API Gateway Pricing 2026: AWS vs Cloudflare vs Kong
API Gateway is often the invisible budget item that surprises teams at scale. AWS API Gateway at $3.50/M requests adds up fast. Cloudflare Workers at $0.50/M can cut that bill by 85%. This guide shows exactly when each option wins.
API Gateway Pricing Models Explained
API gateways charge on two main axes: request count (per million) and data transfer out (per GB). AWS API Gateway also charges for cache memory and WebSocket connections. Cloudflare Workers bundles everything into request count with near-zero egress fees.
2026 API Gateway Price Table
| Provider | Per M requests | Data transfer / GB | Min monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Workers | $0.50 | $0.00 | $5 |
| Kong Cloud | $2.00 | $0.05 | $0 |
| AWS API Gateway (REST) | $3.50 | $0.09 | $0 |
| AWS API Gateway (HTTP) | $1.00 | $0.09 | $0 |
| Google Apigee | $3.00 | $0.12 | $0 |
Cloudflare Workers: 85% Cheaper Than AWS REST API Gateway
At 100M requests/month + 100GB egress: Cloudflare = $55 vs AWS REST API Gateway = $359. The difference is $304/month — $3,648/year. Cloudflare has 200+ edge locations, no cold starts, and sub-millisecond routing. For APIs that don't need AWS Lambda integrations, Workers wins on price and performance.
AWS API Gateway HTTP vs REST: $2.50/M Difference
AWS offers two flavors: REST API ($3.50/M) and HTTP API ($1.00/M). HTTP API is 71% cheaper and covers 90% of use cases — JWT authorisation, CORS, Lambda proxy. Only use REST API if you need API keys, usage plans, request validation or AWS WAF integration.
Total Monthly Cost at Scale
| Provider | 10M req + 10GB | 100M req + 100GB | 1B req + 1TB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Workers | $5 | $55 | $505 |
| AWS HTTP API | $11 | $109 | $1,090 |
| Kong Cloud | $20.50 | $205 | $2,050 |
| AWS REST API GW | $35.90 | $359 | $3,590 |
FAQ
How much does AWS API Gateway cost?
AWS REST API Gateway costs $3.50 per million requests + $0.09/GB data transfer. HTTP API costs $1.00/M requests. At 100M requests + 100GB/month: REST = $359, HTTP = $109.
Is Cloudflare cheaper than AWS API Gateway?
Yes — significantly. Cloudflare Workers costs $0.50/M requests with no egress fee vs AWS REST at $3.50/M + $0.09/GB. At 100M requests, Cloudflare is 6.5× cheaper.
What is the difference between AWS HTTP API and REST API?
HTTP API ($1.00/M) is 71% cheaper. It supports JWT auth, CORS and Lambda proxy. REST API ($3.50/M) adds API keys, usage plans, request/response transformation and AWS WAF. Use HTTP API unless you specifically need REST features.
Free developer cost tools. Prices from official docs, reviewed monthly.
Choosing the Right API Gateway for Your Scale
API gateway pricing structures vary dramatically between providers, and the cheapest option at one scale is often the most expensive at another. Understanding how each pricing model works helps you choose the right gateway now and anticipate costs as traffic grows.
AWS API Gateway REST vs HTTP. REST API costs $3.50 per million API calls while HTTP API costs $1.00/M — a 71% difference. HTTP API lacks some advanced features (edge-optimized endpoints, WAF integration at the gateway level, request validation), but for straightforward REST proxy and JWT authorization, HTTP API is the smarter default in 2026. Switching from REST to HTTP API is the single highest-ROI optimization for most AWS API Gateway users.
Cloudflare API Shield and Workers. The flat $5/month Workers Paid plan includes 10M requests/month, effectively free for most production APIs. Above 10M, additional requests cost $0.30/M. For globally distributed APIs where latency is critical, Cloudflare edge network often delivers better performance than region-specific gateways at lower cost. The trade-off is less native integration with AWS/GCP services.
Kong Gateway self-hosted. No per-request charge — you pay only for the infrastructure running Kong. At high volumes (100M+ monthly requests), self-hosting Kong on a $100-$300/month VPS cluster can be 10-50x cheaper than managed API gateways. The cost is operational complexity: your team owns upgrades, scaling, and incident response. The managed Kong Konnect cloud reduces this burden but adds per-request pricing back in.
Model your expected request volume, data transfer, and feature requirements in the API gateway pricing calculator before committing to a provider. The cost difference at scale is significant enough to influence architecture decisions.