OPEN SOURCE

Industry-leading open source API gateway

The Tyk Open Source API Gateway powers Tyk Cloud and Tyk API management platforms, protecting, securing and processing APIs for thousands of organisations and businesses around the world.

Tyk has been first to market with new features, new capabilities and new solutions. We’ve changed the market. And that’s down to being open source – to building cooperatively and collaboratively. It’s part of our DNA


James Hirst, Co-Founder, Tyk

 

We believe in making things better, together. Open source is the way to do that, powering seamless integrations, enabling rapid innovation and driving success.

Open source is about community. It’s about collaboration, peer production and support.
It’s about being free from the limits of proprietary code.

At Tyk, our open source API gateway supports global enterprises to secure and manage their APIs through a wide range of features and functionalities. Our open source philosophy means you can use Tyk with whatever other best-of-breed tools you want.


 

Open standards native

Tyk Gateway embraces open standards, from OAS and OAuth to OPA and OTel. The Gateway is freely available via our GitHub, ready for you to harness the power that open standards deliver.

Free to use

Tyk’s Open Source API Gateway is free to use, because we believe that benefits all of us. Tyk Gateway has been downloaded millions of times, fostering innovation and business success across the planet.

No lock-in

We make it easy for you to integrate Tyk’s open source tools with whatever tools you like: paid, open source, made by Tyk or made by others. It means you can architect your business however works best for you.

Any questions? Our engineers would be happy to answer them

Comprehensive support for your Open Source API Gateway

Open is the start of everything!

Tyk’s entire business was born from open source. Tyk Gateway has developed and evolved as a community effort – we wouldn’t exist without it and we invest in supporting it and our open source users.

The open source philosophy continues to flow through our business. It means we can build and deliver faster, more efficient and better software.

People contribute to Tyk from across the globe, our community supports the product and each other. We’re not limited or restricted thanks to our open source approach. We can work in better ways, innovating rapidly and changing the market because building cooperatively and collaboratively is, fundamentally, a good thing.

We’re committed:

Proud members of Open API Specification, Linux foundation, CNCF

 

Community support, guidance and release notifications

Our commitment to open source delivers a host of benefits for our users: you can sign up for free with Tyk, receive securely packaged open source packages and getting started guides, and access our community and all the latest open source information.

Tyk’s Open Source API Gateway: Highly performant, cloud-native support for multiple API protocols

Our OS Gateway

Tyk Gateway is highly configurable, flexible and automatable into your customized CI/CD pipelines. We don’t force you to work with Tyk’s workflows – Tyk molds around your existing stack.

  • 5m+ DockerHub pulls
  • 9k+ GitHub stars
  • 1,200+ members of Tyk OS community

Our community

Support when you need it

Answers, advice and inspiration are at your fingers in the Tyk Community Forum. Ask a question or browse the vast repository of previously answered queries to access the expert support and solutions you need.

Collaboration is one of our cornerstones, so we’re here to support you however you need. We run workshops and webinars, share scenarios, pack our blog with insights and provide extensive documentation.

The Open Source philosophy as well as the internal APIs of Tyk make it easy to integrate Tyk within our ecosystem. Thank you, Tyk!

Services industry CEO review, Gartner Peer Insights

How open source API gateways power success

Thousands of businesses are using open source tools like Tyk to power their digital transformation. Our API gateway is open source and free to all. You can customize and integrate with your existing infrastructure as you wish. Just like these users did:

Make good things happen

Start reaping the rewards of open source by using Tyk with your existing infrastructure.

  • Tyk's open source API gateway: Designed for developers, loved by businesses

    Tyk’s open source API gateway was designed for developers. We give you complete control over which tools you use it with and a commitment that our open source API gateway will be free to use, now and forever. 

    Businesses love Tyk’s efficiency and flexibility. Whatever you need to focus on – access control, a load balancer, version control or any of the hundred other tasks involved in managing APIs successfully – you can do it better with Tyk.


  • Maximize your API performance with Tyk's open source gateway

    Tyk helps you achieve unmatched API performance through a range of key features and functions. We make caching, payload compression, throttling, rate limiting and using efficient data formats easy. We also support efficient middleware optimization, enforced timeout mechanisms, circuit breaker patterns and load balancing. All backed up by real-time monitoring so that you can immediately detect and address any issues.


