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AWS API Gateway

by Amazon Web Services

Fully managed API service with REST, HTTP, and WebSocket API hosting, Lambda integration, and automatic scaling for APAC engineering teams building serverless and microservices applications on AWS.

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AIMenta verdict
Recommended
5/5

"AWS API Gateway is the managed API service for APAC teams building on AWS — REST, HTTP, and WebSocket API hosting with Lambda integration and automatic scaling. Best for APAC serverless teams wanting zero-infrastructure API management within the AWS ecosystem."

Features
7
Use cases
4
Watch outs
4
What it does

Key features

  • Serverless API hosting — no infrastructure to provision; automatic scaling from zero to millions of requests
  • Lambda integration — native trigger for AWS Lambda functions as API backend handlers
  • REST, HTTP, and WebSocket APIs — multiple API types for APAC application architectures
  • JWT authorisers — native Cognito and third-party identity provider integration for API authentication
  • Usage plans and API keys — tiered API access control and rate limiting for APAC partner APIs
  • AWS WAF integration — web application firewall protection for APAC public-facing REST APIs
  • IaC support — CloudFormation, SAM, and CDK deployment for version-controlled API configuration
When to reach for it

Best for

  • APAC serverless engineering teams wanting zero-infrastructure API hosting tightly integrated with Lambda
  • Teams building event-driven APAC applications where API calls trigger downstream processing pipelines
  • APAC startups and scale-ups on AWS wanting pay-per-request API hosting that scales to zero cost at idle
  • Platform teams managing AWS infrastructure as code wanting API gateway configuration in the same IaC stack
Don't get burned

Limitations to know

  • ! AWS API Gateway cost can exceed managed alternatives at very high APAC API traffic volumes — model unit economics at scale
  • ! No built-in developer portal or API documentation — APAC teams needing external API programme management should evaluate Apigee
  • ! API Gateway + Lambda cold start latency is a concern for APAC latency-sensitive applications — evaluate provisioned concurrency
  • ! Cross-region routing for APAC multi-region deployments requires Route 53 + multiple API Gateway deployments — adds complexity vs Kong
Context

About AWS API Gateway

AWS API Gateway is a fully managed API hosting service that provides APAC engineering teams building on Amazon Web Services with REST API, HTTP API, and WebSocket API endpoints — backed by AWS infrastructure with automatic scaling, built-in DDoS protection, and pay-per-request pricing — enabling APAC serverless application teams to expose Lambda functions, microservices, and backend services through managed API endpoints without provisioning or managing API gateway infrastructure.

AWS API Gateway's Lambda integration — which connects API Gateway endpoints directly to Lambda functions as the API backend, triggering Lambda execution on each API request and returning the Lambda response to the API consumer — is the foundational pattern for APAC serverless API development. APAC engineering teams building serverless applications on AWS use API Gateway + Lambda as the default API hosting approach: no server provisioning, no capacity planning, pay-per-request pricing that scales to zero when the API receives no traffic.

AWS API Gateway's HTTP API type — which provides a simpler, lower-latency, and lower-cost API hosting option compared to the REST API type, with native JWT authoriser support for APAC applications using Cognito or third-party identity providers — is the recommended default for APAC teams building modern serverless APIs. The REST API type retains value for APAC teams requiring advanced features: API caching, request/response transformation, API key management, and AWS WAF integration.

AWS API Gateway's usage plans and API keys — which enable APAC API teams to create tiered access levels for API consumers (free tier, standard tier, premium tier), set request rate limits and burst limits per tier, and issue API keys to track consumer usage — provide basic API product management capabilities for APAC teams that need partner API access control without Apigee's full enterprise API management overhead.

AWS API Gateway's deployment model — which integrates natively with AWS CloudFormation, AWS SAM, and AWS CDK for infrastructure-as-code API deployment, enabling APAC platform teams to manage API Gateway resources alongside Lambda functions and DynamoDB tables in a single IaC stack — aligns with APAC DevOps teams that manage AWS infrastructure as code and want API gateway configuration version-controlled alongside application code.

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