Tyk vs Gravitee: which to choose for self-hosted API management
Choose Tyk if your team wants a gateway it can run on Redis with an MPL-2.0 license, and you are prepared to license the management layer. The open-source Tyk Gateway handles REST with native OpenAPI support, SOAP, GraphQL, gRPC, TCP and MCP, and includes JWT, bearer tokens, Basic Auth, client certificates, quotas, versioning and IP allowlisting without feature lockout in the gateway itself. Plugins can be written in Python, JavaScript, Go or any gRPC-capable language. The catch is that the Dashboard, Developer Portal and Tyk Operator for Kubernetes are not part of the open-source download. The full Self-Managed stack (Gateway, Dashboard, Developer Portal, Tyk Pump, Redis and PostgreSQL) needs a license, so the paid line sits in the management UI and portal rather than in the request path.
Choose Gravitee if your APIs include event endpoints and you want an Apache-2.0 starting point that already contains a Console UI for administrators, a Portal UI for consumers and an API catalog. The Community Edition is self-hosted and can run with Docker Compose on MongoDB or through a Helm chart on Kubernetes, including OpenShift. The Enterprise Edition, which requires a license, adds Kafka publish and subscribe over HTTP and WebSocket, MQTT5, RabbitMQ, JMS, Solace, Azure Service Bus, Server-Sent Events, webhook entrypoints, data masking and audit trails. Confirm with Gravitee exactly which of these you need, because the Community Edition does not cover them.
Three questions will decide this. First, which management UI and portal your consumers and administrators must use, and whether that UI must be open source or can be licensed. Second, which event protocols you must proxy today and in the next two years, since Kafka, MQTT, JMS and similar endpoints are the main line between the two licenses. Third, which features you must license for production, including audit trails, data masking, GeoIP filtering and Dynamic Client Registration on the Gravitee side and the Dashboard, Portal and Operator on the Tyk side. Ask both vendors for a written quote tied to that exact feature list, and check the current editions on each vendor's license and documentation pages before you commit.
Which platform fits which scenario
This table matches common scenarios to the platform that fits them better, with the license condition that decides the answer. Read each row as a conditional: the advantage holds only under the stated license or deployment choice. Confirm current edition terms with each vendor before you commit.
| Scenario | Better fit | Reason and license condition |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway-only tier with a small team | Tyk | Tyk Gateway is MPL-2.0 and runs with Redis, and the README says it ships with no feature lockout in the gateway itself. The advantage holds if you can manage routes and keys through configuration and code rather than a visual console. |
| Portal-led program needing a catalog and self-service | Gravitee | Gravitee's Console and Portal UI, with an API catalog and documentation, are part of the Apache-2.0 repository. Tyk's Developer Portal sits in the licensed Self-Managed platform, so the portal-led choice is cheaper to start with Gravitee if you accept MongoDB as the datastore. |
| Event-driven APIs over Kafka or MQTT | Gravitee, under an Enterprise license | Gravitee lists Kafka publish and subscribe over HTTP and WebSocket, and MQTT5, as Enterprise Edition features. Confirm which event endpoints your Tyk version supports before assuming parity, because the Community Edition is the free baseline. |
| Kubernetes-native declarative management | Tyk, with a license for the Operator | Tyk Operator for Kubernetes-native declarative API management requires a license, while the tyk-oss Helm chart deploys the open source gateway. Gravitee's Helm chart covers AKS, GKE, EKS and OpenShift, and its Kubernetes path is free for the Community Edition, so compare the operator model you need. |
| AI or MCP proxying | Gravitee, under an Enterprise license | Gravitee's Enterprise Edition includes LLM and MCP proxies and Agent-to-Agent proxies. Tyk Gateway lists MCP among supported protocols, so confirm the AI proxy features you need in the current open source release before choosing. |
| Plugin-heavy custom logic in several languages | Tyk | Tyk plugins can extend the middleware chain in Python, JavaScript, Go or any language that supports gRPC. Gravitee's policy model is a different extension path, so confirm which languages your team can ship in. |
| Regulated production with data masking and audit trails | Gravitee, under an Enterprise license | Data masking, GeoIP filtering and audit trails of API consumption are listed as Enterprise Edition features. If you need these on Tyk, confirm the licensed components and what they require. |
How Tyk and Gravitee are built and deployed
Both platforms split into a gateway and a management layer, but the management layer sits in different places and carries different licenses. The cards below cover the components, the datastores behind them, the deployment paths the facts support, and what each choice means for upgrades and daily operations.