  • Open source API gateways: The backbone of modern application architecture

    Open source code and open standards mean you can see what’s going on and innovate, connect and collaborate fast. Open source API gateways are the backbone of modern application architecture, putting this ability to innovate at the heart of your business. They support efficiency and innovation in everything from your backend to your upstream services. Whether you’re building something simple or vast microservice architectures, an open source API gateway can support robust security, powerful performance and seamless digital experiences.


  • Streamline API development and deployment with an open source gateway

    It’s easy to design, implement and test your APIs with Tyk. You can get started in minutes thanks to our ‘batteries included’ philosophy. You simply add an API to Tyk, create a security policy and create an API key. It’s that simple. (Developer portals are also available for Tyk Enterprise customers, meaning you can add an API to your portal for third-party developer access.)

    By providing a powerful open source API gateway, Tyk supports you to develop and deploy APIs with ease. It means you can focus on achieving your goals and getting your products to market faster.


  • Choosing an open source API gateway: Key considerations and best practices

    At Tyk, we believe that open source is the future, enabling collaboration and innovation. If you are currently choosing an open source API gateway, consider aspects such as scalability, performance, API security, authentication and authorization mechanisms, rate limiting, monitoring, analytics and more. And don’t forget to factor in cost. Did we mention that Tyk’s open source API gateway is free, now and forever?


  • What makes Tyk's Open Source API Gateway different from other API gateways?

    Tyk’s gateway was designed with developers in mind and an open source, vendor agnostic, open standards based approach, giving you complete control over which tools you use it with.

    It’s highly configurable, flexible, and can be automated into your custom CI/CD pipelines. Rather than forcing you to work in a particular “Tyk way,” Tyk molds around your existing stack and workflows, making it easier to integrate with your infrastructure.


  • Is Tyk's Open Source API Gateway truly free? What's the catch?

    Yes, Tyk’s Open Source API Gateway is completely free to use. This is part of Tyk’s commitment to the open source philosophy. The gateway has been downloaded millions of times and is available via GitHub. Tyk believes that open source benefits everyone by fostering innovation and business success.


  • What kind of support is available for Tyk's Open Source API Gateway?

     Tyk provides community support through its Community Forum where you can ask questions or browse previously answered queries. The company also runs regular online workshops and webinars, shares scenarios and case studies, publishes insights on its blog, and provides extensive documentation.

    While the open source version doesn’t include enterprise support, you can access a community of over 1,200 members for assistance.


  • How does Tyk's Open Source API Gateway handle performance optimization?

    Tyk helps you achieve unmatched API performance through features like caching, payload compression, throttling, rate limiting, and efficient data formats. It also supports middleware optimization, enforced timeout mechanisms, circuit breaker patterns, and load balancing. Real-time monitoring allows you to immediately detect and address any performance issues, supporting superior reliability. 


  • Can I integrate Tyk's Open Source API Gateway with my existing tools and infrastructure?

    Absolutely. Tyk’s no-vendor-lock-in approach means you can integrate it with whatever tools you prefer, including paid, open source, made by Tyk, or made by others.

    The gateway is designed to mold around your existing stack and can be customized and integrated with your infrastructure as needed. A strong commitment to open standards underpins Tyk’s superior flexibility and easy integration with an extensive range of tooling. 


  • What open standards does Tyk's gateway support?

    Tyk Gateway embraces open standards including the OpenAPI Specification (OAS), OAuth, Open Policy Agent (OPA), and OpenTelemetry (OTel). This commitment to open standards ensures interoperability and allows you to leverage the power of these widely-adopted technologies in your API management approach. From Tyk 5.8 onwards, Tyk provides OAS-native API management for secure, interoperable and governance-first API experiences. 


  • How easy is it to get started with Tyk's Open Source API Gateway?

    Tyk makes it easy to get started. You sign up for free, then receive securely packaged open source packages and getting started guides. The gateway is designed to make it fast and simple to get started in minutes, with intuitive processes for adding an API to Tyk, creating a security policy, and creating an API key.

    Comprehensive documentation and community resources are available to help you through the setup process.


  • How scalable is Tyk's Open Source API Gateway?

    yk’s gateway is designed to be highly performant and cloud-native, capable of supporting everything from simple applications to vast microservice architectures, ensuring you can scale in line with your business goals.

    Its efficiency and flexibility make it suitable for businesses of all sizes, from startups to global enterprises processing millions of API calls. With low latency and thousands of rps with just a single CPU, the gateway is scalable horizontally and vertically.