Azure API Center addresses a growing problem in expanding organizations: APIs emerge everywhere – on Azure API Management, AWS API Gateway, Kong, custom-built gateways, and with external providers – and are lost without central management. API Center creates a unified inventory for all APIs in an organization, regardless of where they are hosted.
What is Azure API Center?
Azure API Center is a governance and catalog service for an organization’s API portfolio. Unlike an API gateway, API Center doesn’t run APIs at runtime; instead, it records, documents, and manages metadata about APIs from any source, regardless of type, lifecycle status, or hosting location.
Core Features
- API inventory management: Central registry for APIs from Azure API Management, other gateways, and self-hosted APIs
- API design and development: VS Code extension for registering APIs directly from the development environment, including Copilot support for generating OpenAPI definitions from code
- Real-world API representation: Captures versions, definitions (e.g., OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, WSDL), and environment assignments (development, staging, production)
- API governance and linting: Automated checking of API definitions based on Spectral rules, including breaking-change detection
- API discovery and reuse: Searchable API Center portal for developers and API owners
Typical Use Cases
Enterprise-Wide API Inventory: Organizations with APIs across multiple gateways and platforms create a unified registry that also surfaces unmanaged “shadow APIs.”
API Governance at Scale: Automated API Analysis checks naming conventions, security requirements, and documentation quality without manual review of every change.
API Discovery for Development Teams: Developers find existing APIs via the API Center portal or the VS Code extension before duplicating functionality.
Benefits
- Unified view of the entire API portfolio regardless of hosting location
- Complements Azure API Management with a strategic, design-time governance layer
- Integrates into developer workflows via VS Code and CI/CD pipelines
- Low-cost entry via the Free plan, with a free Standard upgrade for existing API Management Standard/Premium customers
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory supports you in building an enterprise-wide API inventory with Azure API Center: we design the governance rules, link existing API Management instances, and automate compliance checks in your CI/CD pipelines.
Typical Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Azure API Center and Azure API Management?
Azure API Management (APIM) is an API gateway that hosts, secures, throttles, and applies policies to APIs. Azure API Center is an API catalog and governance tool that inventories APIs from any source (APIM, AWS, self-hosted). Both services complement each other: APIM for the operational gateway, API Center for strategic inventory.
Which API types are supported?
Azure API Center supports REST, GraphQL, SOAP, gRPC, and event-based APIs. APIs can be described with OpenAPI specifications (Swagger), AsyncAPI, or WSDL.
How does API Analysis work?
API Analysis automatically checks API definitions for compliance with organizational standards, security policies, and best practices. Rules are based on Spectral (open source) and can be customized. Results are displayed as compliance reports in Azure and in the VS Code extension.
What does Azure API Center cost?
There is a free Free plan for evaluation and small-scale use, and a paid Standard plan for production enterprise use. Customers with a linked Azure API Management instance on the Standard, Standard v2, Premium, or Premium v2 tier get the API Center Standard plan at no extra cost. Microsoft does not provide support for the Free plan.
Which regions is Azure API Center available in?
Azure API Center is currently available only in a limited selection of Azure regions, including West Europe, France Central, and UK South as EU-adjacent locations. Check the current region list in the official documentation before planning a project.
Note: All product information on this page has been compiled with care, but is provided without guarantee and may be outdated or incomplete. Cloud services evolve rapidly — features, pricing, SLAs, and availability change frequently. Authoritative and up-to-date information can only be found on the official product page of Azure (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by Azure.