Tyk Gateway on Redis
The open-source Tyk Gateway is MPL-2.0 and runs with Redis as its state store. Teams that only need the gateway can run it without a license, using Docker, the tyk-oss Helm chart on Kubernetes, Ansible, or Red Hat, CentOS or Ubuntu packages. Check how your team will back up and fail over Redis, since the gateway depends on it and it is your operational responsibility in this setup.
Licensed Dashboard, portal and Pump
The full Tyk Self-Managed stack adds the Tyk Dashboard, the Developer Portal, Tyk Pump and PostgreSQL alongside Redis. Those components sit outside the open-source gateway code path, so the management UI, portal and analytics export all depend on a commercial license. Ask Tyk which components its license covers, how upgrades are versioned across the stack, and what PostgreSQL high availability you must supply yourself.
Gravitee gateway and management API
Gravitee APIM separates a gateway, a management API backend and two UIs: the Console for administrators and the Portal, a catalog of APIs with documentation. The stack is Apache-2.0 and runs on MongoDB in the repository's Docker Compose setup. Confirm how the Community Edition handles management, and which of these components your team must operate, before you assume the portal is available without a license.
Deployment paths and hosting models
Gravitee documents Cloud SaaS on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, a Helm chart for Kubernetes including AKS, GKE, EKS and OpenShift, and Docker Compose with MongoDB. For Enterprise customers it also documents hybrid and fully self-hosted models. Tyk offers Docker, Helm, packages and source for the open-source gateway, with Tyk Cloud as its managed option. Match the hosting model to where your regulated data may live before comparing the two stacks feature by feature.
Upgrade and version cadence
Tyk ships gateway releases on its GitHub releases page, and Gravitee tags core releases in its repository and documents its APIM version line. Multi-component stacks mean upgrades touch the gateway, UI, portal and datastore together. Ask each vendor for its supported upgrade path, the compatibility rules between gateway and management components, and whether Redis, MongoDB or PostgreSQL version changes are covered by your support terms.
Datastore operations and backups
Tyk relies on Redis for gateway state and PostgreSQL for the licensed management stack, while Gravitee's Docker Compose path uses MongoDB. Each datastore needs its own backup, restore testing, monitoring and version planning. Count these operating tasks in your effort estimate, because a platform team that already runs PostgreSQL and Redis will find Tyk's data layer familiar, and a team that runs MongoDB will find Gravitee's more familiar.
Where the developer portal and management UI sit in each platform
Start by mapping which management components you would actually run. In Tyk, the open-source Tyk Gateway runs on Redis without a Dashboard or Developer Portal. The Tyk Dashboard and Developer Portal belong to the full Tyk Self-Managed platform, which also includes Tyk Pump and PostgreSQL and needs a license. If your plan depends on publishing APIs to partners or internal consumers through a portal, or on an admin console for lifecycle work, budget for the licensed stack from the start. Confirm with Tyk which Dashboard and Portal features are included in the edition and deployment model you are quoting, because the open-source gateway alone gives you no portal to evaluate.
In Gravitee, the Console UI for administrators and the Portal UI are components of the APIM platform itself, and both appear in the Apache-2.0 repository described in the project README. The README also lists a Docker Compose option with MongoDB and a Helm chart for Kubernetes, so a self-hosted evaluation can include the console and portal without a license. Gravitee's documentation separately states that the Enterprise Edition requires a license for its additional features, so do not assume that every console or portal capability you see in a demo is available in the Community Edition. Check the feature matrix against the specific capabilities your consumers need, such as subscription workflows, documentation publishing and access approvals, before you commit.
Run a short proof of concept on each platform in your own cluster before comparing portals side by side. For Tyk, deploy the Self-Managed components and confirm the Developer Portal can publish your OpenAPI definitions, handle sign-up and key issuance, and integrate with your identity provider. For Gravitee, deploy the Community Edition with MongoDB and test the same flows in the Console and Portal. Record which steps need a license on each side, who in your organization owns portal content and branding, and where the portal's data and logs will be stored. Those answers will shape the total cost more than the gateway licence alone.
