Enterprise Features Overview

API7 Gateway extends the capabilities of open-source Apache APISIX with enterprise-grade features designed for production deployments at scale. This page summarizes the key differentiators and helps you understand when and why to choose API7 Gateway over the open-source alternative.

Feature Comparison

Category	Apache APISIX (Open Source)	API7 Gateway (Enterprise)
Management Interface	Admin API only	Dashboard + Admin API + ADC CLI
Architecture	Single-node or etcd-based cluster	Decoupled CP/DP with PostgreSQL-backed CP
Access Control	Basic plugin-level config	RBAC, permission policies, SSO integration
Multi-Tenancy	Not supported	Gateway Groups with isolated configurations
Audit Logging	Not available	Full audit trail of all CP operations
Secret Management	Environment variables	Vault, AWS Secrets Manager integration
Canary Releases	Manual configuration	Built-in canary release workflow
API Versioning	Not supported	Service Template versioning with publish workflow
Support	Community forums	Professional support with SLA
Security Patches	Community-driven	Dedicated security team with CVE response

Centralized Management

API7 Gateway provides a unified Control Plane that manages all Data Plane instances across your infrastructure:

• Dashboard: A web-based management interface for configuring routes, services, plugins, consumers, and SSL certificates.
• Admin API: A RESTful API compatible with APISIX Admin API, enabling programmatic management and automation.
• ADC (API Declarative CLI): A GitOps-friendly CLI tool for managing gateway configurations as code through declarative YAML files.

Service Template and Publishing Workflow

Unlike open-source APISIX where route configurations take effect immediately, API7 Gateway introduces a staged workflow:

1. Service Template: Define your API configuration (routes, plugins, upstream) as a reusable template.
2. Version Management: Create and manage versions of your service templates, enabling change tracking and rollback.
3. Publish to Gateway Group: Deploy a specific version of a service template to one or more Gateway Groups, providing controlled rollouts.

This workflow enables change management practices such as peer review, staged rollouts, and rollback capabilities.

Gateway Groups

Gateway Groups allow you to organize Data Plane instances into logical clusters, each with its own configuration:

• Environment Isolation: Separate configurations for development, staging, and production.
• Regional Deployment: Different configurations for different geographic regions.
• Tenant Isolation: Isolated gateway configurations for different teams or business units.

Security and Compliance

Enterprise-grade security features include:

• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Granular permissions for Dashboard and API access.
• Single Sign-On (SSO): Integration with corporate identity providers via OIDC.
• Audit Logging: Complete record of all administrative actions for compliance.
• mTLS between CP and DP: Encrypted and authenticated communication between Control Plane and Data Plane.
• Image Signature Verification: Verify the integrity of container images before deployment.

For details, see Security and Compliance.

AI Gateway

API7 Gateway includes AI Gateway capabilities for managing Large Language Model (LLM) traffic:

• Centralized LLM provider access management
• Token-level rate limiting and cost control
• Content-based guardrails and filtering
• Multi-model load balancing and failover

Professional Support

API7 Gateway includes professional support options:

• Dedicated support team with defined SLAs
• Security patch backporting
• Version upgrade assistance
• Architecture review and optimization guidance

Next Steps

• Install API7 Gateway: Get started with deploying API7 Gateway in your environment.
• Security and Compliance: Learn about authentication, authorization, and compliance features.
• Key Concepts: Understand core API7 Gateway abstractions like Services, Routes, and Plugins.