What is API Gateway?
API Gateway is Google’s serverless service for API management. It enables creating secure, scalable APIs for Cloud Functions, Cloud Run, and other backend services without operating your own infrastructure.
With OpenAPI specifications, you define your API endpoints, authentication, and backend routing. API Gateway automatically handles scaling, SSL termination, and monitoring.
API Gateway should not be confused with Apigee: while API Gateway is a lightweight, serverless service for cloud-native APIs, Apigee targets more complex enterprise API programs with monetization and developer portals.
Core Features
- Serverless API hosting without infrastructure management
- OpenAPI 2.0 specification for API definition
- Integrated authentication with API keys, JWT, and OAuth
- Automatic SSL and custom domains
- Monitoring and logging via Cloud Monitoring
Typical Use Cases
Cloud Functions APIs: Create REST APIs for serverless functions with integrated authentication and rate limiting. Ideal for microservices and event-driven architectures.
Cloud Run Services: Front container-based services with unified API management. API Gateway enables versioning and gradual rollouts.
Mobile and Web Backends: Secure APIs for mobile apps and SPAs with Firebase Authentication integration.
Benefits
- No infrastructure to manage
- Automatic scaling to high request volumes
- Simple integration with GCP services
- Usage-based billing with a free entry-level quota
Integration with innFactory
As a certified Google Cloud partner, innFactory supports you with API Gateway: API design, OpenAPI specifications, authentication, and integration with backend services.
Available Tiers & Options
Standard
- Fully serverless
- Automatic scaling
- OpenAPI specification
- Integrated authentication
- Fewer features than Apigee
- Limited transformations
Typical Use Cases
Technical Specifications
Frequently Asked Questions
What is API Gateway?
API Gateway is a serverless Google Cloud service for creating, deploying, and managing APIs. It acts as an entry point for backend services like Cloud Functions or Cloud Run and provides authentication, rate limiting, and monitoring without your own infrastructure.
How does API Gateway differ from Apigee?
API Gateway is designed for simpler use cases, is fully serverless, and billed on usage. Apigee offers enterprise features like API monetization, developer portals, and advanced analytics, but comes at a significantly higher cost. For cloud-native APIs, API Gateway is ideal; for complex enterprise API strategies, Apigee is the better choice.
Which backends does API Gateway support?
API Gateway supports Cloud Functions, Cloud Run, and App Engine as backend services. Additional HTTP backends can be connected via Cloud Run as a proxy.
How is API Gateway billed?
API Gateway is billed per API call, with a free monthly quota and tiered pricing per million calls beyond that. Exact current amounts are available on the official pricing page. Outbound data transfer may incur additional costs.
What authentication methods does API Gateway support?
API Gateway supports API keys, JWT tokens (including Firebase Auth and Google OAuth), and service account authentication. CORS configuration and request/response validation are also integrated.
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 Google Cloud (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by Google Cloud.
