head to head · open source
OpenAPI-Specification vs Apache APISIX
OpenAPI-Specification has 31,215 GitHub stars, 9,156 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. Apache APISIX has 17,135 stars, 2,946 forks, 235 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenAPI-Specification leads on adoption by 82% (31,215 vs 17,135 stars). OpenAPI-Specification is written in Markdown under Apache-2.0; Apache APISIX is written in Lua under Apache-2.0. OpenAPI-Specification has attracted 29% as many forks as stars, Apache APISIX 17%. Apache APISIX was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| OpenAPI-Specification | Apache APISIX | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 17K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Markdown | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-09-11 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.2K | ⑂ 2.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenAPI-Specification if
- You weight community size — 31K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Markdown
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Apache APISIX if
- You want the Apache APISIX feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You evaluated both and Apache APISIX fits your workflow better
About OpenAPI-Specification
The OpenAPI Specification (OAS) is a community driven open specification hosted within the OpenAPI Initiative, a Linux Foundation Collaborative Project. It defines a standard, programming language agnostic interface description for HTTP APIs, represented in YAML or JSON. The specification lives in the HTTP API tooling ecosystem, alongside the tools, libraries, and implementations listed in the repository's implementations document. The project source is released under the Apache 2.0 license, and its GitHub repository has accumulated roughly 31,000 stars and 9,100 forks across 13 years of activity.…
read the full OpenAPI-Specification overview →
About Apache APISIX
Apache APISIX is a dynamic, real time, high performance API gateway and AI gateway built on NGINX and etcd. It provides rich traffic management features, such as load balancing, dynamic upstream, canary release, circuit breaking, authentication, and observability. The project lives in the Lua and LuaJIT ecosystem, and it uses the Apache 2.0 license.
read the full Apache APISIX overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenAPI-Specification or Apache APISIX more popular?
OpenAPI-Specification has 31,215 GitHub stars and Apache APISIX has 17,135. OpenAPI-Specification has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenAPI-Specification and Apache APISIX free?
Both are open source. OpenAPI-Specification is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Apache APISIX under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenAPI-Specification and Apache APISIX?
OpenAPI-Specification is written in Markdown and Apache APISIX in Lua. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, OpenAPI-Specification or Apache APISIX?
Choose OpenAPI-Specification if you want the larger community (31,215 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Apache APISIX if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.