Capabilities side by side: protocols, events, identity and extensibility
This table compares how Tyk and Gravitee handle synchronous protocols, event brokers, AI proxies, authentication, quotas, versioning, plugin languages and Kubernetes management. Where a researched fact confirms a capability, the cell names the license tier that includes it, and where the facts are silent, the cell tells you what to confirm before you rely on it.
| Capability | Tyk (MPL-2.0 gateway and licensed platform) | Gravitee APIM (Apache-2.0 platform) |
|---|---|---|
| Synchronous API protocols | Open source gateway supports REST with OpenAPI, SOAP, GraphQL, gRPC, TCP and MCP | Confirm the full protocol list for your version in Gravitee's documentation, since the supplied facts do not enumerate it |
| Event and messaging endpoints | No event broker entrypoints appear in the supplied open source feature set; confirm before assuming support | Kafka publish and subscribe over HTTP and WebSocket, Azure Service Bus, MQTT5, RabbitMQ, Solace and JMS endpoints are Enterprise Edition features |
| Server-Sent Events and webhook entrypoints | Confirm support and licensing for your Tyk version with Tyk before designing streaming flows | Server-Sent Events and webhook entrypoints are Enterprise Edition features |
| AI and agent proxies | MCP is supported in the open source gateway; confirm LLM proxy capabilities and their license tier | Agent-to-Agent, LLM and MCP proxies are Enterprise Edition features |
| Authentication methods | Open source gateway supports JWT, bearer tokens, Basic Auth, client certificates and IP allowlisting; confirm SSO for the Dashboard and portal under the licensed platform | Confirm gateway auth methods in the Community Edition; Dynamic Client Registration is an Enterprise Edition feature |
| Rate limiting, quotas and versioning | Open source gateway includes rate limiting, quotas, API versioning and per-version, per-operation access control | Confirm rate limiting, quota and versioning policies for the Community Edition; the enterprise policy pack is Enterprise Edition only |
| Plugin languages | Middleware plugins in Python, JavaScript or Go, or in any language that supports gRPC | Confirm which plugin or policy languages your Gravitee version supports before planning custom logic |
| Kubernetes declarative management | Tyk Operator for Kubernetes-native management requires a license | Helm chart covers AKS, GKE, EKS and OpenShift; confirm whether a declarative operator exists for your target |
What is free to self-host and what needs a license
The Tyk Gateway code is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, with one exception: the ee folder sits under a separate commercial Enterprise Edition license. The open-source gateway runs with Redis and can be installed with Docker, the tyk-oss Helm chart on Kubernetes, Ansible, Red Hat, CentOS or Ubuntu packages, or built from source. Tyk states that the gateway itself ships with no feature lockout. The full Tyk Self-Managed platform is a different product: it runs Tyk Gateway, Tyk Dashboard, the Developer Portal, Tyk Pump, Redis and PostgreSQL, and it requires a license.
- Gateway core: JWT, bearer tokens, Basic Auth, client certificates, rate limiting, quotas, API versioning, IP allowlisting and hitless configuration reloads are documented in the gateway README.
- Dashboard and portal: The Dashboard and Developer Portal are part of Self-Managed, so a team that wants a management UI and a portal for consumers should budget for the license.
- Tyk Operator: Declarative Kubernetes-native management through the Operator requires a license, even though the gateway it configures does not.
- Plugins: Middleware plugins in Python, JavaScript, Go or any gRPC-capable language are documented for the open-source gateway.
- Ask Tyk: Confirm which Dashboard, Portal and Pump capabilities sit behind the license and which the gateway provides alone.
Confirm current commercial terms and edition boundaries directly with Tyk before you size a production deployment.
Tyk Cloud is Tyk's hosted service, which manages the full stack for you, and it is available with a free trial. This option changes who operates the platform rather than which code is open. Your team gives up direct control of the infrastructure, the datastores and the upgrade timing, and in exchange the vendor runs the components for you. A trial lets you test the hosted management experience against your own APIs before you commit to a self-managed design.
- Trial scope: The free trial lets you evaluate the hosted stack, but the length and limits of the trial are not in the supplied facts, so ask Tyk for them in writing.
- Operating model: Tyk Cloud removes the need to run Redis, PostgreSQL and the Dashboard yourself, which changes the staffing you need for upgrades and backups.
- Data location: Confirm where API traffic, logs and configuration are stored, and whether that location meets your residency and audit requirements.
- Exit path: Ask how configuration and analytics data can be exported if you later move to self-managed Tyk or another gateway.
