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Let's Encrypt VS Apache APISIX

Compare Let's Encrypt VS Apache APISIX and see what are their differences

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Let's Encrypt logo Let's Encrypt

Let’s Encrypt is a free, automated, and open certificate authority brought to you by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG).

Apache APISIX logo Apache APISIX

Apache APISIX is a dynamic, real-time, high-performance Cloud-Native API gateway, based on the Nginx library and etcd.
  • Let's Encrypt Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-12
  • Apache APISIX Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-06-27

Let's Encrypt features and specs

  • Free of Charge
    Let's Encrypt provides SSL/TLS certificates at no cost, making it an economical choice for individuals and businesses.
  • Automated Certificate Issuance and Renewal
    The process of obtaining and renewing certificates can be automated using the ACME protocol, reducing manual intervention and administrative overhead.
  • Ease of Use
    Let's Encrypt simplifies the process of enabling HTTPS for websites, even for users with limited technical expertise.
  • Security
    Let's Encrypt certificates provide strong encryption, improving the security of data transmitted between clients and servers.
  • Widely Recognized
    Certificates issued by Let's Encrypt are trusted by all major web browsers and operating systems.
  • Promotes Secure Web Practices
    By making SSL/TLS certificates freely available, Let's Encrypt encourages more websites to adopt HTTPS, contributing to a more secure internet.

Possible disadvantages of Let's Encrypt

  • Short Duration of Certificates
    Let's Encrypt certificates are valid for only 90 days, requiring more frequent renewals compared to traditional certificate authorities.
  • Limited Support Options
    Let's Encrypt relies on community support and documentation, and does not offer dedicated customer support for troubleshooting and assistance.
  • No Extended Validation (EV) Certificates
    Let's Encrypt does not issue Extended Validation (EV) certificates, which provide additional verification and a higher level of trust for business websites.
  • Potential for Misuse
    Since certificates are issued for free and with minimal validation, there is a risk that cybercriminals might use them for phishing or other malicious activities.
  • No Wildcard Certificates for Multi-Level Subdomains
    While Let's Encrypt supports wildcard certificates for single-level subdomains, it doesn't support them for nested subdomains (e.g., *.sub.example.com).
  • Reliance on Third-Party Tools for Automation
    Users may need to rely on third-party tools or scripts for automation, which could introduce additional complexity or security risks.

Apache APISIX features and specs

  • High Performance
    Apache APISIX is built on top of Nginx and designed to handle thousands of requests per second. This makes it suitable for high-performance applications and services requiring efficient request processing.
  • Dynamic Configuration
    APISIX allows for dynamic load balancing, routing, and plugin configuration without the need to restart or reload the service, offering robust flexibility and reducing downtime.
  • Extensive Plugin Ecosystem
    APISIX offers a wide range of plugins to extend its functionalities, covering authentication, security, traffic control, and more, allowing for customization and scalability.
  • Open Source and Community-driven
    Being an Apache project, APISIX is open-source and actively maintained by a community of contributors, ensuring continuous improvement and support.
  • Multi-language Support
    APISIX supports multi-language plugins such as Java, Go, and Python, thereby allowing developers to write plugins in the language they are most comfortable with.

Possible disadvantages of Apache APISIX

  • Complexity of Setup
    Setting up Apache APISIX can be complex for new users, requiring familiarity with Nginx and understanding its configuration model, which might involve a steep learning curve.
  • Documentation Gaps
    While the project is actively improved, some users might experience gaps or inconsistencies in the documentation, posing challenges during setup and customization.
  • Limited Enterprise Support
    Compared to some commercial API management solutions, APISIX might lack dedicated enterprise-level support, which could be a concern for organizations requiring rapid troubleshooting and expert assistance.
  • Evolving Features
    As a relatively new project, some features and components may still be evolving, which means users may encounter changes that require adaptation and adjustments over time.

Let's Encrypt videos

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Apache APISIX videos

Getting started with Apache APISIX Dashboard

More videos:

  • Review - Getting started with Apache APISIX
  • Review - APIs security with Apache APISIX

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Let's Encrypt and Apache APISIX)
Security & Privacy
100 100%
0% 0
Monitoring Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Identity And Access Management
API Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Let's Encrypt should be more popular than Apache APISIX. It has been mentiond 339 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Let's Encrypt mentions (339)

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Apache APISIX mentions (71)

  • Announcing Integration between Apache APISIX and open-appsec WAF
    Apache APISIX is a modern, flexible, and high-performance open-source API gateway solution designed to handle various use cases in microservices and cloud-native architectures. Its primary purpose is to facilitate API management by serving as a gateway for managing, securing, and optimizing API traffic between clients and backend services. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • open-source API gateway solutions and their managed offerings.
    Kong and APISIX, two popular open-source #APIGateway solutions. #kong looks versatile Unified Gateway but how it fares against #APISIX backed by a similar enterprise API7 offering. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Free tier API with Apache APISIX
    Lots of service providers offer a free tier of their service. The idea is to let you kick their service's tires freely. If you need to go above the free tier at any point, you'll likely stay on the service and pay. In this day and age, most services are online and accessible via an API. Today, we will implement a free tier with Apache APISIX. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • OpenResty on NixOS for an API Gateway
    We have been using Apache APISIX for a while now. It is a high-performance, cloud-native API gateway solution. It also has a nice dashboard for managing APIs. However, I have been looking for a simpler and more portable solution for our use case. In particular, I want to be able manage the API gateway as a NixOS service so that the configuration can be tested and redeployed easily. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Advanced URL rewriting with Apache APISIX
    I spoke at Swiss PgDay in Switzerland in late June. The talk was about how to create a no-code API with the famous PostgreSQL database, the related PostgREST, and Apache APISIX, of course. I already wrote about the idea in a previous post. However, I wanted to improve it, if only slightly. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Let's Encrypt and Apache APISIX, you can also consider the following products

OpenSSL - OpenSSL is a free and open source software cryptography library that implements both the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols, which are primarily used to provide secure communications between web browsers and …

Prometheus - An open-source systems monitoring and alerting toolkit.

Ensighten - Ensighten provides enterprise tag management solutions that enable businesses manage their websites more effectively.

API7 cloud - API management platform for hybrid and multi-cloud

AWS Certificate Manager - AWS Certificate Manager from Amazon Web Services (AWS)

etcd - A distributed, reliable key-value store for the most critical data of a distributed system