Best self-hosted Software Development - API Management software in 2026

API management is the process of creating and publishing application programming interfaces (APIs), enforcing their usage policies, controlling access, nurturing the subscriber community, collecting and analyzing usage statistics, and reporting on performance.

We track 15 open-source, self-hosted Software Development - API Management apps. 15 of them had commits in the last 90 days, 12 can run with Docker, and the most common licenses are Apache-2.0 (7), MIT (4), Elastic-2.0 (1). The most-used languages are Go, Nodejs, Python. Below are the top picks by GitHub stars, followed by every app ranked by stars weighted by maintenance health.

Alternatives to Firebase

Top 5 by GitHub stars

#	App	Stars	Health	Last activity	License	Language	Docker
1	Hoppscotch Community Edition	80.8k	Active	2026-11-04	MIT	Nodejs, Docker	✓
2	Kong	44.4k	Active	2026-10-19	Apache-2.0	Lua, Docker	✓
3	Hasura	32.1k	Active	2026-11-10	Apache-2.0	Haskell, Docker	✓
4	Composio	31.1k	Active	2026-11-09	Elastic-2.0	Python	–
5	Opik	23.3k	Active	2026-11-09	Apache-2.0	Docker, Python	✓

Hoppscotch Community Edition — Fast and beautiful API request builder.
Kong — Microservice API Gateway and Platform.
Hasura — Fast, instant realtime GraphQL APIs on Postgres with fine grained access control, also trigger webhooks on database events.
Composio — Integration platform for AI agents & LLMs with support for 250+ apps and custom tools.
Opik — Evaluate, test, and ship LLM applications with a suite of observability tools to calibrate language model outputs across your dev and production lifecycle.

Head-to-head comparisons

Hoppscotch Community Edition vs Kong Hasura vs Hoppscotch Community Edition Composio vs Hoppscotch Community Edition Hasura vs Kong Composio vs Kong Composio vs Hasura

All 15 self-hosted Software Development - API Management apps

Ranked by GitHub stars weighted by maintenance health.

Hoppscotch Community Edition

Fast and beautiful API request builder.

Active ★ 80.8k MIT 🐳 Docker~$5/mo

Kong

Microservice API Gateway and Platform.

Active ★ 44.4k Apache-2.0 🐳 Docker~$5/mo

Hasura

Fast, instant realtime GraphQL APIs on Postgres with fine grained access control, also trigger webhooks on database events.

Active ★ 32.1k Apache-2.0 🐳 Docker~$5/mo

Composio

Integration platform for AI agents & LLMs with support for 250+ apps and custom tools.

Active ★ 31.1k Elastic-2.0 ~$5/mo

Opik

Evaluate, test, and ship LLM applications with a suite of observability tools to calibrate language model outputs across your dev and production lifecycle.

Active ★ 23.3k Apache-2.0 🐳 Docker~$5/mo

Tyk

Fast and scalable API Gateway. Out of the box, Tyk offers an API Management Platform with an API Gateway, API Analytics, Developer Portal and API Management Dashboard.

Active ★ 10.9k MPL-2.0 🐳 Docker~$3.5/mo

Lura

High-performance API Gateway.

Active ★ 6.8k Apache-2.0 ~$3.5/mo

Svix

Webhooks as a service that makes it super easy for API providers to send webhooks.

Active ★ 3.5k MIT 🐳 Docker~$3.5/mo

Fusio

API management platform which helps to build and manage REST APIs.

Active ★ 2.1k AGPL-3.0 🐳 Docker~$5/mo

DreamFactory

Turns any SQL/NoSQL/Structured data into Restful API.

Active ★ 1.8k Apache-2.0 🐳 Docker~$5/mo

GoModel

AI gateway written in Go with a unified OpenAI-compatible API for multiple LLM providers, USD cost tracking, budgets, usage analytics, guardrails, caching, and an admin dashboard.

Active ★ 1.3k MIT 🐳 Docker~$40/mo

Para

Flexible and modular backend framework/server for object persistence, API development and authentication.

Active ★ 575 Apache-2.0 🐳 Docker~$10/mo

Graphweaver

Turn multiple data sources into a single GraphQL API.

Active ★ 557 MIT ~$5/mo

Aastro

Extensible API Gateway written in Go.

Active ★ 24 Apache-2.0 🐳 Docker~$3.5/mo

Hook0

Webhooks-as-a-service (WaaS) that makes it easy for online products to provide webhooks. Dispatch up to 3,000 events/month with 7 days of history retention for free.

Active ★ 16 SSPL-1.0 🐳 Docker~$5/mo

Frequently asked questions

What is the best self-hosted Software Development - API Management software in 2026?

By GitHub stars, the most popular self-hosted Software Development - API Management apps are Hoppscotch Community Edition (80,800 stars), Kong (44,379 stars), Hasura (32,122 stars). Popularity is only one signal: also check maintenance health, license and whether it fits your setup.

How many self-hosted Software Development - API Management apps are actively maintained?

15 of the 15 apps listed had commits in the last 90 days.

Which self-hosted Software Development - API Management apps can I run with Docker?

12 of the 15 apps can run with Docker; 1 publish an image on Docker Hub, including GoModel.

Which licenses do self-hosted Software Development - API Management apps use?

The most common licenses in this category are Apache-2.0 (7 apps), MIT (4 apps), Elastic-2.0 (1 apps).

How much does it cost to self-host Software Development - API Management software?

The software itself is free to download. Based on our rough hardware estimates, the cheapest suitable VPS plan starts at about $3.5/month (median $5/month across apps in this category). Several light apps can share one server.

Figures from GitHub and Docker Hub as of 2026-11-15; hosting costs are rough estimates.