- Recurring cost: A hosted subscription is recurring, while the open-source gateway has no license fee but still carries infrastructure and staff time.
Before relying on a trial, check the hosted terms, data processing commitments and exit rights with Tyk.
Gravitee API Management is licensed under Apache-2.0, and its repository describes it as an open-source solution for controlling who, when and how users access APIs and managing the API lifecycle. The Community Edition is the self-hosted open-source option. Its components are the gateway, the management API backend, the Console UI for administrators and the Portal UI, which provides a catalog of APIs with documentation. The repository lists Gravitee Cloud SaaS, a Helm chart for Kubernetes (including AKS, GKE, EKS and OpenShift), and Docker Compose with MongoDB as ways to run APIM.
- Console and portal: The Console UI and Portal UI are part of the open-source repository, so the management interface and API catalog are available without a license.
- Kubernetes: The Helm chart covers AKS, GKE, EKS and OpenShift according to the repository README.
- Datastore: The Docker Compose path uses MongoDB, so plan the database operations alongside the gateway.
- Release line: The repository was tagged core_4.13.1 on October 15, 2026, while the documentation covers API Management 4.12, so check which version your docs and release notes describe.
- Confirm: Verify which Community Edition features match your production needs before you standardize on it.
Run a proof of concept on the Community Edition to test these features against your own identity and deployment constraints.
Gravitee's documentation states that the APIM Enterprise Edition requires a license. The listed Enterprise features fall into three groups: event and messaging endpoints, security and governance controls, and AI proxies. Teams whose production design depends on any of these should plan for the license from the start rather than treating it as a later addition.
- Event endpoints: Kafka publish and subscribe over HTTP and WebSocket, Azure Service Bus, MQTT5, RabbitMQ, Solace and JMS endpoints, plus Server-Sent Events and Webhook entrypoints.
- Audit and security: Audit trails of API consumption and activity, data masking, GeoIP filtering and Dynamic Client Registration.
- Operations: The Alert Engine, Redis caching, Cloud Reporter and an enterprise policy pack.
- AI proxies: Agent-to-Agent, LLM and MCP proxies are listed as Enterprise features.
- Pricing: Gravitee's supplied documentation does not give license prices or terms, so request a written quote that lists each feature you need.
Ask Gravitee which of these features your target edition includes and how they are priced and supported.
Gravitee documents SaaS, hybrid and fully self-hosted deployment for Enterprise customers, while the Community Edition is self-hosted. This split matters because the deployment model you choose determines whether you can keep the control plane inside your own network. Hybrid is the option most teams compare against Tyk's self-managed design, since it separates where management runs from where traffic is handled.
- Fully self-hosted: Enterprise customers can run the full platform in their own infrastructure, which keeps management and traffic inside your network.
- Hybrid: Confirm which components run in your environment and which run in Gravitee's, and how the connection between them is secured.
- SaaS: The hosted option removes most operational work but moves configuration and traffic metadata to a vendor environment.
- Community limits: The Community Edition is self-hosted only, so a SaaS or hybrid design requires an Enterprise agreement.
- Tyk comparison: Tyk's Self-Managed platform requires a license for the Dashboard and portal, so compare the licensed scope of each vendor, not only the gateway.
Ask both vendors for a written description of the components, data flows and support boundaries for your chosen deployment model.
What implementing each platform involves and where projects run long
Implementation effort on Tyk and Gravitee is mostly decided by what sits around the gateway, not by the gateway itself. A Tyk self-managed rollout means standing up the Tyk Gateway with Redis, then deciding whether the Tyk Dashboard, Developer Portal, Tyk Pump and PostgreSQL are part of the design, since those components need a license. A Gravitee rollout means running the gateway, the management API, the Console UI and the Portal UI on MongoDB, typically through the Helm chart for Kubernetes or Docker Compose. Before any build starts, confirm with each vendor which components your architecture needs, because the open source footprint and the licensed footprint differ on both sides.
Identity and policy setup is where teams usually spend the most time on the gateway side. On Tyk, that means choosing among JWT, bearer tokens, Basic Auth and client certificates, then defining per-version and per-operation access control, quotas and IP allowlisting for each API. On Gravitee, the equivalent work sits in the Console, where administrators define plans, subscriptions and access rules, then publish APIs to the Portal catalog. Portal onboarding adds its own work on both sides: branding, API documentation, self-service sign-up and approval flows. Ask each vendor to walk through a sample onboarding flow against your identity provider before you commit, and document who approves consumer access.
