identify publicly exposed API gateway instances and company adoption data
(BuiltWith) to reveal which business [...]
+<!--truncate-->
+
+## Key Takeaways
+
+1. **Internet-wide scans** give us a broad view of API gateway deployment but
may be influenced by large-scale deployments from a few organizations.
+
+2. **Company-based data** from sources like BuiltWith helps us understand
which businesses use specific API gateways, adding context to raw adoption
numbers.
+
+3. Different API gateways have varying levels of adoption across **industries
and regions**, suggesting that market preferences play a role in selection.
+
+4. Combining multiple data sources provides a more balanced perspective on API
gateway adoption trends.
+
+## Introduction
+
+API gateways play a crucial role in modern software architecture, acting as a
control point for routing, security, and performance optimization. With a
variety of options available, engineers often consider adoption rates as a key
factor when selecting an API gateway. While reports from firms like Gartner and
G2 provide valuable insights, they rely on surveys and curated datasets, which
may be influenced by vendor-driven narratives. Instead, I wanted to explore a
more data-driven, large- [...]
+
+## Measuring API Gateway Adoption with Internet-Wide Scans
+
+To find a more objective measure, I turned to internet-wide scanning
techniques that reveal API gateways publicly exposed on the internet. Most API
gateways are designed to expose services to external consumers, making them
discoverable via network scanning tools. I initially explored both FOFA and
Shodan as internet search engines but found FOFA’s dataset to be more
comprehensive for this analysis.
+
+By querying FOFA for public-facing instances of Kong, Apache APISIX, WSO2, and
Traefik as of early February 2025, I obtained the following results:
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+As of early February 2025, Kong API Gateway had **345,000** deployments,
Apache APISIX had **147,000**, while WSO2 and Traefik had **14,000** and
**2,700**, respectively.
+
+These results provide a broad sample size and offer a high-level perspective
on API gateway adoption. However, there are potential biases: a single
organization deploying thousands of nodes could skew the data, and this method
does not reveal which companies are using a particular API gateway. If smaller
companies dominate the dataset, the practical implications for enterprise
adoption may be limited.
+
+## A Different Perspective: Identifying API Gateway Usage by Companies
+
+To complement the internet-wide scan, I analyzed API gateway adoption from a
company-centric perspective using BuiltWith, a service that tracks technology
adoption across websites. BuiltWith allows us to see which companies use
specific API gateways rather than just counting exposed nodes. I searched for
Kong, Apache APISIX, and KrakenD but could not find data on other API gateways.
If anyone has insights into other sources, I’d be happy to update this analysis.
+
+Here are the BuiltWith results:
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Based on BuiltWith data, in early February 2025, **37,000** companies were
using Kong API Gateway, **5,200** companies were using Apache APISIX, and
**2,000** companies were using KrakenD.
+
+Most companies using **Kong** are based in the **United States**, **KrakenD**
is primarily adopted in **Europe**, while **Apache APISIX** has adopters
distributed across **the United States and China**.
+
+These results provide a different view—one that highlights enterprise adoption
trends across different regions and industries. By examining this data, we can
infer not just overall adoption but also sector-specific preferences for API
gateways.
