Top API Security Vendors: Compare Features & Services

1. Qodex.ai

Qodex is an AI-powered platform designed to simplify API testing and security, covering everything from discovery to execution. It scans repositories, identifies APIs, and generates tests using plain English commands, making API security accessible even for those without extensive technical knowledge.

API Discovery

Qodex automatically scans repositories to identify APIs, ensuring full visibility while minimizing security risks associated with undocumented endpoints. This process integrates smoothly into existing development workflows, allowing teams to stay informed about their API landscape as it evolves. This is especially crucial for organizations with dynamic codebases where APIs are frequently added or adjusted.

By providing a comprehensive view of all APIs, Qodex is well-positioned to detect potential threats promptly.

Threat Detection

Qodex uses AI-driven audits to identify API vulnerabilities in real time. Its threat detection capabilities go beyond flagging issues - they actively address them when possible, reducing the time between discovering a vulnerability and fixing it. This is critical in today’s environment, where API attacks are becoming increasingly common.

This proactive approach ensures that organizations can respond quickly to emerging security issues, enhancing overall API security.

Compliance Support

In addition to its discovery and threat detection features, Qodex helps teams maintain regulatory compliance. It comes equipped with built-in OWASP Top 10 tests and generates tests aligned with established security frameworks. This makes it easier for organizations to demonstrate compliance during audits.

With Qodex, compliance testing becomes a regular, automated process rather than a one-off task. This is particularly important for businesses in regulated industries, where maintaining consistent security standards is non-negotiable.

Pricing (USD)

Qodex offers tiered pricing to suit different needs. The Basic plan is free and includes 500,000 AI tokens, supporting up to 500 test scenarios. The Standard plan costs $49/month and provides 5 million tokens, supports up to 20 projects, and includes priority support. For larger organizations, the Enterprise plan offers unlimited resources and dedicated management.

For teams that exceed their base allocations, additional builds and credits can be purchased as add-ons. The enterprise option ensures that large-scale deployments receive the necessary resources and support for robust API security management.

2. Akamai Technologies

Akamai Technologies brings years of experience in content delivery networks (CDNs) and a massive global infrastructure to the table, making it a powerhouse in securing APIs at scale. With over 83% of its web delivery made up of API calls, Akamai has an unmatched understanding of API behavior and the threats they face.

API Discovery

Akamai’s API discovery process runs every 24 hours, scanning for new API endpoints and updating existing ones by analyzing data from its edge servers. This involves scoring response types, examining path characteristics, and studying traffic patterns to ensure all APIs are accurately identified.

In just 30 days, across 100 enterprise customers, Akamai’s API discovery identified 274,000 unique resources and tracked 744 billion API calls. This level of visibility helps organizations tackle shadow APIs by continuously updating them on newly found endpoints or changes to existing ones.

"API Security gives you full visibility into your entire API estate through continuous discovery and real‑time analysis." - Akamai

Once APIs are identified, Akamai automatically audits them to assess their risk. Each endpoint is examined for potential misconfigurations and vulnerabilities. Sensitive APIs, especially those handling personally identifiable information (PII), are flagged, helping security teams prioritize their efforts. This detailed discovery process sets the stage for Akamai’s strong threat detection capabilities.

Threat Detection

Akamai uses a combination of real-time traffic analysis and advanced machine learning to detect and block malicious activity. It monitors both east-west and north-south traffic for unusual patterns, identifying threats like API abuse, data leaks, tampering, and policy breaches.

Its precision in threat detection is highlighted in the 2025 Cloud WAAP CyberRisk Validation Report, which recorded a 0% false positive rate across more than 1,360 attack scenarios. This accuracy is critical for companies that need to protect their systems without accidentally blocking legitimate traffic.

Akamai’s managed service approach offers real-time monitoring paired with expert response teams. This dual-layer protection ensures automated defenses are supplemented by human intervention when necessary. With global web attacks up 33% year over year, this combination of technology and expertise is essential for staying ahead of threats.

