Apigee vs OpenAPI Specification: What are the differences?

1. Hosting and Management: One key difference between Apigee and OpenAPI is that Apigee is a complete API management platform provided as a service, offering hosting, analytics, security, and developer portal functionalities. On the other hand, OpenAPI is a specification that defines the structure of an API without providing hosting or management capabilities.

2. Tools and Features: Apigee provides a comprehensive set of tools for API development, testing, deployment, and monitoring, while OpenAPI focuses solely on defining the structure and functionality of APIs. Apigee also offers features like traffic management, caching, security, and monetization, which are not part of the OpenAPI specification.

3. Pricing Model: Apigee typically operates on a subscription-based pricing model, where users pay for the features and resources they need. In contrast, the OpenAPI specification is an open standard that is freely available for anyone to use and implement without any licensing fees.

4. Implementation Complexity: Apigee abstracts much of the complexity of API development and management, making it easier for developers to create and deploy APIs. OpenAPI, on the other hand, requires developers to manually implement the specifications defined in the document, which can be more complex and time-consuming.

5. Vendor Lock-in: Using Apigee ties users to Google Cloud Platform, as Apigee is a part of Google Cloud. This can lead to vendor lock-in, limiting the flexibility to switch to other providers. In contrast, OpenAPI is vendor-neutral and can be implemented on any platform or cloud service provider, ensuring more flexibility and freedom for developers.

6. Community and Support: Apigee has built an extensive community of users and experts who provide support, resources, and best practices for using the platform. OpenAPI, being an open standard, also has a large community of developers contributing to its development and providing support, but the level of formal support may vary compared to a dedicated platform like Apigee.

In Summary, the key differences between Apigee and OpenAPI Specification lie in hosting and management capabilities, tools and features offered, pricing model, implementation complexity, vendor lock-in, and community support, providing users with distinct options for API development and management.