Projects most often run long for four reasons. The first is licensing decisions: teams that start on open source and later need the Developer Portal, Operator or Enterprise event connectors must re-plan the architecture and budget. The second is event protocol design, particularly for Gravitee's Enterprise Edition entrypoints such as Kafka publish and subscribe, MQTT5 or Server-Sent Events, where message schemas, authentication and ownership need agreement before configuration. The third is plugin development: Tyk plugins can be written in Python, JavaScript, Go or any gRPC language, and each language adds its own build, test and release path. The fourth is migration of existing APIs, which requires mapping every route, credential and rate limit from the old gateway. Plan test time for each of these areas, and ask for the migration and plugin testing approach in writing before any fixed-scope quote is agreed.
What drives the running cost of each platform
Running cost for Tyk and Gravitee is set less by the gateway binary than by the stack around it, the licenses that unlock production features, and the people who operate both. The cards below separate what you pay once from what recurs, and list what to request in writing before you compare quotes.
Gateway nodes and traffic
Both gateways are self-hosted in your own infrastructure, so the license is not the only compute line. Tyk Gateway is Go-based and Gravitee's gateway runs on its own runtime, so node count, instance size and high availability setup drive hardware or cloud spend. Ask each vendor to size nodes for your peak request rate, your policy chain and your target latency, then price that footprint in both environments.
Redis for Tyk, MongoDB for Gravitee
Tyk Gateway runs with Redis, and the full Self-Managed stack adds PostgreSQL and Tyk Pump. Gravitee's Docker Compose path uses MongoDB for the management store. Each datastore carries its own high availability design, backup, patching and monitoring work, and managed database services bill differently from self-run clusters. Ask which datastore sizes grow with analytics retention and API count.
Licensed editions and production features
Tyk Gateway is MPL-2.0 with no feature lockout in the gateway itself, but the Dashboard, Developer Portal and Operator require a commercial license. Gravitee's Enterprise Edition requires a license for features such as Kafka publish and subscribe, audit trails, data masking and the Alert Engine. Recurring license fees are often the largest line item, so confirm exactly which features your use case needs before you accept a bundle.
Skills for each stack
Tyk teams need Go-aware operators for gateway tuning, Redis administration and, when used, the Kubernetes Operator. Gravitee teams need Java-oriented administration for its management components, MongoDB expertise and familiarity with its Console and Portal UIs. Estimate the staff time and training for each stack, and count the on-call hours the team takes on if it runs both a gateway and a management layer in-house.
Support subscriptions and upgrade cadence
Vendor support is a recurring contract separate from the license in many cases, and it defines response commitments and upgrade help. Both products release frequently: Tyk Gateway v5.15.1 was published on October 2, 2026, and Gravitee tagged core_4.13.1 on October 15, 2026. Ask for written support tiers, the versions covered, the upgrade assistance included and any charge for applying patches in your environment.
Vendor-specific features and switching cost
Policies, plugins, portal content and event endpoints configured in one vendor's management layer do not carry over to the other. Tyk plugins can be written in Python, JavaScript, Go or any gRPC-capable language, while Gravitee's event and AI proxies are tied to its Enterprise features. Budget for the rebuild cost of this configuration and ask each vendor for an export path before you commit to either licensing model.
Moving from Tyk to Gravitee or back: what transfers and what is rebuilt
This sequence turns an unplanned gateway swap into a route-by-route migration, so each API is proven on the new platform before the old one is retired. The output is a tested inventory, mapped access rules and a documented cutover record.
Inventory APIs, policies and consumers
The API owner and platform team list every API, upstream service, version, operation, consumer and middleware policy running on the current gateway. For Tyk, that includes API definitions, versioning rules, quotas and any plugins in Python, JavaScript, Go or gRPC. For Gravitee, the same list is kept in its own terms. Done means each route has a row with its owner, traffic profile and a named consumer group, reviewed by the team that depends on it.
Map authentication and quota rules
The security engineer translates each access rule into the target platform's model: JWT, bearer tokens, Basic Auth, client certificates, IP allowlisting, rate limits and quotas, and per-version or per-operation access control. Rules with no direct equivalent are flagged for redesign rather than copied silently. Done means a signed mapping sheet that a second engineer has checked against a test plan for each rule.