Compliance Support

Akamai doesn’t stop at threat detection - it also helps organizations meet regulatory standards. Its platform supports compliance with frameworks like HIPAA, FISMA, DORA, NIS2, and PCI DSS through tools for discovery, risk assessment, and centralized reporting. This approach ensures compliance is maintained continuously, rather than being treated as a periodic task.

"API-related incidents are no longer considered isolated technical issues. They are compliance failures with regulatory consequences." - Stas Neyman, Director of Product Marketing, Akamai

This compliance support is especially important when you consider that only 27% of IT security professionals with a full API inventory know which APIs handle sensitive data. Akamai’s data classification tools help organizations pinpoint the sensitive information their APIs process, simplifying compliance reporting and risk management.

Pricing (USD)

Akamai uses a custom pricing model tailored to each organization’s needs. Pricing depends on factors like traffic volume, required features, and deployment complexity. With U.S. IT and security leaders estimating an average cost of $943,162 for API security incidents over the past year, Akamai positions itself as a smart investment to avoid these hefty losses. To get a detailed quote, reach out to their sales team.

3. Salt Security

Salt Security stands out among top vendors by combining comprehensive discovery with proactive security measures. Its Illuminate platform takes a unique approach, addressing gaps often missed by conventional tools. This platform secures the entire API ecosystem, earning Salt Security notable recognition in the cybersecurity world. For instance, CRN named it the only API security vendor on the 2025 Security 100 List, and it received the Gold Award for API Management and Security at the 21st Annual 2025 Globee® Awards for Cybersecurity.

API Discovery

The Illuminate platform offers a seamless way to map, govern, and secure APIs across environments, endpoints, and transactions, without requiring manual tagging or agents. It provides visibility into every API in production, helping organizations uncover shadow APIs, third-party connections, and outdated endpoints. This level of discovery fills a critical gap in many organizations' security strategies. According to Salt Security's research, 58% of organizations monitor their APIs less than daily, and many lack confidence in their API inventories. Additionally, 14% of organizations report that their API programs are either out of control or difficult to manage.

"Salt Security reveals the APIs you didn't know existed, enforces governance where others can't, and protects against attacks traditional tools miss." – Salt Security

This discovery capability is especially valuable for large enterprises, where 53% of surveyed organizations manage over 1,000 APIs. Through its integration with CrowdStrike Falcon Foundry, Salt Security provides rapid API discovery, mapping an organization’s API ecosystem instantly. This comprehensive visibility is the cornerstone for effective threat detection and compliance.

Threat Detection

Salt Security builds on its discovery capabilities with advanced threat detection, analyzing traffic patterns to identify misuse and new threats. Its runtime protection uses behavioral analysis to detect even stealthy, low-and-slow attacks. According to Salt Labs' Q1 2025 State of API Security Report, 99% of respondents faced API security issues in the last year.

"The increasing prevalence of API attacks necessitates a robust security posture, as these interfaces become prime targets for data exfiltration and reconnaissance." – Roey Eliyahu, co-founder and CEO at Salt Security

Salt Security’s integration with CrowdStrike’s Next-Generation SIEM enhances its threat detection by combining API inspection with threat intelligence, enabling quick identification and mitigation of sophisticated API-specific attacks.

Compliance Support

Salt Security also simplifies compliance with regulations like PCI DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR. By maintaining an updated inventory of APIs, including those handling sensitive data, the platform ensures adherence to data protection and privacy standards.

Its API Posture Governance engine, powered by a Policy Hub, allows users to create, monitor, and manage custom policies or adopt standardized ones. This central repository supports continuous governance, going beyond traditional compliance methods. The platform also generates detailed reports, making it easier for organizations to demonstrate regulatory adherence and streamline audits.

"Salt has been a game-changer for our API security. We now have the visibility and control to protect our data, stay compliant, and build trust with our customers." – Peter Rios, Infrastructure and Information Security Manager, CISM, Kingston

4. Imperva API Security

Imperva stands out among leading API security vendors with a solution that seamlessly integrates with its Cloud WAF and Advanced Bot Protection tools. This combination delivers a unified approach to API discovery, threat detection, and compliance management.

API Discovery

Imperva's discovery engine works around the clock to monitor all APIs within your infrastructure. It identifies public, private, and shadow APIs while classifying endpoints based on how sensitive the data they handle is. This ensures no API - whether visible or hidden - slips through the cracks.

The platform goes a step further by categorizing endpoints that process sensitive information, such as government IDs, credit card numbers, and other personally identifiable information (PII). It also tracks changes over time, keeping your API inventory up-to-date and ready to tackle emerging threats. This comprehensive discovery process lays the groundwork for precise and effective threat detection.

"Imperva API Security provides continuous protection of all APIs using deep discovery and classification to detect all public, private and shadow APIs." – Imperva.

Threat Detection

After mapping out your APIs, Imperva uses a combination of behavioral analysis and rule-based engines to detect risky API behaviors in real time. It defends against the OWASP API Security Top 10 threats and automatically mitigates vulnerabilities like Broken Object Level Authorization (BOLA), unauthenticated APIs, and outdated endpoints.

Suspicious endpoints are flagged immediately, and the platform integrates with Imperva's Cloud WAF and WAF Gateway for instant mitigation. This means malicious API sessions can be blocked in real time, providing a critical layer of defense. Considering that APIs account for 71% of all web traffic and 44% of advanced bot attacks target APIs, this combined approach is essential for maintaining security.

"API security is no longer optional – it's fundamental to maintaining business continuity and trust." – Tim Chang, Global VP and GM of Application Security at Thales

Additionally, Imperva’s integration with Advanced Bot Protection shields APIs from automated threats, further bolstering security measures.

Compliance Support

Imperva doesn’t just stop at detecting threats - it also simplifies compliance. Through its Data Security Fabric (DSF), the platform automates compliance tasks, making it easier to meet regulatory requirements. It supports major frameworks like SOX, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, and NYDFS, offering pre-built templates for audit reports tied to data-related regulations.

The DSF also helps organizations adopt a positive security model by identifying and classifying sensitive data, allowing teams to apply the right controls. With full visibility into data activity, Imperva ensures compliance with regulations such as GDPR. To make things even easier, DSF includes pre-configured regular expressions tailored to industry-specific mandates.

Imperva API Security has earned high praise from users, achieving a 4.5/5 rating on Gartner Peer Insights from 72 reviews. Customers frequently highlight its detailed API traffic control, insightful reporting, and seamless integration of WAF and API security features.

More Vendors to Consider in 2025

• Cloudflare API Shield (WAAP) — Edge-delivered schema validation, mTLS, bot/DDoS controls; fits internet-facing APIs that need global coverage fast.

• F5 Distributed Cloud WAAP (WAAP) — Centralized L7 security + API protections across multi-cloud, with managed rules.

• Noname, Traceable, Cequence (ASPM/stand-alone) — Emphasis on discovery, posture, behavioral detection for complex estates. (See Gartner’s API protection capabilities.)

• 42Crunch (Testing) — Spec-driven security reviews and CI/CD gates for OpenAPI; helpful for shift-left programs.

• Pynt (Testing) — Developer-first API security tests with guided setup and tooling integrations.

• Kong Gateway (Gateway) — Extensible traffic policies and plugins; pair with ASPM or WAAP for runtime protections.

Pricing & Deployment Models: What to Expect

Expect WAAP to price by traffic and feature bundles; gateways by throughput/instances; ASPM by API count/volume and data retention; testing by projects/runs/seats. Also note inline vs out-of-band and agentless vs sidecar—they impact latency, maintenance, and break-glass paths. Anchor decisions to risk reduction per dollar and staffing reality (managed vs DIY). (Gartner’s market view: discovery, testing, posture, runtime protection are the defining capabilities of “API protection.”)

WAAP vs Gateway vs ASPM: When to Choose What

• Choose WAAP when you need edge-side bot/DDoS mitigation and L7 policy for internet-facing APIs.

• Choose Gateway+ASPM when you need true discovery (shadow/zombie APIs), data classification, and behavioral runtime for internal + external APIs.

• Choose Testing when a team is early-stage and must bake security into CI/CD before scaling.
  This mirrors how industry guides separate “protect at the edge,” “govern and detect everywhere,” and “shift-left.”