Rebuild plugins in the target language
Each custom middleware component is rewritten for the target platform's extension model, because Tyk plugin code does not carry over automatically. Teams confirm the language support on each side before choosing a rewrite approach, and they check the plugin's behavior against recorded requests. Done means every plugin has a passing regression test and a note on any behavior that changed.
Stand up the new datastore and management layer
The platform team deploys the target stack in the client's own environment. Tyk's self-managed stack uses Redis and PostgreSQL, while Gravitee's Docker Compose and Helm options use MongoDB, so the team sizes, secures and backs up the new datastore on its own. Confirm current supported versions and licensing for the management UI and portal with each vendor before procurement. Done means the cluster passes health checks and a backup restore test.
Run both gateways in parallel
Both gateways receive the same traffic through a shadow or split configuration, and the team compares status codes, latency, rate-limit decisions and logs. Differences in error handling, header rewriting or quota counting are logged and resolved before any consumer moves. Done means discrepancy logs are empty for agreed test cases and the owners sign off.
Cut over route by route
Routes move one at a time, starting with low-risk, read-only APIs and ending with high-value or partner-facing ones. Each cutover has a rollback step that points DNS or the load balancer back to the old gateway. Done means each route has a dated cutover record, a monitored window and an owner who confirmed consumer behavior.
Retire the old stack and document the outcome
After every route has run cleanly on the new platform, the team decommissions the old gateway, management components and datastore, revokes unused credentials and removes old certificates. Confirm with each vendor which license terms end and what support or renewal obligations remain. Done means the final inventory, licensing record and runbook are archived for audit and future upgrades.
Questions buyers ask before choosing Tyk or Gravitee
Is the open-source Tyk Gateway enough for production?
The MPL-2.0 Tyk Gateway can run production API traffic on its own, and it ships with no feature lockout in the gateway itself. Authentication (JWT, bearer tokens, Basic Auth, client certificates), rate limiting and quotas, versioning, per-operation access control and hitless reloads are all part of the gateway. What the gateway does not include is the management layer. The Dashboard, Developer Portal and Operator require a commercial Tyk license, and the full Self-Managed stack needs that license as well. Decide first whether your team manages APIs through configuration files and its own tooling, or needs a web console and a portal for consumers. That answer determines whether the open-source gateway is enough. Confirm the exact license terms for your deployment with Tyk before you commit to a design.
Which license does the Gravitee console and portal need?
Gravitee API Management is Apache-2.0 licensed, and its repository describes the Console UI for administrators and the Portal UI, with a catalog of APIs and documentation, as components of the platform. Community Edition is self-hosted. Gravitee's documentation states that the APIM Enterprise Edition requires a license, and the Enterprise features are a separate list. Confirm with Gravitee which console and portal capabilities you need in the Community Edition and which depend on Enterprise terms, because the boundary between editions is the detail that changes your cost. Ask for the written edition comparison that matches the version you plan to deploy.
How long does a migration between Tyk and Gravitee take?
No duration is published for this migration, so treat any estimate as something to confirm in a written scope. The main drivers are the number of APIs and their policies, how much logic sits in custom plugins (Tyk plugins run in Python, JavaScript, Go or any language with gRPC support), the protocols in use (REST, SOAP, GraphQL, gRPC, TCP and MCP on the Tyk side), and whether consumers, keys and subscriptions must move without downtime. Teams that also rebuild the developer portal and its documentation usually take longer than teams that only move routes. A fixed-scope engagement lists these items so you can compare the work against your own inventory.
Can an internal team run Tyk or Gravitee without outside help?
Yes, many internal teams run either platform, but the required skills differ by component. Tyk's open-source gateway depends on Redis, and the full Self-Managed stack adds Dashboard, Developer Portal, Tyk Pump and PostgreSQL. Gravitee's Helm chart and Docker Compose paths use MongoDB for the Community Edition deployments described in its repository. Your team needs operators who understand the datastore, the upgrade path and the identity integration for every component it runs. If you lack that depth, a fixed-scope implementation partner can plan, deploy, harden, back up and document the platform inside your infrastructure, and ongoing support can be added as a retainer.
What does DeployOpen do for Tyk or Gravitee projects?
DeployOpen plans, implements, customizes, integrates, hardens, backs up, upgrades, documents and supports self-hosted open-source platforms inside your own cloud accounts, data centers or air-gapped networks. For an API management project, that can cover gateway deployment, identity integration, policy and plugin work, event endpoint configuration, backup and upgrade procedures, and documentation of the resulting system. Engagements are usually fixed-scope, with scope, deliverables and timelines agreed in writing before work starts. DeployOpen does not publish a price list, so a quote follows from the written scope. Licenses for commercial Tyk or Gravitee features are a separate purchase from the vendor.
Which event protocols need a Gravitee Enterprise license?
According to Gravitee's documentation, these event and messaging features are listed as Enterprise Edition features: Kafka publish and subscribe over HTTP and WebSocket, Azure Service Bus, MQTT5, RabbitMQ, Solace and JMS endpoints, and Server-Sent Events and Webhook entrypoints. Audit trails of API consumption and activity are also listed as Enterprise features. If your architecture depends on any of these, the open-source gateway is not the right baseline for that traffic. Confirm the list against the release you plan to run, because Enterprise feature sets change between versions.
Does Tyk support event APIs the way Gravitee does?
The supplied Tyk facts cover REST with native OpenAPI support, SOAP, GraphQL, gRPC, TCP and MCP, and they do not list Kafka, MQTT, AMQP or Server-Sent Events endpoints. Do not assume event-driven endpoint parity from the open-source material. Ask Tyk directly which event protocols its current gateway and licensed components support, and test any required protocol in a proof of concept before you commit. Where a protocol is essential, document the test result so the decision rests on evidence rather than a feature summary.
Primary sources for Tyk and Gravitee licensing and features
Start with the license files, not the marketing pages, when you need to know what is free to self-host. For Tyk, the *Tyk LICENSE* file in the TykTechnologies/tyk repository places the gateway code under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 and places the ee folder under a separate commercial Enterprise Edition license. Read that split file by file before you assume a feature is open. The Tyk LICENSE file is the document to bring to legal review, and the Tyk Gateway README is the next read for the feature list, deployment options and the statement that Dashboard, Developer Portal and Operator require a license.
For Gravitee, the repository and its tags answer different questions. The Gravitee API Management repository shows the Apache-2.0 license and the README that lists the gateway, Console UI and Portal UI as components, so check which of those components you would run from the Community Edition. The tags page shows core_4.13.1 as the latest tag at the time of research, while the documentation covers API Management 4.12. Confirm which line your team would deploy and whether the docs match it before you plan an upgrade.
The Gravitee Enterprise Edition documentation is the source for the paid boundary: it lists the Kafka, MQTT5, RabbitMQ, JMS and other event endpoints, audit trails, data masking, Redis caching and the MCP and LLM proxies as Enterprise features. Ask Gravitee to confirm in writing which of these your use case needs, and check the Tyk releases page for the Tyk Gateway version you plan to pin. Tyk's latest release was v5.15.1, published October 2, 2026, so record the exact version and license terms in your evaluation file.
How DeployOpen helps choose, implement or migrate API management
DeployOpen plans, implements, integrates, hardens, documents and supports self-hosted open-source platforms inside your own cloud accounts, data centers or air-gapped networks. For Tyk vs Gravitee, the work starts with the license each option needs for the features your APIs depend on, then moves into a written scope that covers deployment, identity, portal and event API decisions.
How we scope
- Engagements are fixed-scope, with scope, deliverables and timelines agreed in writing before work starts
- The written scope lists which gateway, management and portal components are self-hosted and which need a commercial license
- Scoping records the event, protocol and AI proxy features your APIs need, so license requirements are confirmed before build
How we build
- Deploy the chosen gateway and management stack in your environment, using the Docker, Helm or package options your team already runs
- Configure authentication, rate limiting, versioning and access control to match your identity provider and API ownership model
- Test gateway behavior, plugin chains and failover paths against scenarios agreed in the scope before go-live
How we hand over
- Deliver architecture, configuration and runbook documentation covering datastores, upgrades and backup of the chosen platform
- Provide evidence for access control, logging and change records that your compliance assessors can review
- Transfer operational knowledge to your platform and security teams so they can run upgrades without outside help
How we support
- Ongoing support, upgrades and continuous testing are available as retainers after handover
- Retainers can cover version tracking for Tyk and Gravitee releases, including license changes that affect production features
- Ask any partner, including DeployOpen, to confirm current license terms and edition features in writing before you commit
